What Makes Us Human: Speech on the Bladerunner and Frankenstein
What Makes Us Human?
The title human can have many different meanings, and can be used in different ways. Today I’m going to be telling you about what it means to be human in the classic text Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and the epic film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott with reference to contexts. Humans are known to exploit the world and people around them for their own benefit, but at the same time humans can love fiercely and show compassion in the most unlikely of circumstances. These traits are part of what makes humans so difficult to box and understand.
Humans are known for exploiting nature towards their own aspirations and wants. They pass up the beauty of God’s creation for money, power, and enlightenment or knowledge. However, in the process the humans can destroy themselves.
In Blade Runner, the humans, mainly Tyrell Corporation, forfeit nature for production, technology, and ultimately greed. This is shown in the opening sequence of the movie; The L.A. skyline shot. It pans over the future city, utilising the crowded coloured lights that we associate with cities (showing how vast the city is) by having so many of them is a small space. The shooting fire plumes create a contrast between the night sky and the ever working factories. This city objectifies the human greed, and shows that all selfish things humans do can wreck the environment around them, but at the same time endanger the exploiters themselves. Pollution could be thought of as the main point in this scene, and there are three types’ shown; light pollution, air pollution, and even space pollution in the form of the massive Tyrell corp. pyramids. All these aspects show the lack of nature, and also how it must have been exploited for this man-made future to exist. This idea of a bleak future comes from Ridley Scott’s life in the 1970’s and 80’s. Some in this time felt that nature and the natural world were being threatened by the rise of corporations, mass production and the new
The title human can have many different meanings, and can be used in different ways. Today I’m going to be telling you about what it means to be human in the classic text Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and the epic film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott with reference to contexts. Humans are known to exploit the world and people around them for their own benefit, but at the same time humans can love fiercely and show compassion in the most unlikely of circumstances. These traits are part of what makes humans so difficult to box and understand.
Humans are known for exploiting nature towards their own aspirations and wants. They pass up the beauty of God’s creation for money, power, and enlightenment or knowledge. However, in the process the humans can destroy themselves.
In Blade Runner, the humans, mainly Tyrell Corporation, forfeit nature for production, technology, and ultimately greed. This is shown in the opening sequence of the movie; The L.A. skyline shot. It pans over the future city, utilising the crowded coloured lights that we associate with cities (showing how vast the city is) by having so many of them is a small space. The shooting fire plumes create a contrast between the night sky and the ever working factories. This city objectifies the human greed, and shows that all selfish things humans do can wreck the environment around them, but at the same time endanger the exploiters themselves. Pollution could be thought of as the main point in this scene, and there are three types’ shown; light pollution, air pollution, and even space pollution in the form of the massive Tyrell corp. pyramids. All these aspects show the lack of nature, and also how it must have been exploited for this man-made future to exist. This idea of a bleak future comes from Ridley Scott’s life in the 1970’s and 80’s. Some in this time felt that nature and the natural world were being threatened by the rise of corporations, mass production and the new