What an excellent question! I am just about to start
teaching this novel to my seniors and hadn't thought of comparing it to this wonderful
film. You are right in indicating that both of these texts explore, albeit in different
ways, what it means to be human and how we define
humanity.
Let me start by talking about
Bladerunner. We are presented with a dystopian world that is
over-polluted and where anyone who is healthy enough has left for the colonies. The
strange collection of misfits that are left include bladerunners, who are special police
officers charged with making sure that no replicants (androids who resemble humans in
every sense) make it to earth. If they do find any replicants, they are to "retire" or
kill them. However, the film explores what constitutes a human by presenting us with
replicants, like Rachel, who have been given human memories. How does that make her
differ from a human? The film asks some very hard questions about what distinguishes us
as humans from other species and whether we are actually as unique as we think we
are.
Likewise, in Frankenstein,
similar questions are raised. Victor Frankenstein "makes" his "creature," that is almost
always referred to a "monster." Yet this is a label that the "monster" himself does his
best to reject and to shrug off. In some ways, he shows an understanding of humanity and
life that supercedes those around him. Shelley seems to contrast the bloodthirsty nature
of the crowd at Justine's trial to the monster to problematise the whole concept of
humanity. The monster starts off humane--it is only the inhumanity of man that makes him
inhumane.
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