HSC Advanced English

Creative Response to Critical Study of Texts and Contexts

In the Wild
17026909
Transcript for the radio program Arts: Yesterday, Today and Toorro!.
Broadcast station: !"#Radio Broadcast date: Wednesday$ %& 'ay %(().
*+IC +*R: Tonight ENG-Radio brings you a special presentation.
Theme music plays.
I!TR*IWR: Good evening listeners, thank you for tuning in for another
broadcast of Arts: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, the radio
program that eplores the contets of tets and the values that
they present. !"m your host #ubrey Thomson.
#s many of our listeners $ould be a$are, the concept of %!n the
&ild" entails the importance of man"s relationship $ith nature,
and the effects of man"s interference, dominance of removal
from it. The 'uality and importance of this relationship can
vary across different times and cultures. Tonight !"m
intervie$ing acclaimed (olly$ood producer and director,
Ridley )cott, about the similarities and differences bet$een his
film Blade Runner and #ldous (uley"s novel Brave New
World, in relation to ho$ they connect $ith this concept. Blade
Runner $as popular internationally at it"s release in the *+,-s
and has become a cult classic. Brave New World, published in
*+./ and $as also received $ell at the time of publication, and
is still $idely read and studied today.
0f course, as $e al$ays do on this sho$, $e"ll also discuss the
contet of both of these tets and the values they present. This
promises to be 'uite an interesting intervie$1 Thank you very
much for 2oining me, 3r. )cott.
RI,-. SC+TT: 3y pleasure, #ubrey.
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I!TR*IWR: The first 'uestion !"m lead to ask is $hy did you choose to
direct Blade Runner4
RI,-. SC+TT: To begin $ith ! $asn"t particularly ecited about directing the
film, to be honest. !t $as simply a film to complete in bet$een
other bigger pro2ects, and $e initially started $orking on a
completely different concept in the same genre. &hen ! came
to closely study the script for Blade Runner, ho$ever, ! kne$
that it $as presenting values and ideas that ! 2ust had to
communicate to a contemporary audience. !t became a flim that
! $as passionate to $ork $ith, not simply a %fill-in".
I!TR*IWR: (o$ interesting1 &hat caused such passion4
RI,-. SC+TT: The script incorporated many ideas that ! felt $ere important
for discussion and further a$areness by the audience not only
of the time that $e created it, but also audience"s in the
immediate and distant future
I!TR*IWR: !t is almost the distant future no$1 #fter all, over t$enty years
have passed since the film"s creation1
RI,-. SC+TT: 5ou"re right. !n essence, ! kne$ that the film"s values $ere
important, and that they could transcend time.
I!TR*IWR: #nd indeed they have1 #h, it is $onderful to see that contet
can not only shape meaning, but preserve it also1 6ould you
please epand on $hich values in particular are included in
your film4
RI,-. SC+TT: &ell ! think my film 'uestions $hat defines a human, $hile
also making the audience ponder on, ! hope, the value of
human life and $hether it is ependable. #nother value
presented is $hether mankind can learn from its o$n mistakes.
These concepts and values ! feel $ere important for a
contemporary audience as the outcomes in the film cause us to
'uestion our o$n society"s relationship $ith nature. &e may
not be performing the same actions as the characters of the
fictional society"s, but the film, in fact in both Blade Runner
and Brave New World7 $e can readily apply the possible results
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of our o$n separation and dominance over the natural $orld to
our o$n contet.
I!TR*IWR: 8et"s go through this in a little more depth. (o$ does Blade
Runner demonstrate the definition of $hat is human, and
$hether they are ependable, disposable4
RI,-. SC+TT: Tyrell tells us in the film that the aim of his corporation is to
create replicants, as the motto stipulates, %3ore human than
human". The replicants have physical capabalities that mimic
and far etend those possessed by humans, and as a result they
can perform %superhuman" deeds $hich they are used for in off-
$orld colonies. The replicants look and act like humans and so
are therefore %3ore human than human" in a technological
sense.
The definition of $hat is human is challenged though, $hen $e
learn that the replicants begin to sho$ signs of human emotion
and compassion, even more so than their human creators. 9ris
succinctly puts it %! think : therefore ! am." The line bet$een
artificial and natural seems to be blurred in the film, as to
$hether these thinking, feeling creations are anything more
then highly advanced technology. The repetition of visual
themes, such as the recurring vie$ of the eye can confuse the
audience, as they cannot be a$are of $hether $hat they"re
looking at is real or fake.
RI,-. SC+TT: The replicants sense of morality and humanity in my film
overtakes that of the %natural" humans ; the humans are no$
the bitter, shameless killing machines $hile the replicants
continuously act on the basis of a moral code, an ironic t$ist
and change in roles in the film. Roy <atty, $hen fighting
=eckard comments %Not very sportman-like to fire on an
unarmed apponent1 #ren>t you supposed to be the good man4",
and $hen given the opportunity to kill =eckard in an
unsportsmanlike manner, he refrains from doing so.
I!T*IWR: 5es1 ! kno$ that for me personally as a vie$er ! $asn"t sure
$hether to empathise $ith Roy or =eckard in this scene. &hen
.
Roy utters his final $ords %!>ve seen things you people $ouldn>t
believe. #ttack ships on fire off the shoulder of 0rion. !
$atched 6-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate.
#ll those ... moments $ill be lost in time, like tears...in rain.
Time to die" it is saddening because ! came to a realisation that
perhaps the replicants $ere indeed human as sho$n through
their 'uest for more life. The irony, as you touched on, is that
the emotionless people seek to kill off the replicants $ho $ish
to feel emotion and actually live.
RI,-. SC+TT: Eactly. !f the replicants are in fact human, is it right then for
them to be treated as dispensible pieces of technology4
0bviously it isn"t. This presents to us a dystopic $orld $here
the humans themselves are losing their o$n sense of humanity,
as they lose and eploit the natural $orld.
I!TR*IWR: 8et"s talk about Brave New World for a little $hile.
RI,-. SC+TT: )ure.
I!TR*IWR: (o$ does Brave New World define humanity4 !s it a similar
picture to that sho$n in your tet4
RI,-. SC+TT: &ell yes, both tets talk about $hat it means to be human, and
the blurred line bet$een $hat is artificial and natural. ! do
believe ho$ever that (uley has presented a society starved of
humanity through a completely different approach. &here as in
my tet the 'uestion is asked $ho is more human - =eckard or
the replicants, Brave New World asks us $ho are more savage -
the savage or the conditioned. There is a slight t$ist in the
'uestion the tets ask, both are effective and are a result of the
different setting and contets of the tets. The people of Brave
New World lose their humanity through conditioning and the
creation of structured social identity. (umanity, in a sense, is
lost $ithout room for individuality and fla$s. !n both tets the
humanity of the societies depicted is bleak.
I!TR*IWR: !ndeed. 9lease continue.
RI,-. SC+TT: (uley"s futuristic society"s developments in areas such as
reproductive technology, eugenics and hypnop?dia combine to
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change the society itself. 8ots of cold, technical scientific
2argon is used by (uley to describe the artificial production of
humans.
(umanity is designed to be carefree, healthy, and
technologically advanced ; in a state of utopian perfection.
&arfare and poverty are eliminated, and everyone is
conditioned to be permanently happy through %6ommunity,
!dentity, )tability." (o$ever, not everybody is happy. (uley
contrasts the happiness of 8enina and Aoster $ith the
unhappiness of <ernard. No social stability without individual
stability refers to mass use of soma to create %stable" citiBens
$ho conform to societal norms. !t is through %imperfect"
characters such as <ernard that $e can identify other values
incorporated into the novel7 the concept of freedom and the loss
of individuality, ignorance and human instinct. Cohn, the
)avage"s interpretation of social norms are the same as our
o$n, he sees them as being restrictive, denying him the
opportunity to eperience the human condition. %But ! dont
want com"ort. ! want #od, ! want poetry, ! want real dan$er, !
want "reedom, ! want $oodness. ! want sin. Even fla$ed
products of this Ne$ &orld such as <ernard admit that %!>d
rather be myself. 3yself and nasty. Not somebody else,
ho$ever 2olly."
Through (uley"s repetition of the conditioning process $e
learn that all of the advancements achieved conse'uentially
eliminated many things - family, cultural diversity, art,
literature, science, religion, and philosophy, all things $hich $e
$ould define as being characteristics of $hat enhances and
nurtures a society"s humanity.
I!TR*IWR: The morals presented in Brave New World are not eactly,
$ell, moral are they4
RI,-. SC+TT: !t is also a society that derives pleasure from promiscuous se
and drugs. %Every one belongs to every one else." The
government encourages sociability and seual promiscuity1 %#
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gramme is better than a damn." !t also encourages people not to
d$ell on gloomy thoughts, but to obliterate them $ith drugs.
!"m sure you remember these lines:
%0rgy-porgy, Aord and fun,
Eiss the girls and make them 0ne.
<oys at one $ith girls at peace7
0rgy-porgy gives release."
!!TR*IWR: !ndeed ! do1 !t is through the use of humour that (uley
presents the etent of this society"s lack of relationship $ith the
natural $orld and its natural processes. &e laugh at the
disintegration of $hat our o$n society vie$s as moral, as many
of the situations seem so far fetched in the novel. )atire of
names is also 'uite comedic and indicative of a degeneration of
morals, for eample the <ureau of 9ropaganda
RI,-. SC+TT: )peaking about morals, the portrayal of $hat is right and $rong
in their respective societies sho$ us a difference bet$een the
t$o tets. Brave New World stops any instability, such as
murder $hile Blade Runner allo$s replicants to be legally
gunned do$n by blade runners.
I!TR*IWR: That"s an interesting point you make.
I!TR*IWR: &hat are some other similarities and differences bet$een the
$orlds presented in Blade Runner and Brave New World4
RI,-. SC+TT: <oth tets have religious themes. Brave New World uses Aord
as a satire of the 8ord, $hile Blade Runner uses Tyrell as the
>God of biomechanics>, $ith Roy as the prodigal son, and fallen
angel. %6hristianity $ithout tears - that"s $hat soma is." is
3ustapha 3ond>s summarisation of the hypnotic, revered drug
soma. The society"s religion is that of instant self gratification,
feeling good $ithout second thoughts, and if things go $rong
there is al$ays soma to make you feel better. !n this sense
Brave New World is >stable> $hile Blade Runner is unstable.
They both also present to us important values associated $ith
the concept of %!n the &ild". <oth tets eplore the effects of
humanity>s lack of natural relationship $ith self, $ith others,
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$ith the environment, and $ith God. The Ne$ &orld is
populated $ith beings that have been conceived and gro$nin
laboratories. !n the foetal state they are manipulated to fit into
certain castes and after the decanting process they are
conditioned through various methods. (uley"s savage beings,
in contrast, are portrayed as uncivilised, $ith Cohn the )avage.
0nly the )avage Reservation remains in a natural state, but it is
depicted as a s'ualid, disease ridden area. The natural processes
of aging and even birth is looked do$n upon.
<oth tets obviously relate to the $ild and communicate $ith
us about the lack of, or complete disassociation $ith the natural
$orld. !t has been removed fully in Blade Runner, and isolated
and hidden in Brave New World. %# ne$ life a$aits you in the
0ff-&orld colonies. The chance to begin again in a golden land
of opportunity and adventure." The societys" vie$s on the
natural $orld differ, in the novel it is there to be consumed and
in the film it has already been over-used to the etent of
destruction, again highlighting the differing contet of
(uley"s pre-Evironmentalist era in comparison to ours.
<oth tets also eplore the effects of consumerism and $here it
may lead the $orld. The grandiose appearance of Tyrell>s
apartment is an important symbol of the po$er held from the
benefits if profit and consumerism. The $orld of Blade Runner
is driven by money, %9rofit is our goal here" eplains Tyrell to
=eckard - 6onsumerism has corrupted mankind. This is also
apparent in Brave New World conditioned thought process that
%Ending is better than mending." These are some of the main
similarities and differences, ! feel.
I!TR*IWR: 0ne other similarity is that both societies have outsiders,
ho$ever $ho and $hy they are outsiders differs.The Brave
New World population is genetically engineered, and Cohn has
emotion and is out of place. !n Blade Runner population is
human. Replicants are genetically engineered, have emotion
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and are out of place. !n one $hat is natural is out of place and
the other $hat is unnatural.
RI,-. SC+TT: ! hadn"t thought of that1 !t"s true.
I!TR*IWR: &e $ill be back after this short break to intervie$ Ridley )cott
about $hat $e love to talk about the most on this sho$ ;
contet1
%usic plays
I!TR*IWR: &e"re back, on #rts: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
speaking about the differences of contet in Ridley )cott"s
Blade Runner and #ldous (uley"s Brave New World. <oth
tets, $hile composed half a century apart, still have relevance
to today"s contemporary audience especially in relation to the
concept of %!n the &ild and are a reflection of the contet of
their composer. (ave you en2oyed today"s intervie$, 3r.
)cott4
RI,-. SC+TT: ! have, actually1 !t"s been a tad gruelling though ! must admit.
<ring on the net 'uestion1
I!TR*IWR: &e kno$ that you yourself didn"t $rite the script for <lade
Runner, but being the director, and also alive at the time, you
obviously kno$ a little about the contet in $hich it $as
$ritten and ho$ this has shaped its content and meaning.
&ould you like to share a little about the contet $ith us4
RI,-. SC+TT: )ure. =uring the *+,-s as you kno$, technological advances
became much more immediate in our every day lives. &ith
computers in our offices and homes came many fears including
that human 2obs $ould be lost to machines, alienation in the
commercial $orld $ould take place, invasion of privacy and an
inability to keep up $ith constant changes $ould take place.
9eople also became more a$are of human destruction of the
environment and there $as a general fear that technology $as
taking over to the utter detriment of humanity. )uch pessimism
is very apparent in Blade Runner, playing on the fears of the
people at the time. The lighting in my film $hich follo$s the
conventions of Ailm Noir and also ties in $ith the science
,
fiction genre is dark and shado$y highlighting the dirtiness of
the pollution. To create further atmosphere of a forgotten
natural $orld ! had the etensive use of smoke and also used
music by Hangelis, a ne$ age and electronic composer and
musician. The film"s atmosphere $as greatly enhanced by his
original score ! feel, because it is artificial and synthesised. #ll
these techni'ues $ere used to appeal to the audience by
eaggerating their fears of the detriment of overuse of
technology.
I!TR*IWR: Techni'ues ! think that $ere used very $ell1 No$ (uley $as
$riting in a different contet to a different audience to you.
RI,-. SC+TT: (e $as. #lmost G- years on Brave New World still has
relevance in our contemporary contet though1 )urprisingly,
many futuristic practices $ritten by (uley in the *+.-s have
indeed become reality. )cience and technology are certainly
dominant forces in today"s society and $hile they have brought
benefits to humanity and improved the 'uality of life in some
regards, they still pose very real dangers not unlike those
prophesied by (uley. This results in us as an audience today
gaining perhaps even more from the novel than the intended
audience, as $ith time $e can see that if $hat (uley $rote
about has come true in some respects, perhaps the possibility of
becoming more and more like the inhabitants of Brave New
World is not as far-fetched as $e think. !t makes us think about
our o$n contemporary society.
I!TR*IWR: &ell, that brings today"s intervie$ to a close. Thank you so
much today fore coming to speak to us all tonight, 3r. )cott.
RI,-. SC+TT: 3y pleasure.
I!TR*IWR: &hat an insightful intervie$. Ridley )cott has spoken to us
about the similarities and differences bet$een his movie Blade
Runner and #ldous (uley"s Brave New World. <oth
demonstrate to us the concept of %!n the &ild" - the effects of
humanity>s lack of natural relationship $ith self, $ith others,
$ith the environment, and $ith God, particularly that of the
+
dominance and disassociation $ith the environment. &e"ve
learned that both 'uestion the definition of humanity and depict
morals, religion, consumerism, and $hat it means to be %free"
$ith differing approaches and outcomes. 8astly $e have learnt
about the differing historical contets of the composers and
ho$ this has shaped the $ay the tets $ere $ritten and
directed. !t has also been made apparent to us, $hich $e see
time and time again on this sho$, that our o$n contemporary
contet helps us to shape and find etra meanings from these
tets. The themes and values presented in Blade Runner and
Brave New World are still relevant to us today and make us
think, they have the ability transcend time. Through contet
they are Arts: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, and that"s the
name of this sho$. !"m #ubrey Thomson and on behalf of the
team, good bye for no$.
*+IC +*R: Thank you for listening to ENG-Radio.
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