Blade Runner/Frankenstein Lecture

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a.roy.93@hotmail.com
Lesson Plan
Context/inter-textual allusions
Essential Concepts/thesis points -Similarities
-Differences
Interesting scenes


Bad essay Vs Good essay
Techniques


Context/inter-textual allusions

Frankenstein Blade Runner
Context
Romantic movement
of the early 19th
century, Galvani's
experiments
(1790's)
Industrialisation/
Commercialism
(1980's)
Inter-textual
allusions
Promethean Myth Do androids dream
of Electric Sheep?
Essential Concepts/thesis points
1) Transcending the creative prerogative of god

2) Abrogation of ethical/moral/social/paternal
responsibilities

3) Dichotomous nature of existence



1)Transcending the creative prerogative of god

wealth was an inferior object; but what glory
would attend the discovery, if I could banish
disease from the human frame, and render
man invulnerable to any but a violent death!

We thus see how Frankenstein, unlike Tyrell
chases glory rather than wealth, even so his
actions are aimed at bettering humanity.



1)Transcending the creative prerogative of god

Deckard: She's a replicant.
Tyrell: I'm impressed, Mr. Deckard. How many
questions does it normally take?
Deckard: I don't get it...
Tyrell: How many?
Deckard: Twenty, thirty, cross-referenced.
Tyrell: But with Rachael it took more than a
hundred.
Deckard: How can it not know what it is?
Here Tyrells casual disregard for Rachael
elucidates to us how the linear progression of
time has resulted in the exponential decay of
humanity.

2) Abrogation of responsibilities

I will not hear you. There can be no community
between you and me; we are enemies.

..
For the first time, also, I felt what the duties of
a creator towards his creature were, and that I
ought to render him happy before I complained
of his wickedness. (He feels a sense of guilt,
unlike Tyrell)

2) Abrogation of responsibilities

Tyrell: You were made as well as we could make
you.
Batty: But not to last.
Tyrell: The light that burns twice as bright burns
for half as long - and you have burned so very,
very brightly, Roy. Look at you: you're the
Prodigal Son; you're quite a prize!
3) Dichotomous nature of existence

wonders of existence are blemished by the
monstrosities of humans.

I shall no longer feel the winds play with my cheeks

Retreats to the north pole

3) Dichotomous nature of existence
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of the
Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near
the Tannhuser Gate. All those moments will be
lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

Dies wanting more life

Interesting scenes

Opening scene of the eye/ Roy Batty gouging
Tyrell's eyes out

Roy Batty piercing his hand with a nail

Unicorn scene

Roy Battys ending scene

Chess scene

Opening scene of the eye/ Roy Batty
gouging Tyrell's eyes out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaR5wVL9
x2I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5MDGM
vrSJc
Opening scene of the eye/ Roy Batty
gouging Tyrell's eyes out

Significance of this recurring motif? (band 5)
Compare this recurring motif to a scene in Frankenstein and
offer your own perspective on it (band 6)
Eg. In Frankenstein the blind old man finds the monster to be
rather pleasant, but as soon as his daughters come back to the
house they beat him till he leaves. (WHAT DOES THIS TELL US?)

Blade Runner explains to us how the eyes are what separate
humans from replicants, yet Frankenstein tragically helps us
conclude that eyes are also the cause of all superficial
judgement. Thus a comparative analysis of texts helps us gain
deeper insights into the often superficial nature of humanity.





Roy Batty piercing his hand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dA3DePirs
E

Why does he do this?
What is Christian stigmata?

.

Is Deckard a replicant?
(the next slide is the clue)

Unicorn scene


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhDDybv8_
Ro



Roy Battys ending scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIDlTGd7Y9U

-I have seen things you people would never believe
-I have watched C beams glitter off the Tannhauser
gate
-Significance of the dove?
-importance of a)batty saving Deckard
b)the elegiac nature of his speech

Chess scene

Serves to the plot and carries great symbolic meaning.
When Roy discovers in Sebastian's apartment, that
Sebastian is playing chess with Tyrell, he realizes that
he's found his means of reaching Tyrell. (Plot function)
The game engages Tyrell and when Roy checkmates
him through Sebastian, he's intrigued enough by his
loss to let Sebastian into his bedroom. The symbolic
nature of the Chess game is also ironic.(Chess is a
symbol of the intellectual.) The master mind
metaphorically check-mated by his own creation

Bad intro
What is wrong with the bits in red?

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Blade Runner directed by
Ridley Scott are two texts that engage with contemporary
values. These two texts are significant because they explore
the themes of humanity and monstrosity in light of the
advancement of technology. Shelley explores this subject
through the viewpoint of a man, Victor, who creates a child
so hideous that he cannot bear to look at it, and
consequently abandons it. In Blade Runner, Scott explores
this matter through Tyrell, who creates replicants. The
children of these creators turn out to be smarter and more
human than expected.
Good intro
Engage in an ontological debate through their
narratives
Quick summary of Frankenstein/blade runner
e.g. written during an era where scientific hubris
caused ppl to abandon the metaphysical aspects
of life
e.g. composed during the modern zeitgeist of
commercialism and materialism; greed is good
Thus through an analysis of both texts we are
forced to ..


Bad body para
This is presented to the responder when Holden
confronts Leon. Leon is nervous, wild eyed and
sweating while Holden is calm, collected and analytical.
When Holden asks the questions his voice takes on a
robotic and synthetic tone while Leon becomes more
nervous and anxious. The irony here is that Leon is the
replicant and Holden is the human. This leads us to the
question of what is human? By the same principle
(lolwut) Rachael at first encounter is cold,
unresponsive and robotic. This again begs the question
what is humanity just as the creature questions his
own humanity. In this way both texts challenge the
concept of what constitutes humanity.

Good body para
-kinda nervous when I take tests
-please dont move
-Medium shot/freeze frame
-Diegetic noise of the gun shot (leon subverts
holdens sense of power)

Synthesize techniques + shapes meaning

h


a.roy.93@hotmail.com


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