Bladerunner, Brave New World

Andrew:

Well, our next guest is a man who needs no introduction. He is a literary genius, scientist, philosopher and the author of his times, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. Aldous Leonard Huxley.

Huxley:

Good evening Andrew.

Andrew:

Great to have here with us Aldous, sorry we don’t have a great deal of time so we’ll get strait into it. Your Novel Brave New World, Could you briefly tell us about your book and the role of creation within the text.

Huxley:

The book is about the destruction of life in the pursuit of a new one, hence the title Brave New World. The book describes a world that the characters within believe to be a utopian society. All the substance within in Brave New World begins at the New World States; places where human beings are manufactured like machines. The story takes place in a world state in the 7th century A.F. (after Ford), where social stability is based on a scientific caste system. Human beings are graded from the highest intellectuals to lowest manual workers. They are hatched from incubators and raised in communal nurseries, learning by methodical conditioning to become oblivious and accepting of their captivity.

Andrew:

So Aldus, tell me, where did this fascination for creation begin?

Huxley:

Well my grand father was Thomas Henry Huxley, an outspoken defender and advocate for Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. He was nicknamed "Darwin's bulldog," being the most vocal of his supporters. He quite famously told the pope; "I would rather be the offspring of two apes than be a man and afraid to face the truth."

Hearing my father talk about him sparked my imagination and caused me to research the subject further.

My brother is also a great biologist whom without his help the book would never have been completed.

But I guess the underlining fact is; everything stems from creation, and the way in which something is created will affect its purpose and role in life.

Andrew:

Such as natural birth as apposed to bokanovskification within the hatcheries?

Huxley:

Exactly. Take childbirth for example. It is an extreme process where a pregnant woman carries a child for nine months then goes through the excruciating pains of labor for a few hours. This already creates an amazing bond between mother and child. I believe Heredity and circumstance make each individual unique, and that the uni...

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...in the book. I believe Tyrell and I to be quite similar. He lives upon the top of a ziggurat, similar to the Greek gods upon Mt Olympus, and controls the genetic fate of his people the replicants. He controls their life span, fabricates a past and believes he has superior power above all he has created.

Andrew: Well thank you very much Aldous, it’s been extremely interesting.

The subject of a creation can have as much impact on it’s creator, as it’s creator on it. When time, money, and passion are invested into any task, (especially creation) our art becomes part of us. Tyrell’s identity is built by his creation of replicants, just like a god, and Aldous Huxley is the creator and god of his own universe. Both these people would have no identity without their creations, and their creations would not exist without them.

Both Blade Runner and Brave New world center on the issues of creation, both texts using the issue as a warning for the future. As we study both text and examine what they have to offer, we should be asking where our society is heading, and are we losing a part of our own humanity within consumerism and science?

Take care, of yourselves and each other, Goodnight.