Aldous Huxley immediately establishes the ideal of his book that humans think they are more sophisticated than the natural world. The concept of conditioning the masses to “hate the country but love country sports” is a perfect example of this. Using this contrast the composer indicates his concern that the leaders of the New Sate are manipulating the natural world with the intelligent and sophisticated scientific advances for materialistic purposes.
Facts and statistics are continually used within the text. Lines such as “In extraordinary cases one ovary can produce us with 15,000 individuals”. This was intended by the composer to make his novel and its characters more sophisticated. This use of statistics also serves the purpose of making the novel more realistic, and warning a perspective audience of the possible mechanic consequences current actions may bring in the future.
Through out the novel Huxley specifies that the citizens of the New State are ultimately unable to over come the natural rhythms of the natural world, that no matter what humanity does to over come the wild they will at some point falter, a fundamental aspect of human nature; failure. Despite the apparent sophistication seen in the creations of people and conditioning some members of society still represent the natural world. Bernard Marx is a perfect example of this with his unorthodox ideals. Bernard likes to be alone with nature, he sees the chaos it provides compared with the conformity of his created environment and it excites him, a highly unusual and unacceptable principle within the New Sate, where he was conditioned to have no individual thought. Even Lenina, while not as extreme as Bernard, has moments when the worlds natural Rhythms can be seen through her such as when she feels less furor towards promiscuity.
One of the points Huxley’s stresses, practically towards the end of his novel is that humanity can not be achieved with out the effects of pain, god and chaos. While the members of the New Sate refer to those living in natural world as savages they themselves appear unable to emphasise with those around them, ironically turning them into heartless, cold ‘savages’. The lack of individual experience and thought with in the New World has stifled any form of creativity and the sophistication of such creative personalities as Shakespeare.
To indicate the ultimate fact that humans can not really be human without nature Huxley uses juxtaposition. While Lenina ad the other members of the New State use soma to escape discomfort and pain John the savage is able to “time and death and god”, elements which a 1930’s and contemporary audience would feel marked true sophistication.
Juxtaposition is also seen between the characters Mustapha Mond and John the savage. As afore mentioned John realises the integral link between identity, nature and god. When confronted with this opinion Mond merely replies “god is not compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness”.
The society of Brave New World is ultimately a distopia disguised as a utopia. While at a fist glance the New Sate shows signs of scientific advancement and supposedly universal happiness it quickly becomes evident that the New Sate considers itself more sophisticated than the natural world. However, it is also clear that no matter how far humanity appears to move from the natural rhythms of life they are ultimately unavoidable. Huxley was able to express this issue through his inversion of 1930’s values. While completely removing the mother role women are traditionally required to fulfill he left only the position of whore. New Sate women are expected to be promiscuous, god has been replaced with company manager “Ford” and emotions are no longer necessary. Such techniques by Huxley eventually illustrate to the audience the ironic fact that mentally these members of such as ‘utopia’ are in fact not sophisticated at all due to their lack of individuality and relationship with the natural world.
In correspondence to Brave New World the leaders of the futuristic Blade Runner also place human sophistication above the natural rhythms of the world. Tyrell clearly sees himself as above nature. He has appointed him self god. Scott symbolically uses low angle shots upon Tyrell’s building to symbolise this. Such camera angles make that building appear larger and more powerful. At the same time the director uses irony in the fact that the Tyrell building is similar to an Aztec temple, an ancient civilisation who worshiped the natural rhythms of the world. At the same time this provides an indication of humanities inability to break away from the wild.
At the same time the need for natural rhythms is shown through the population. A panning shot of the city floor shows the little, overcrowded and dark population of Blade Runner. With out common aspects of the environment such as sunlight and fresh air all citizens on the city floor are suspicious, hidden figures. They, as a collective, express humanities need to be in touch with nature in order to advance as individual people. The population also shows signs, that despite the fact that their society is dominated by science and consumerism, they inevitably follow a god. Although Tyrell may be considered a false idol a natural aspect of humanity is to revere a god, whom is provided in Tyrell.
In concurrence with Brave New World those members of society who are apparently more sophisticated than nature are flawed by nature. Tyrell who repetitively symbolically over comes nature such as when he shuts the natural sunlight out of his room wears glasses. Similarly Gaff walks with a limp. This indicates that although ‘humanity is more sophisticated than the wild’ such characters have not been able to avoid the natural advancements life has had on their bodies.
The opening wide shot of Blade Runner shows a chaotic city. Fire erupts from the bottom of the screen, lightning flashes across the sky and a flying car whizzes by. This is an immediate indication of the society’s inability to harness nature. While supposing humanity as more sophisticated than the wild Tyrell amongst others is unable to prevent the natural degradation of earth due to the actions under taken by man.
Irony has been engaged by the director in the creation of replicants. Yet again human society has considered itself to be more sophisticated than nature in the ability to create a super being. While Tyrell was originally supposed to maintain control over these creations the replicants have become “more human than human”. The replicants experience feeling that naturally created humans have lost as well as the will to strive for life. Such a reversion of initial ideals demonstrates the fact that all the ‘sophisticated’ technology and science in this future could not demolish the natural world.
Juxtaposition is another technique used to express Blade Runner’s supposed sophistication over nature. Referring to the city as ‘city of fallen angles’ Scott provides a link between the Los Angeles or ‘city of angels’ of the 1980’s. This also serves the purpose of presenting his contextual audience of comparing the sophisticated free thinking audience to the prospective future of conformity and destruction.
Again expressing the sophistication nature brings with humanity and creation Scott uses inter-textuality. Providing quotes from poets such as William Blake with lines “Fiery the Angels rose” Scott represents the sophisticated, creative freedom given up for science and consumerism in the future.
A highly important aspect of Blade Runner is Scott’s fusion of the science fiction and film noire genre. Flying cars at the beginning of the film establish the science fiction genre. As the film progresses the audience is presented with a voight-kampft test. Dark lighting, a smoky, shadowy room with a low swinging fan and a jaded detective institute the film noire aspect of the plot. This plays the purpose of indicating a further isolation from the natural world. Such controlled environments provide examples of humanities belief that it is more sophisticated and indeed more powerful than the wild.
Despite being written some fifty years apart both Brave New World By Aldous Huxley and Blade Runner Directed by Ridley Scott present the same message. Both texts argue that with advancing technology humanity feels itself more sophisticated and more powerful than the natural rhythms of the world. However, at the same time aspects represented in each text point out that Humanity can never be completely isolated from nature.