An aspect of both texts where the composers are warning about the consequences of the desire for control concerns the detachment of humanity with the natural environment.
In ‘Brave New World’, the low caste citizens are socially and psychologically conditioned by the “Polsky Process” to negatively manipulate the early infant’s impressions of nature so that they may despise it and avoid it for the rest of their lives, “We condition the masses to hate the country (nature)…to abolish the love of nature…”. Huxley has emphasised the value of nature and the consequences of humanity being divorced from it, by using irony. An example of irony is when the World State uses natural products obtained from the natural environment to replace mothers’ uteres, for the production of embryos, which is ultimately the foundation for the citizens’ existence. Huxley is stressing and highlighting the fact that humanity cannot be separate from nature as it is ultimately dependent on it for its continual civilisation and existence, and without this relationship, the consequences are clear, that they are not living natural human lives and the quality of humanity will disintegrate.
Similarly in ‘Blade Runner’, the idea of humanity being detached from the natural environment and the consequences as a result has been explored. As the natural environment is an important aspect to define humanity, it is almost completely removed from the Los Angeles society in 2019. This is evident in the opening scene where special effects are used by Ridley Scott to portray the dystopic setting of the society, such as smoke, shadows, enormous buildings, flares, rain and lightening, alongside with the use of diegetic sound effects such as explosions. This illustrates a dark, grim, polluted, and highly urbanised city where technology and urban development has completely overhauled nature and its rhythms as a result of humanity’s excessive dependency on technology and materialism. This has obviously resulted in the loss of the natural environment and humanity’s appreciation for it, where humanity is ultimately and beyond doubt dependent upon. The natural environment cannot solely define humanity and its relationship with nature, however it must be integrated also with the aspect of freedom and liberation, because humans are dependent on this too.
Both texts, showing similarities and differences, explore the idea of loss of freedom and the definite need for liberation to benefit society. Freedom in ‘Brave New World’ is removed deliberately through the use of conditioning methods to socially, psychologically, emotionally, and intellectually control individuals. They are manipulated to “fit into” society by fitting into a certain position in the caste system so that they have predestined lives to provide continual service to the society, “All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable society destiny”. Huxley has used satire such as the caste system with labelled identities “…as Alphas or Epsilons…”and hypnopaedic slogans, “everyone belongs to everyone else”, to emphasise the fact that depriving individuals of their freedom and liberation can only lead to irrational and pointless living. An example of Huxley’s use of satire in the practicality of the caste system is that Epsilons, the most insignificant social group among the many other labelled castes, are happy being physically disadvantaged and they actually enjoy menial tasks as a service to the society.
Freedom in ‘Blade Runner’ shows similarities and differences with ‘Brave New World’. A similarity is that the Replicants have also been controlled and manipulated emotionally, physically and intellectually to serve the human soldiers, “That's what it is like to be a slave”. Contrast is apparent between the two texts, because the citizens of in ‘Brave New World’ are conditioned to love their servitude, however the Replicants in ‘Blade Runner’ are completely aware of their lack of freedom and their low status and position in life, due to their limited four-year life span. This is evident when the Nexus-6 Replicants pursue in the search for more life, “I want more life, F***er!”. Ridley Scott has conveyed the loss of freedom and its impact on humans by using the symbol of a dove, which represents liberation, upon Roy’s death, to emphasise that a loss of freedom for the desire of control leads to the deaths of ‘innocent people’ who possesses natural desires to live a natural human life in accordance with nature.
A comparative study of ‘Brave New World’ and ‘Blade Runner’, despite being produced some fifty years apart, both present the same message about the dangerous repercussions which could negatively impact upon humanity and its relationship with nature, due to humanity’s oblivious and heartless desire for control. Both texts display the concept of ‘In the Wild’ through various ways to indicate that humanity must preserve and maintain a harmonious relationship with nature and its rhythms to avoid the desires for control, and its resulting consequences. Both texts demonstrate how the process of eliminating natural elements of the world, will soon lead to the elimination of natural elements within themselves, which are imperative to human nature, and will ultimately devalue life completely.