The Monster in Frankenstein
The film is based on the monster created by the egotistical Victor Frankenstein, who believed he could bring life to the dead. The outcome was a terrible big beast that was loathed by everyone who met it. Despite being its creation, Victor rejects and terrifies the monster, a feeling shared by the monster's whole community. From the moment it sprang to life, the creature was thought to be a scientific defect. Yet, the creature begins to exhibit human characteristics in terms of feelings, such as compassion for his "family," but continues to kill others as a kind of vengeance. Apart from feelings, the monster goes to the extent of learning about his personality and acquires basic knowledge from books and the various talks from De Lacey's (Frankenstein).
The Human Nature of Monsters
The film puts into perspective both the inhumane and the human nature of monsters. The human nature of monsters is acquired through experiences whereby the monster in Frankenstein can acquire feelings and information on the day to day activities through interaction. His consistent rejection and abuse from the society make him engage in crime and hence also showing that he felt pain and desired to be accepted (Frankenstein). One of the most significant differences between the film and the text is perceiving the monster to be a man instead of a creature. The film depicts the creature as a man such that he is referred to as Frankenstein. Also, instead of rejection, Victor accepts the monster and views it as one of his significant creations. Another difference is that the creature in the text taught itself how to read and articulate by reading classical literature while in the film, the monster just grunts and growls like an animal without releasing any meaningful speech. The other difference lies in the creation of the monster whereby in the text, scientific principles are applied in creating it while in the movie, Victor is seen robbing graves of body parts and using the parts to form the monster. The science fiction film theory highlights the aspect of fiction films focusing on particular themes of features (Costello 41). About the scientific theory associated with fictitious films, the film focuses on the fantasy of man wanting to exhibit god-like qualities. It concentrates on an extreme and complex task that can only be articulated by fictitious films. The film contributes to the larger discussion of understanding monsters in literature as it presents certain features that make the monsters appear to be humane in the sense that the audience empathizes with the monster.
R.U.R.
The Rossum's Universal Robots introduces the aspect of robots in regards to fictitious stories. Both the film and the movie depict robots as a danger to humankind. The story behind RUR is that the Rossum factory developed a formula that was able to create robots but has human flesh and reasoning. The robots also exhibited humane feelings. However, after a revolution by the robots, they led to the extinction of mankind whereby the robots attacked human beings such that no single human is found alive. The robots in R.U.R. are not machines but rather biological organisms that are created artificially such that one can mistake them for human beings. There are factories that produce their body parts including livers and hearts such that the pieces are placed together to form the robots. R.U.R. is perceived to be the source of the term robot as the common terms used were Android and automated. The play reflects the understanding of robots as per the primary text by illustrating the inhumane nature of robots despite them being created to resemble mankind. It depicts robots as a danger to mankind despite the man being their creators. It shows their lack of empathy for mankind but rather selfish in establishing themselves as the most superior beings.
The Human-Like Nature of Robots
The film brings about the man like feature in the robots such that one cannot tell the difference between a robot and man (R.U.R). The cover of the text shows an element made of metal and scary in nature when compared to the film that exhibits the robots to be similar to human beings. According to the science fiction film theory, fictitious films tend to focus on particular features or themes (Costello 41). The focus of the film is on robots and their lack of empathy when compared to human beings. The discussion that the film brings into perspective is the aspect of empathy in monsters or rather robots when it comes to their relation with humankind. The robots are portrayed to have feelings such that they work well with humans but later are driven by the urge to destroy mankind despite being created by man. In other words, the film contributes to the larger discussion of understanding robots in literature as it presents certain features that make the robots appear to be human but later to monsters that perceive themselves to be superior to mankind. The depiction differs from Frankenstein as the monster shows compassion to his "family" while the robots turn against their creators.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Similarly to the film R.U.R, the film entails Android features that take the shape of human beings such that they try to adapt to the normal activities of man; including engaging in sexual intercourse. The film is referred to as the Blade Runner while the text is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The involved androids went rogue such that they escaped from their organization, Rossen Association, which was in mars to earth. The androids are perceived to exhibit human features whereby they disguise themselves as the human to prevent being recognized. However, their lack of empathy makes them be tracked by empathy tests that distinguish them from human beings. Empathy, in this case, refers to being able to feel what another individual is feeling or rather put oneself into another person's shoes (Blade Runner). The film reflects the understanding of androids as per the first novel that androids, despite exhibiting several features of humanity, are unable to express the nature of man adequately. Also, the man appears to be losing his nature or rather developing the nature of androids such that he has to attach himself to things that make him human. One of the significant differences between the film and the text is that the text depicts the androids to lack emotions and empathy.
The Lack of Humanity in Androids
The androids are perceived to lack the sense of humanity such that Deckard easily eliminates them. However, the film projects them as superhuman whereby they exhibit more strength, intelligence and can acquire human emotions. In regards to film theory, the film projects a twist on the common nature of man, and hence distinguishing itself from the normal script of robots lacking human emotions (Costello 41). The film contributes to the topic as it brings about some aspects of the future in regards to the meaning of being human and the aspect of existentialism. In other words, the novel and the film balance each other when it comes to the associated themes. Nonetheless, the novel presents a comprehensive analysis of a dystopian world that might occur in future while the film brings the visual aspect but with the absence of narrative.
Work Cited
Costello, John. Science Fiction Films. New York: Pocket Essentials, 2004. Print.
Frankenstein. USA Network: Marcus Nispel, 2004. DVD.
R.U.R. Czech Republic: James Kerwin, 1921. DVD.
Blade Runner. USA: Ridley Scott, 1982. DVD.
