Have you ever pondered what our future holds? We would all hope for a utopia. But what
would you sacrifice to attain this world? The speculated reality of a dystopia has been
revealed throughout time, as collective behaviour have been carefully circumscribed by
grand narratives that seek to impose modes of conduct. This valid point, Directors, is proved
through Aldous Huxley's modernist novel Brave New World (1932) and Ridley Scott's
postmodernist pastiche film Blade Runner (1982). These literary texts construct cautionary
tales about the future’s restrictions on the truth and danger of science reflected within a
composer's context. Huxley’s modernist novel contemplates the notion that when an
individual becomes conscious of the authoritarian society that subliminally influences their
lives, a rebellious metacognitive process of introspection will inevitably take place. In
contrast, Blade Runner denotes the manipulative effect of science, driven by corporate
power, to render the masses ignorant of its harsh reality.
In a world where everything feels right, what is morally wrong becomes a blurred reality.
Brave New World cautions responders by encapsulating the idea of an individual's
conscience of an authoritarian society that ultimately develops into rebellion. This cautionary
tale was based on his resistance to rationalise the truth of political anxiety and fascism in
20th-century Europe. The anti-hero, Benard satirically describes emotion and love as
"incomprehensible and dangerous nonsense" during the rising action of the novel and
powerfully positions the audience to observe his increasing disillusionment of the World
State’s impassive idea of love and develop deviant attitudes and beliefs toward this ideology.
The free indirect discourse within his comment is utilised to intentionally dissolve Huxley’s
resistance and innate awareness of the danger of science in an oppressive society through
Benard’s characterisation. Additionally, Huxley imperatively embodies Benard’s strong desire
for individuality as he "wants to feel something strongly" and foreshadows possible acts of
rebellion as the natural human trait of curiosity to seek the “truth" would lead citizens of the
world to be unconditioned out of their designated behaviour, thus, inevitably lead to the
instability of the "flawless World State''. This further reflects Huxley's criticism of the
domination of 1930s technological optimism, driven by consumerism. Moreover, the World
State’s platitude in the rhyming couplet of "when the individual feels, the community reels,"
creates a sense of awareness within responders that society is dismissive of individuality and
its patent disapproval of any acts of rebellion, hence providing insight into a conservative
world achieved through the universal manipulation of science. The lack of humanity to
become an emotionless existence brings to question what makes us human? Thus, through
Huxley’s evocative portrayal of the human desire to rebel against conformity that seeks to
impose individuality, he challenges modern readers to explore the experiences of individuals
from worlds that are different to our own and become more emotionally sensitive to the
multiplicity of the human experience.
In stark contrast, Blade Runner visually confronts the manipulative effect of science, driven
by corporate power, to render the masses ignorant of its harsh reality. The cruel politics
portrayed through film noir was a rebuttal of Reaganism, criticising the worldwide economic
rationalism and the rise of a permanent underclass where street people lived in an emerging
cyberpunk subculture. The opening establishing scene compliments this criticism through the
low angle of the Tyrell tower, as modern audiences become intimidatingly aware of its salient
size, dominating the landscape and evoking a sense of ominous power. The tower’s unique
structure historically alludes to Mayan pyramids and proves that the connotations associated
with power still resonate within a modernised context and visually constructs the power of
