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 uniqueness of an individual is essential to freedom. Through bokanovskification the bond between mother and child is broken, eradicating individual qualities and helping the people to accept their captivity.

We also see the effects of the way people are created within Blade runner. The replicants are conditioned in their own way as well. They have memories implanted with in them fabricating a past. The memories they are given determine the way they react to different situations. In the film, it is the replicants that are aware of their past and how they have been created that are causing all the trouble. Where as Deckard and Rachael are tame and predictable when they are both oblivious to their artificial creation.

Andrew:

Now the issue of sex is mentioned quite a lot within your book, from the young children engaging in erotic play, Linda's relationship with Popй, and the concept of everyone belong to everyone else. Why is this?

Huxley:

Just on the surface I am commenting on a society where sexual freedom is encouraged, and how free sexual relations discourage any sense of love, a society which I believe to be very similar to that of today. I am trying to express what I believe to be the consequences and the price of such sexual immorality.

On another level I have constructed a satire upon sexual relationships. It is a world where everyone is obligated to have sexual intercourse with each other, as often as they can, but aren't allowed to have babies, a world where the idea of mothers is a profanity. The purpose of sex is reproduction, to create a child, and in Brave New World, this entire concept has been flipped onto its head.

Andrew: