J: Today I'd like to discuss how context shapes the values reflected in texts, and to help me out, I've invited two gentlemen I believe to be experts on the matter. I'm sure the listeners are as excited as I am, so without further delay, allow me to introduce Aldous Huxley and Ridley Scott!H: Good morning.
S: Hi John.
J: Lets start with the basics Mr. Huxley. How do you believe your work was influenced by the context in which it was written.
H: Oh, immensely John. The post-war decade was a turbulent time. Technological milestones were almost a daily ritual. With all the new medical breakthroughs, the talking pictures, automobiles, it was all so novel and wonderful. And the production lines made it all accessible. It meant a new life for our entire society.
J: But judging by the satirical tone of your work, you weren't too impressed?H: To be honest John, the growing dependence on these scientific luxuries frightened me.
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Aldous Huxley
Huxley and Arnold family tree. It is incomplete.Our society was losing its link with the natural world. I merely explored the implications should such a trend continue. Through sterile imagery "but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory" and the notion of the mass production of humanity itself "Bokanovsky's process" I've satirized an over-dependence on science. This is reinforced through Lenina's dependence "I wish I had my soma" and through recurring references to artificial simulation of natural human experiences "Violent passion surrogate" "pregnancy surrogate". Science was beginning to play a dominant role in our daily lives, and yes, the extent of this did concern me.
J: Fascinating. Now over to you Mr. Scott. To what extent do you believe context shapes the values reflected in your film?S: I have to agree with Mr. Huxley and say...