2023-08-31 08:50:18
In “Frankenstein Myth – Vision and Warning” on September 1 at 10:35 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – Mary Shelley’s novel of Frankenstein and his monster is more relevant today than ever. If the story is ostensibly regarding an artificially created murderous creature, it is in fact regarding the limits of scientific endeavor, regarding questions of morality and ethics. In Oliver Halmburger’s film “Frankenstein Myth – Vision and Warning” “Universum History” documents the genesis of the novel on Friday, September 1, 2023 at 10:35 p.m. on ORF 2, portrays the visionary young author Mary Shelley and shows what the 200th Year-old stuff has to do with modern genetic research and robots. Human-like machines and robots with artificial intelligence are still being researched worldwide today. High-quality re-enactments, current experiments and analyzes by renowned scientists show the past and present of a myth that has occupied mankind since ancient times. And prove: Mary Shelley’s novel is not only a visionary look into the future, but also a warning to humanity.
On a gloomy evening in 1816, a group of English writers met by Lake Geneva. Among them: 18-year-old Mary Godwin and later Mary Shelley. Apocalyptic weather reigns outside – the ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia is darkening all of Europe. It is the so-called “Year Without a Summer” in which Frankenstein’s monster is created. On that stormy night in Geneva, Mary Godwin has a disturbing dream that she presents to her colleagues as a horror story the next day. It is the story of the Swiss naturalist Victor Frankenstein, who wants to find the “elixir of life”. The rest has written literary history: Frankenstein creates a new human being from the body parts of a dead person who actually begins to live. But with the appearance of a monster, the creature spreads fear and terror – and yet only wants one thing: to be loved and accepted.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the sharp line between life and death became increasingly blurred in Europe. Anatomists are beginning to break the Catholic taboo and delve into the inner workings of the human body. They not only examine the workings of the body, but above all they drive the question of the source of life, a soul. Mary Shelley takes up this search in her novel: Her protagonist wants to create a new being: big, strong and beautiful. A super human. The tragedy of Mary Shelley’s world-famous novel lies in the gap between Frankenstein’s vision and the result, his monster: Piece by piece, Victor Frankenstein assembles his human structure from various bodies – and to his surprise, the creature actually awakens. Now Frankenstein is out of control: his creature is a threat, it scares him.
What was a disturbing vision of the future around 200 years ago is reality today: transplantations, steerable prostheses and resuscitation are part of everyday medical life. To this day, numerous researches deal with the question of whether it is possible to create a human being artificially. Science and technology around the world are working flat out to develop human-like robots and “thinking machines” using artificial intelligence. The boundaries of scientific endeavor and moral-ethical questions begin to blur more and more.
Author Mary Shelley was way ahead of her time. With the help of scenic reconstructions, current experiments, interviews with experts and documentary elements, the “Universum History” documentation shows the history of the Frankenstein myth and its relation to the present. It is a desire and a vision that people have had since ancient times: to artificially create new life. Mary Shelley’s gothic literature is possibly a visionary look into our future and a warning to humanity at the same time.
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