| rdfs:comment | - To be able to create intelligent life. Not just having a regular baby, but actually creating something through science or magic. How awesome that would be. Well. Awesome, assuming that it actually works. And that it works in a benevolent way. In some works, it actually does. If other created individuals are evil by nature, then both tropes apply. If all the created individuals are good (and remain reasonably good, instead of falling into the Frankenstein tradition) but all humans hate them, then it's Torches and Pitchforks or Cloning Blues rather then Creating Life Is Bad.
|
| abstract | - To be able to create intelligent life. Not just having a regular baby, but actually creating something through science or magic. How awesome that would be. Well. Awesome, assuming that it actually works. And that it works in a benevolent way. In some works, it actually does. In many works, Creating Life Is Bad. An ultimate show of scientific hubris. Western literature has its roots in a religious tradition in which the act of creation is the turf of God Almighty, along with eating apples and building really high towers. Thus, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein not only became very influential, but also constantly interpreted through the lens of this condemning mindset. Over the last few decades, more and more authors have been moving away from that old trope, instead moving towards Creating Life Is Awesome - either defying the Frankenstein tradition or ignoring it completely. To qualify for this trope, the created life must be good and be treated as such. And of course, it must be created by humans or similar, not by deities in the traditional sense. If other created individuals are evil by nature, then both tropes apply. If all the created individuals are good (and remain reasonably good, instead of falling into the Frankenstein tradition) but all humans hate them, then it's Torches and Pitchforks or Cloning Blues rather then Creating Life Is Bad. The creator is likely to be a Motherly Scientist or Deity of Human Origin. Examples of Creating Life Is Awesome include:
|
