Showing posts with label Frankenstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frankenstein. Show all posts

Saturday 5 August 2023

The Bad Shepherd













Ygor
No. He Cannot be Destroyed. 
Cannot Die. 
Your Father made him 
Live for always. 
Now he is sick
Make him well, Frankenstein!

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
I don't know whether I...

Ygor
Your Father made him! 
And Heinrich Frankenstein 
was Your Father too.

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Do You mean to imply
then, that, uh... 
That is My Brother?

 Ygor
But His Mother 
was Lightning.

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Oh, Electricity. We'll see.




Rabbi :
If you had come out of Egypt, 

you would have been 

Destroyed in The Desert 

with all those who worshipped 

The Golden Calf!


Danny, Champion of 

The World (Aged 11) :

Then Let Him 

Destroy Me Now

Go ahead. Kill Me. 

Here I am. Do it. 


Rabbi :

Danny. Glad you came back

I wanted to take up 

that discussion 

We were having. 


Danny, Champion 

of The World :

I can't right now. 


About Abraham and Isaac

You remember what you said…? 

That Isaac actually died 

on Mount Moriah. 

I've been Thinking maybe 

You were right about that. 


You remember what you said

That Isaac actually died 

on Mount Moriah. 

I've been Thinking, maybe 

You were right about that. 


Died... and then reborn 

in The World to Come. 

You remember what you said…? 

That Isaac actually died 

on Mount Moriah. 


I've been Thinking, maybe 

You were right about that. 

Died... and then reborn 

in The World to Come. 


Danny, •STOP•. —


Where Do You Think 

You're going


Don't You Know?

There's nothing 

Up There. 


"...Your Only Son 

whom you love

Isaac, and go unto 

The Land of Moriah 

and offer him there as 

A Sacrifice on A Mountain 

that I will show You.


So... "I will show You.


It was A Test 

of Abraham's Faith

of his Devotion to God. 


Danny, Champion 

of The World :

It's not about 

Abraham's Faith. 

It's about God's Power


Abstraction

They're obsessed 

with Abstraction

"Kill Your Only Son, 

Because I'm Everything 

and You're Nothing." 


"You're nothing."

 Jews. Judaism. 


They're still just Jews. 

Differences exist, 

of course. All right? 


But they're irrelevant

'cause For A Jew

His Jewishness 

Dominates everything


And even the ones 

who renounce it, and 

Who Hate its Strength 

and want to cut it out 

of Their Hearts...

Sunday 14 August 2022

War Stories






Doc. Hollywood :
Good. Let's see what we've got. 
You're a lucky man, Mr. Whale. 
Whatever damage was done by your stroke, 
it left your motor abilities relatively unimpaired. 

James Whale :
Yes, Dr. Payne, but what about 
from the neck upwards? 
What's the story there? 

Doc. Hollywood :
That's what I'm trying to explain. 
The central nervous system 
selects items from a constant 
storm of sensations —
Whatever was killed in your stroke seems 
to have short-circuited this mechanism. 

James Whale :
So you're saying there's 
An Electrical Storm going on 
inside My Head. 

Doc. Hollywood :
Well, that's as good a way 
as any to describe it.
I've seen far worse cases. 

James Whale :
What about all The Rest? 
The killing headaches. 
The phantom smells. 
My inability to close my eyes,
without thinking of a hundred 
things simultaneously

Doc. Hollywood :
I've never encountered the 
olfactory hallucinations before, 
but I'm sure they're related. 

James Whale :
So, what do I do? 

Doc. Hollywood :
Take the Luminol to sleep... 
and whenever you feel 
an attack coming on. 

James Whale :
What you're saying is that this isn't 
just a case of resting until I'm better, 
but that my condition will continue 
to deteriorate until 
the end of my life?

Saturday 13 August 2022

Frankenstein’s Ghost






Sir Cedric Hardwicke also plays the "ghost" of His Father in the scene where Frankenstein decides to reinvigorate the Monster. Hardwicke's mellow baritone sounded nothing at all like the clipped, nervous speech of Colin Clive, who played the original Frankenstein, but Clive had passed away in 1937, the result of poor health exacerbated by acute alcoholism.

The Mob :
There's a curse upon 
This Village...
The Curse of Frankenstein.

Aye.

Aye, it is True.
The whole countryside 
shuns The Village.
Our fields are barren
the inn is empty.

Wailing Woman :
My little ones cry in their sleep.
They are hungry. There is no bread.
It's The Curse, The Curse of Frankenstein.

The Mayor of Frankenstein :
This is nonsense, folks.
You talk as though these were the Dark Ages.
You know as well as I do 
that The Monster died 
in the sulphur pit under 
Frankenstein's tower...
and that Ygor, his familiar 
was riddled with bullets
from the gun of Baron 
Frankenstein himself.

The Mob :
But Ygor does not die that easily.
They hanged him and 
broke his neck
but he lives.

Haven't I seen him, sitting beside 
the hardened sulphur pit,
playing his weird horn, as if to lure 
The Monster back from Death 
to do his evil bidding?


The Mayor of Frankenstein :
You talk like frightened children.

Elder # 1 :
Well, if something isn't done, 
there'll be a new mayor 
after the fall election.

The Mob :
Aye!

The Mayor of Frankenstein :
What do you want me to do?

The Mob :
Destroy The Castle —
Wipe the last traces of these
accursed Frankensteins 
from Our Land.

Elder # 1 :
The People are right, 
Your Honour.

Elder # 2 :
I agree, Your Honour.

The Mayor of Frankenstein :
I Don't Believe that these dead wretches can 
affect the prosperity of This Village.
But Do as You Will with The Castle :
It's yours.

The Mob :
We'll blow it up!

*****



Frankenstein :
Ever since I can remember,
I have dreaded this moment.
For years I felt secure, certain that
The Monster had been destroyed.
I tried to keep all knowledge of it from you. 
And until last night, I succeeded.

Elsa Frankenstein, 
The Princess :
had to know.
Yesterday, when I saw Ygor...
I felt that something had come out
of The Past to threaten our Happiness.

Please don't let it spoil our lives.
Father, promise me.

Frankenstein :
I promise you, Elsa.
I'll find a way.
must find a way.

*****

Frankenstein :
Dr. Bohmer, I need your aid.
This Monster must be destroyed.

Dr. Bohmer :
Destroyed? Buhow?
He's not subject to the ordinary laws of Life. 

Frankenstein :
There is a way.
He was made limb by limb, organ by organ.
He must be unmade in the same way. 

Dr. Bohmer :
Dissection?

Frankenstein :
Bit by bit, piece by piece...
just as My Father created it.

Dr. Bohmer :
But this thing Lives -- 
It would be Murder.

Frankenstein :
How can you call the removal 
of a thing that is not Human, 'Murder'?

Dr. Bohmer :
I regret, Doctor...
cannot be part of your plan.

Frankenstein :
Then I must do it alone.
While it lives, no one is safe.

*****


Frankenstein's Ghost :
My Son - What are you about to do?
Would You Destroy...
that which I, Your Father,
dedicated his life to creating?

Frankenstein :
must. The Monster you created
is in itself destruction.

Frankenstein's Ghost :
Nevertheless, I was near to solving a problem
that has baffled Man since The Beginning of Time...
the secret of life, artificially created. 

Frankenstein :
But it has brought Death
to everything that it's touched.

Frankenstein's Ghost :
That is becauseunknowingly...
I gave it a criminal brain.
With your knowledge of Science,
You can cure that.

Frankenstein :
It's beyond My Cure.
It's a malignant brain.

Frankenstein's Ghost :
What if it had another brain?

Frankenstein :
Another brain!


*****
Frankenstein :
Bohmer! Dr. Bohmer!

Dr. Bohmer :
What is it, Doctor?
You've changed Your Mind?

Frankenstein :
Yes. Attach the high-frequency
leads to the terminal electrodes.

Dr. Bohmer :
Yes, sir.

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
Frankenstein!

Frankenstein :
Come in, Ygor. 
I may need your assistance. 

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
You have agreed.
You are going to Help Him, Doctor?
You are giving him Life.

Frankenstein :
Yes, but not for The Purpose
that you think, Ygor.
I'm giving him strength so that 
an operation may be successful. 

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
An operation?

Frankenstein :
Yes, I'm giving him another brain.
You must explain to him
when he becomes conscious.
You must make him understand.

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
Whose brain?
Kettering?

Frankenstein :
Yes, Kettering.
A Man of character and learning.
The Monster will cease to be an evil influence...
and become everything that is Good. 

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
No! You cannot take My Friend away from me. 
He's all that I have, nothing else. 
You're going to make him Your Friend
and I will be alone.

Frankenstein :
It will be as I say, 
or he must be destroyed. 

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
He cannot be destroyed.

Frankenstein :
There is one way by dissection.

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
NoNot that. Doctor.
Ygor's Body's no good.
His neck is broken, crippled and distorted, 
lame and sick from the bullets
Your Brother fired into me.
You can put My Brain in His Body.

Frankenstein :
Your brain?

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
You can make us One.
We'll be together always...
my brain and his body... Together.

Frankenstein :
You're a cunning fellow, Ygor.
Do you think that I'd put 
your sly and sinister brain 
into the body of A Giant? 
That would be A Monster indeed.

Ygor, The Bad Shepherd :
You'll do as I tell you, 
or I'll not be responsible for the consequences.

Dr. Bohmer :
Ironic, isn't it, Doctor?
Yes, The Monster's Victim shall inherit His Body.
And Everlasting Life.

Frankenstein :
Build up the voltage potential to its maximum.

Wednesday 10 August 2022

The Bad Shepherd




Ygor
No. He cannot be destroyed. 
Cannot Die. 
Your Father made him 
Live for always. Now he is sick
Make him well, Frankenstein!

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
I don't know whether I...

Ygor
Your Father made him! 
And Heinrich Frankenstein 
was Your Father too.

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Do you mean to imply, 
then, that, uh... 
That is My Brother?

 Ygor
But His Mother was Lightning.

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Oh, Electricity. We'll see.










If you had come out of Egypt, 

you would have been destroyed in The Desert 

with all those who 

worshipped The Golden Calf!


Danny, Champion 

of The World (Aged 11) :

Then Let Him Destroy Me Now

Go ahead. Kill Me. 

Here I am. Do it. 


Danny. Glad you came back. 

I wanted to take up that discussion we were having. 


Danny, Champion 

of The World :

I can't right now. 


About Abraham and Isaac

You remember what you said…? 

That Isaac actually died 

on Mount Moriah. 

I've been thinking maybe 

you were right about that. 


You remember what you said

That Isaac actually died 

on Mount Moriah. 

I've been thinking, maybe 

you were right about that. 


Died... and then reborn 

in The World to Come. 

You remember what you said…? 

That Isaac actually died 

on Mount Moriah. 


I've been thinking maybe you were right about that. Died... 

and then reborn in 

The World to Come. 


Danny, •STOP•. —

Where do you think 

you're going…


Don't you know?

There's nothing 

up there. 


"...Your Only Son 

whom you love

Isaac, and go unto 

The Land of Moriah 

and offer him there as 

a Sacrifice on a Mountain 

that I will show you.


So... "I will show you.


It was A Test 

of Abraham's Faith

of his Devotion to God. 


Danny, Champion 

of The World :

It's not about 

Abraham's Faith. 

It's about God's Power


Abstraction

They're obsessed 

with Abstraction

"Kill Your Only Son, 

because I'm Everything 

and You're Nothing." 


"You're nothing."

 Jews. Judaism. 


They're still just Jews. 

Differences exist, 

of course. All right? 


But they're irrelevant

'cause for a Jew, 

His Jewishness 

dominates everything


And even the ones 

who renounce it, 

and who hate its strength 

and want to cut it 

out of their hearts...

Thursday 30 June 2022

The Bride




The Creature :
She hate me. 
Like others

Dr. Pretorius :
Look out! The lever! 
Get away from that lever! You'll blow us all to atoms. 

Baroness Elizabeth von Frankenstein :
Henry! Undo the door! Henry! 

Baron Dr. Henry von Frankenstein :
Get back! 
Get back! 

Baroness Elizabeth von Frankenstein :
I won't unless you come! 

Baron Dr. Henry von Frankenstein :
But I can't leave them! I can't

The Creature :
Yes. Go!
You, Live! Go!
(He turns to Pretorius and The Bride)
You, stay
We Belong Dead.





Dr. Septimus Pretorius :
Doctor. I think The Heart 
is beating. Look. 

Baron Dr. Henry von Frankenstein :
It's beating, but the rhythm 
of the beat is uneven
Increase the saline solution. 

Dr. Septimus Pretorius :
Is there any Life yet? 

Baron Dr. Henry von Frankenstein :
No. Not Life-Itself yet -

This is only the 
simulacrum of Life. 

This action only responds 
when the current is applied.

We must be patient - 
The Human Heart 
is more complex than 
any other part of The Body.




The Creature



No, that’s German -
it says, “The Frankenstein, The!


Created by an Irish clergyman
Melmoth is one of the most fiendish 
characters in literature. 

In a satanic bargain, 
Melmoth exchanges 
his soul for 
immortality

The story of his tortured wanderings through the centuries 
is pieced together through those 
who have been implored by Melmoth 
to take over his pact with The Devil.

Influenced by the Gothic romances of the late 18th
century, Maturin's diabolic tale raised the genre to
a new and macabre pitch. 

Its many admirers include Poe, Balzac, 
Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire.








monster (n.)
early 14c., monstre, "malformed animal or human, creature afflicted with a birth defect," from Old French monstre, mostre "monster, monstrosity" (12c.), and directly from Latin monstrum "divine omen (especially one indicating misfortune), portent, sign; abnormal shape; monster, monstrosity," figuratively "repulsive character, object of dread, awful deed, abomination," a derivative of monere "to remind, bring to (one's) recollection, tell (of); admonish, advise, warn, instruct, teach," from PIE *moneie- "to make think of, remind," suffixed (causative) form of root *men- (1) "to think."

 
Abnormal or prodigious animals were regarded as signs or omens of impending evil. 

Extended by late 14c. to fabulous animals composed of parts of creatures (centaur, griffin, etc.). 

Meaning "animal of vast size" is from 1520s; sense of "person of inhuman cruelty or wickedness, person regarded with horror because of moral deformity" is from 1550s. As an adjective, "of extraordinary size," from 1837. In Old English, the monster Grendel was an aglæca, a word related to aglæc "calamity, terror, distress, oppression." Monster movie "movie featuring a monster as a leading element," is by 1958 (monster film is from 1941).

Origin and meaning of monster
Entries linking to monster

*men- (1)
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to think," with derivatives referring to qualities and states of mind or thought.

It forms all or part of: admonish; Ahura Mazda; ament; amentia; amnesia; amnesty; anamnesis; anamnestic; automatic; automaton; balletomane; comment; compos mentis; dement; demonstrate; Eumenides; idiomatic; maenad; -mancy; mandarin; mania; maniac; manic; mantic; mantis; mantra; memento; mens rea; mental; mention; mentor; mind; Minerva; minnesinger; mnemonic; Mnemosyne; money; monition; monitor; monster; monument; mosaic; Muse; museum; music; muster; premonition; reminiscence; reminiscent; summon.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit manas- "mind, spirit," matih "thought," munih "sage, seer;" Avestan manah- "mind, spirit;" Greek memona "I yearn," mania "madness," mantis "one who divines, prophet, seer;" Latin mens "mind, understanding, reason," memini "I remember," mentio "remembrance;" Lithuanian mintis "thought, idea," Old Church Slavonic mineti "to believe, think," Russian pamjat "memory;" Gothic gamunds, Old English gemynd "memory, remembrance; conscious mind, intellect."

demonstrable (adj.)
"capable of being proved or made evident beyond doubt," c. 1400, from Old French demonstrable and directly from Latin demonstrabilis, from demonstrare "to point out, indicate, demonstrate," figuratively, "to prove, establish," from de- "entirely" (see de-) + monstrare "to point out, show," from monstrum "divine omen, wonder" (see monster). Related: Demonstrably.
demonstrate
demonstration
monstration
muster
remonstrance
sea-monster

Sunday 13 February 2022

Percy







FRANKENSTEIN;
OR,
THE MODERN PROMETHEUS.

IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.


Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?——

Paradise Lost.


London:
PRINTED FOR
LACKINGTON, HUGHES, HARDING, MAVOR, & JONES,
FINSBURY SQUARE.

1818.


TO
WILLIAM GODWIN,
AUTHOR OF POLITICAL JUSTICE, CALEB WILLIAMS, &c.
THESE VOLUMES
Are respectfully inscribed
BY
THE AUTHOR.


PREFACE.

The event on which this fiction is founded has been supposed, by Dr. Darwin, and some of the physiological writers of Germany, as not of impossible occurrence. I shall not be supposed as according the remotest degree of serious faith to such an imagination; yet, in assuming it as the basis of a work of fancy, I have not considered myself as merely weaving a series of supernatural terrors. The event on which the interest of the story depends is exempt from the disadvantages of a mere tale of spectres or enchantment. It was recommended by the novelty of the situations which it developes; and, however impossible as a physical fact, affords a point of view to the imagination for the delineating of human passions more comprehensive and commanding than any which the ordinary relations of existing events can yield.

I have thus endeavoured to preserve the truth of the elementary principles of human nature, while I have not scrupled to innovate upon their combinations. The Iliad, the tragic poetry of Greece,—Shakespeare, in the Tempest and Midsummer Night’s Dream,—and most especially Milton, in Paradise Lost, conform to this rule; and the most humble novelist, who seeks to confer or receive amusement from his labours, may, without presumption, apply to prose fiction a licence, or rather a rule, from the adoption of which so many exquisite combinations of human feeling have resulted in the highest specimens of poetry.

The circumstance on which my story rests was suggested in casual conversation. It was commenced, partly as a source of amusement, and partly as an expedient for exercising any untried resources of mind. Other motives were mingled with these, as the work proceeded. I am by no means indifferent to the manner in which whatever moral tendencies exist in the sentiments or characters it contains shall affect the reader; yet my chief concern in this respect has been limited to the avoiding of the enervating effects of the novels of the present day, and to the exhibitions of the amiableness of domestic affection, and the excellence of universal virtue. The opinions which naturally spring from the character and situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing always in my own conviction; nor is any inference justly to be drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical doctrine of whatever kind.

It is a subject also of additional interest to the author, that this story was begun in the majestic region where the scene is principally laid, and in society which cannot cease to be regretted. I passed the summer of 1816 in the environs of Geneva. The season was cold and rainy, and in the evenings we crowded around a blazing wood fire, and occasionally amused ourselves with some German stories of ghosts, which happened to fall into our hands. These tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation. Two other friends (a tale from the pen of one of whom would be far more acceptable to the public than any thing I can ever hope to produce) and myself agreed to write each a story, founded on some supernatural occurrence.

The weather, however, suddenly became serene; and my two friends left me on a journey among the Alps, and lost, in the magnificent scenes which they present, all memory of their ghostly visions. The following tale is the only one which has been completed.


Monday 11 January 2021

The Two Species of HyperAdapter : The Cyborg and The Vampire



The Crucial Detail is CONSENT. 


Consent creates A Game

not  A Crime.


There are Two Kinds of Stories 

We Tell Our Children.


The First Kind : 



Once upon a time, there was a fuzzy little rabbit named Frizzy-Top who went on a quantum, fun adventure 

only to face a big setback, 

which he overcame through perseverance 

and by being adorable’


This kind of story teaches Empathy.


“Put yourself in Frizzy-Top's shoes”, 

in other words.



The Other Kind



Oliver Anthony Bird, if you get too close to That Ocean, you'll be sucked into The Sea and drowned


This kind of story teaches them Fear.


And for the rest of their lives, these two stories compete :


Empathy and Fear.


And so I bring you tonight's play, 

A Work in Five Acts 

About a fuzzy little bunny,

Who got too close to The Ocean 

and 

What Happened Next.


Let us begin.




The Cyborg is a Person 

with Technology 

(of ANY kind, not just machinery), 

grafted onto his or her Being 

"I think one of the things that really separates us from the high primates is that we’re tool builders. I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer. And, humans came in with a rather unimpressive showing, about a third of the way down the list. It was not too proud a showing for the crown of creation. So, that didn’t look so good. But, then somebody at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle. And, a man on a bicycle, a human on a bicycle, blew the condor away, completely off the top of the charts.


And that’s what a computer is to me. What a computer is to me is it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.” ~ Steve Jobs





The Vampire is an ex-Person 
Who eats Other People 
and 
Takes Their Stuff.



Q: 
You can't outrun Them. 
You can't destroy Them. 

If you damage Them, 
The Essence of What They Are remains

They regenerate and keep coming

Eventually you will weaken, 
Your reserves will be gone. 

They are Relentless.

WORF: 
The Borg ship is firing. 
We have lost shields again.

[Engineering]

LAFORGE: 
Captain, we've just lost the warp engines.

[Bridge]

Q: 
Where's your stubbornness now, Picard, your arrogance

Do you still profess to be prepared for what awaits you? 

WORF: 
The Borg ship is re-establishing its tractor beam.

RIKER: 
Lock on photon torpedoes.

WORF: 
Yes, sir.

DATA: 
Without our shields, at this range there is a high degree of probability that a photon detonation could destroy the Enterprise.

RIKER: 
Prepare to fire.

(Q swaps places with Data) 

Q:
I'll be leaving now.
 
You thought you could handle it, so handle it.

PICARD: 
Q. End this.

Q:
Moi? What makes you think I am either 
inclined or capable to terminate this encounter?

PICARD: 
If we all die, here, now.... 
You will not be able to gloat! 

You wanted to frighten us. 
We're frightened

You wanted to show us that we were inadequate. 
For the moment, I grant that. 

You wanted me to say 
“I need you” 

I need you! 

(With a snap of Q's fingers, the Enterprise goes whirling through space again

RIKER: 
Position.

WESLEY: 
Zero seven zero, mark six three, sir. Back where we started.

(Q swaps places with Riker


Q: 
That was a Difficult Admission
Another man would have been humiliated to say those words. 

Another man would have rather died than ask for help. 

PICARD: 
I understand what you've done here, Q, but I think the lesson could have been learned without the loss of eighteen members of my crew.

Q: 
If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. 
It's not safe out here. 
It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross, but it's not for the timid.

(Q vanishes and everyone is back in his own seat) 

PICARD: 
Mister Crusher, set course for the nearest starbase.

WESLEY: 
Course laid in for Starbase Eighty Three, sir. 

PICARD: 
Engage.

[Ten forward]

(Guinan and Picard are playing a version of 3D chess

GUINAN: 
Q set a series of events into motion, bringing contact with the Borg much sooner than it should have come. 

Now, perhaps when you're ready, it might be possible to establish A Relationship with them --

But for now, for right now, 
you're just raw material to them. 

Since They are aware of your existence —

PICARD
-- ....They will be coming.

GUINAN: 
You can bet on it.

PICARD:
Maybe Q did The Right Thing for The Wrong Reason.

GUINAN: 
How so?

PICARD: 
Well, perhaps what we most needed was a kick in our complacency, to prepare us ready for what lies ahead.