Blade Runner is that scary 1982 sci-fi that we all had to watch to death for English class. Directed by Ridley Scott, adapted for screen by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, and first written in novel form by Phillip K. Dick. I wish I had read the book so many years ago when I first saw this. It makes so much more sense when you read the book. Go read it. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Good book.
Rplicants are genetically engineered slaves to work the jobs humans don’t want to do. They’re owned, have no free will, and live very brief lives. Their creators have no care for their creations, disposing of them when they choose to rebel. Roy (Rutger Hauer) and his fellow replicants are on earth to ask why their creator made them the way they are. Deckard (Harrison Ford) is ordered to ‘retire’ them on sight. And so begins a chase.
Watching it now, I notice things differently.
It actually isn’t a romance between Deckard and Rachel (Sean Young). She clearly doesn’t want to be with him, she pulls away and tries to leave. He chases her and physically stops her, throwing her against the wall and crowds into her space. There he demands she repeats after him. The fear is clear, she doesn’t want to be with him but she doesn’t want to make him angry and hurt her, so she gives in and says the words and then lets him violate her. This is rape. Even when she says ‘I love you’ she doesn’t mean it. She knows that if she wants to survive she has to please him.
He programs her to respond in a way that makes him happy but removes her free will. He owns her.
Everything is owned. Nature has been destroyed, it is worth a fortune if you own even a little of it. It has become a collector’s item. All throughout the film we see artificial animals and plants, and humans, all made by corporations and without free will. The main question, of course, is what makes us human? By creating, do we raise ourselves to the level of God? What is to stop our creations from surpassing us? That’s why the replicants are made with fatal flaws. To stop them from doing what we have done to them, taking freedoms.
And then there is the idea of what is a product? Are they products because they’re made in factories even though they’re more human than human?
Wow, this is really throwing me. I feel like I could argue about this for ages, mention every metaphor, and write essays.
The styling is rigid, all about appearances. Rachel is moulded into what is expected of her, again no free will.
Dark, dingy, constantly raining as nature tries to wash away humanities sins.
The author died two weeks before the release of the film. Ford apparently hated the role and mumbles his lines in rebellion. The director’s cut has many fundamental changes and asks more questions.
I can keep going. Great film, Roy is my favourite, especially with his profound lines. Forgive your English teachers for forcing you to watch it, they mean well and want you to realise we’re on the path to that future. That is why this is scary.
Rplicants are genetically engineered slaves to work the jobs humans don’t want to do. They’re owned, have no free will, and live very brief lives. Their creators have no care for their creations, disposing of them when they choose to rebel. Roy (Rutger Hauer) and his fellow replicants are on earth to ask why their creator made them the way they are. Deckard (Harrison Ford) is ordered to ‘retire’ them on sight. And so begins a chase.
Watching it now, I notice things differently.
It actually isn’t a romance between Deckard and Rachel (Sean Young). She clearly doesn’t want to be with him, she pulls away and tries to leave. He chases her and physically stops her, throwing her against the wall and crowds into her space. There he demands she repeats after him. The fear is clear, she doesn’t want to be with him but she doesn’t want to make him angry and hurt her, so she gives in and says the words and then lets him violate her. This is rape. Even when she says ‘I love you’ she doesn’t mean it. She knows that if she wants to survive she has to please him.
He programs her to respond in a way that makes him happy but removes her free will. He owns her.
Everything is owned. Nature has been destroyed, it is worth a fortune if you own even a little of it. It has become a collector’s item. All throughout the film we see artificial animals and plants, and humans, all made by corporations and without free will. The main question, of course, is what makes us human? By creating, do we raise ourselves to the level of God? What is to stop our creations from surpassing us? That’s why the replicants are made with fatal flaws. To stop them from doing what we have done to them, taking freedoms.
And then there is the idea of what is a product? Are they products because they’re made in factories even though they’re more human than human?
Wow, this is really throwing me. I feel like I could argue about this for ages, mention every metaphor, and write essays.
The styling is rigid, all about appearances. Rachel is moulded into what is expected of her, again no free will.
Dark, dingy, constantly raining as nature tries to wash away humanities sins.
The author died two weeks before the release of the film. Ford apparently hated the role and mumbles his lines in rebellion. The director’s cut has many fundamental changes and asks more questions.
I can keep going. Great film, Roy is my favourite, especially with his profound lines. Forgive your English teachers for forcing you to watch it, they mean well and want you to realise we’re on the path to that future. That is why this is scary.
