Blade Runner
Anthropology in the Director’s Cut
In the movie ‘Blade Runner’ directed by Ridley Scott, the question of ‘What does it mean to be human?’ is present in the film. ‘Blade Runner’ is a science-fiction film that takes place in Los Angeles in the year 2019. It is evident that a majority of the population has moved-off world and the poor people of the world were left behind.
It’s always raining—ALWAYS! At the opening of ‘Blade Runner’ when the worlds float up the screen, we are notified that biologically engineered humanoid life forms called “Replicants” are doing all the dangerous, menial, or simply unpleasant tasks off-world. They look exactly like humans but they are vastly superior in strength, agility, endurance, and intelligence. Following an off-Earth rebellion of Replicants, they were banished from Earth with the penalty of death. “Blade Runners” were put in place to hunt down and kill rogue Replicants who returned to Earth. As the beginning of the film tells me, the killing of Replicants is not an execution, but rather it’s called a retirement. Four Replicants have illegally returned to Earth (Roy, Leon, Pris, and Zhora).
These four Replicants are top-of-the-line models called Nexus VI. Led by Roy, a solider Replicant, they had hijacked a space shuttle in space, killing the crew and passengers. They returned Los Angeles for one reason: to extend their lifespan. Replicants have been engineered to live for only four years. The Tyrell Corporation headed by Eldon Tyrell makes these so-called Replicants. They are designed to have no emotions, but after a certain period of time, they begin to develop emotions. The ‘real’ humans didn’t want there to be Replicants running around with emotions so they effectively built this fail-safe. All four of these Replicants are three years into their four year stint and have come seeking by any means to extend their lives. To put it bluntly: “I want more life, fucker!” is what Roy says to Tyrell.
Deckard is blackmailed to return to his ways as a Blade Runner to hunt these Replicants down and retire them. He falls in love with Rachael, a Replicant who doesn’t know that she is in fact one. Deckard’s awareness that Replicants aren’t all they are cut out to be doesn’t stop him from killing the Replicants. With Roy the last one to be retired, Deckard is about to be killed when Roy spares him. This end scene shows the similarities between the ‘real’ humans and the Replicants, which will be explained later. The one thing that was well planned was how Replicants were implanted with memories of a previous real human. These memories are not the Replicants’. When Deckard was drunk and playing the piano, he envisioned a unicorn running through the meadow. At the end of the movie, his handler who had been making origami figures left an origami unicorn. Deckard comes to the realization that he himself is a Replicant because how else would his handler have known he was picturing a private thought of a unicorn in his head? They are somebody else’s memories. Deckard then runs off with his newfound love.
While watching the film ‘Blade Runner’ I came to the conclusion that certain concepts were illustrated in the film. Most dominant was the concept of Anthropology, as well as Theology. Other concepts that I thought the film illustrated were the concepts of both Metaphysics and Morality. In Anthropology, the Pre-Modern take was that man is different in kind, not to the degree from animals. In the Modern period, the understanding was that man was a more sophisticated animal. Then in the Post-Modern Period, the response was there is no true objectivity and that therefore the authentic implementation of the scientific method is invalid to classify humans into a category. With Theology, the Pre-Modern take was that the natural could be explained by the supernatural. In the Modern Period, the belief was that the supernatural could not be explained by science so they focused on the spiritual aspects in the world not the physical. In the Post-Modern Period, the response is that whatever you believe in can go on existing as long as you don’t force others to believe it. Next is the Metaphysical aspect. The Pre-Modern belief was that all the physical objects in the world that we can perceive with are sense were created by a higher, supernatural order. They believed that somebody (God, gods) willed them to be there. In the Modern period, the belief was that nothing supernatural existed, because science and reason were used to answer the question of the physical world (what was physical was ‘real’). The question if a supernatural could exist could not be answered, so they disregarded the supernatural. In the Post-Modern perspective, the belief was that yes, science and reason are useful to understand the physical world but they are not the end all — nor do they create a neutral viewpoint. Everyone looks at everything through their own glasses. As I stated before and I’ll say it again, you can believe whatever you want to believe about the world; just don’t force it down somebody else’s throat. Lastly is the Moral aspect of ‘Blade Runner’. In the Pre-Modern period, morality rose out of benefitting the species that practiced being moral. The king/leader at the time was viewed as God’s representative on Earth. So it is characterized by an unquestioning acceptance of authority and trusting religion to provide the answer to life’s mysteries. Whatever the king/leader said was the moral/immoral, they took it without question. Morality was understood as objective in the Pre-Modern period because it falls into the realms of things that we can know. Morality is understood as subjective in both the Modern and Post-Modern periods because it’s a question that is not subject to scientific examination. Morality can’t be explained using the scientific method. The important question is not “Is it right?” but rather “What will it do for me?”
It was pretty obvious to me that the ‘Blade Runner’ was about mortality and was an attempt to answer the question of ‘What does it mean to be human?’ I felt that the movie was extremely successful in trying to answer Anthropology. What became evident was that the Replicants were in fact more human than the “real humans.” Roy was the most developed character in the film as we see him laugh, cry (when his girlfriend Pris is killed by Deckard), kill (killed Tyrell), and philosophize (right before his death). The issue that is seen most in the film is the issue of death. I’ll admit it myself, I’m afraid to die right now because what if there is only this life I’m living right now where I’m typing this paper? If I think too much about it it’s frightening. People are “alive” in the moments of uncertainty of death or when they are looking in the face of death. Roy and his friends didn’t know how much time they had to live. And now that they have developed an emotional aspect to their lives, they live, fear, and love far more passionately than the film’s “real human” characters. Death harms the person who dies only if death is the absolute end. But if death is a bad thing it must be because it harms us. We have to understand death as depriving us of something we actually have, rather than possibly having. One thing that death takes away from us is a future. The more you have invested in the future, then the more you lose when you lose that future. So basically, those who think about the future in a strong sense, death is a greater harm for those who think about the future in a weak sense. Roy ultimately realizes that life is sacred and shows mercy to Deckard. Roy finally understood that if death harms us, then it must be because it takes away something of value—the value of life. Death is the ultimate horizon against which the things in our life make us what we are stand out. Death is what gives meaning to life in the first place. The fact that I’m here typing my paper is only because we are death-bound beings. Time is what allows us to be what we are. Furthermore, the limit of the time we are given on Earth only adds to how valuable life is to each of us.
Roy is also connected to the Metaphysical in the sense that life is precious. Sophomore year, when we watched the Truman Show the creator said, “We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented.” In the case of Roy in ‘Blade Runner,’ he refused to believe that death was inevitable because he felt that he could have his creator Tyrell prolong his life. This Biblical symbolism was similar to that of the return of the “Prodigal Son.” Roy returned to meet his maker, but when there was nothing he could do, Roy kills Tyrell. This is the Theological concept in the film. The “God-like” figure that was presented was Tyrell. Humans are always trying to play God (Capital Punishment — sentencing people to their death) and are always trying to cheat death. Roy in this case does what any other human being would do. After he continues his murderous rampage in frustration, he comes to accept that even though he may only live four years while his “real human” counterpart lives much longer, Tyrell too will have to face death just like he does. He accepts the “big picture” — that death is a reality and is sure to happen to all living things. Unbeknownst to Roy, he is also a Christ-like figure when he stabs the nail through his hand (similar to Jesus’ hands being nailed to the cross). Roy is half human because of Sebastian’s diminishing condition that makes him turn older much faster than his “real human” counterparts and half Tyrell’s imagination, (Jesus was half man, half divine). Other Biblical parallels that are present throughout ‘Blade Runner’ include: Replicants being expelled/banished from the Earth (Garden of Eden); and the dove that Roy releases before he dies (Holy Spirit).
Another Biblical representation was when Zhora, the exotic dancer, was dancing with the snake (Eve and the Serpent). Scientifically speaking, there was a 1 in 10^120 chance that the universe could have existed. The fact that we are here on a planet some 4.7 billion years old only adds to the proof of “How else could we have gotten here?” The fact that there isn’t a better alternative is another proof that God exists. The concept of Theology (God) exists because it scary to think that in this vast space we are alone. ‘Blade Runner’ accomplished its goal of explaining what it means to be human in the face of death by giving each character an identity and allowing the Replicants to be more human than the “real humans.”
Works Cited
Blade Runner — Director’s Cut
Closed Captioning while watching Blade Runner
Philosophy Explained Through Science Fiction Films — book you gave me
http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=3477
http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2011/12/images/blade-runner11.jpg
http://astroweb.case.edu/ssm/mond/BladeRunner_Leon_flip.jpg
http://3oneseven.com/bladerunner-pris-roy-batty/
http://www.mtv.com/movies/photos/b/blade_runner/ford_and_young.jpg
