Topic Ten: Blade Runner

Lecture

We watched the film named Blade Runner, made in 1982. We watched it in its theatrical version. Over the last twenty five years there have been three or more different versions floating around, with my favourite being the 'Final Cut'. The version we watched included overly simple and irritating narration and a 'feel good' or positive ending, which differs from the ending in the 'Final Cut'. In that version there was a bleaker yet more realistic ending and the narration had been removed to add more mystery and ambiguousness. The movie followed on from our discussion on Cyberpunk and includes such themes as artificial intelligence, cities out of control and post-industrial dystopia dissected all contained in a film noir sensibility. We have a protagonist who is deeply conflicted and whos motivations come into question throughout the movie. His jobs consists of hunting down human looking android fugitives and 'retiring' them. He falls in love with one of these creations created by a large corporation, but the question remains if he is in fact a replicant himself.

Tutorial

Talking about Blade Runner directly relates to my chosen assignment of Cyberpunk and its effect on film. My research for the topic has ranged from the creation or emergence of cyberpunk and cyberpunk themes, cyberspace and Utopian/Dystopian ideas and ideals. My research will continue to gather more scope of the effects that this type of literature has on film. Blade Runner's influences can clearly be seen when compared with movies like Alphaville and Metropolis. It was however adapted from the book "Do androids dream of electric sheep?", but a few changes were made. The whole cyberpunk genre appeals to be because it can be acknowledged as an indicator of what will befall society if we rely too greatly on machines and technology. Sure technology can increase efficiency and productivity, which are two great advantages, but in some cases over reliance can result in detachment and segregation. I believe there must remain a balance between human elements and technology, and that face to face communication must always be the preferred option, however today's society limits this, and in fact encourages communication by technology means (i.e phones and internet). Cyberpunk themes foreshadow that this disconnection of face to face contact, and shows where this disconnection could possibly lead to.

Readings

The readings for the week consisted of an essay named 'An exploration of what it is to be human'. It discusses our interpretation of what being a human entails and focuses on the novel "Do androids dream of electric sheep?", that i mentioned earlier. It discusses the way humans and replicants in the book can be told apart by the Voight-Kampff machine. The machine uses technology that deciphers the difference between instinctive and stimulated responses. The essay comments on our growing lack of humanity in regards to people or things we don't understand and wish to control. The more control we wish to have, the less distinctive traits we are allowed to exhibit. The essay suggests that we judge and interpret people based on only what we already know about them, as opposed to what we can find out about them. It also brings up the point that one of Philip Dick's prevailing themes in his novel, that is, that empathy is what makes us human. By negating empathy we in turn start to lose our humanity.