People have tried to imagine the future for thousands of years. People saw visions of magnificent Art Deco architecture in the midst of huge, air-conditioned airplanes that could transport six-hundred passengers. The nineteen fifties and sixties saw campy space adventures as well as a colourful, nuclear-powered world called ‘The Jetsons.’ This world featured flying cars. Blade Runner contrasts this by focusing on a dystopian re-fitted Los Angeles that shows society struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world. This 1982 science-fiction masterpiece offers insights about civilization and how it is perceived. The characters, dialogue, and narrative provide insight. Blade Runner combines both philosophical and visual elements to communicate the themes of Man vs. Machine and Man vs. Society.
The nineteen eighties was a decade of pivotal importance that helped to create the modern world we know today. The eighties were a time of groundbreaking music, technology, fashion, and much more. The eighties were a time when pop culture exploded with fanaticism and vibrant colors. However, science fiction media depressingly reminded Americans that the modernized antiutopian world was filled with artificial people, overdeveloped cities and corporate manpower. This is what led to Blade Runner’s key message and setting. Blade Runner has been called a pioneer film in “cyberpunk”, a genre of science fiction that combines low tech with high life. This decade saw science fiction redefined, if not reborn. As the eighties failed to embrace a utopia once imagined, many socioeconomic disasters occurred worldwide. America’s growth was unstoppable. The AIDS epidemic was a major shock to the global population. In the nineteen eighties, technological innovation was a critical part of society. As the availability of home computers such Commodore 64 and Apple II became more accessible, the capabilities of cellular phones and video games improved. The first signs of modern technology are visible. Instead of being a fringe hobby for scholars and geeks, computers quickly evolved into a viable product that can be promoted and marketed to more people. These significant events are evident in Blade Runner’s characters, story and location. Blade Runner’s opening sequence begins with a simple scrolling text that briefly outlines the story. The audience is presented with complex philosophical themes: What it means for a human to exist, how memories influence us, and themes such as love, exploitation, postcolonialism as well as social decay. Rick Deckard (the main character) must navigate the cyberpunk world to fulfill his mission. Bryant drags Deckard out of retirement to find four Replicants. As Blade Runner unfolds, more details about Deckard’s humanity are revealed. In twenty-nineteen Los Angeles, he is only surviving. The times have changed. The planet’s climate is being radically altered because of frightening levels pollution. Deckard’s native city has become an ugly, over-built urban jungle. He is divorced. His character is lonely and far away from romance. Deckard is a jaded person who is reticent and cynical. He is challenged by the moral ambiguities of his role as a killer. This despite the inhumanity that Replicants are. Deckard eventually falls for Rachael, a hyper-realistic Replicate. Blade Runner gives Deckard a lot of challenges and he has to face them all. One is left wondering if “Deckard, film’, was a true ending.
“The protagonist, like all the androids he was assigned to dispatch, is an Android.” (Thompson, 2008).
Blade Runner shows Deckard exploring the surroundings. There are many things to see, including crowded buildings, bustling crowds and buzzing signs. They all represent a dying Earth’s landscape. The biosphere residents are stuck with no other option than to travel to the colonies on the other side of the planet. However, Deckard’s journey through the narrow streets and inclement weather is a reminder that there are other settings. These elements all point out that Los Angeles is made up of a mix of cultures and social classes. The narrow streets of Los Angeles are filthy and narrow. There is a feeling that the streets are narrow and filthy. Ridley Scott also extends shots in order to show the beautiful dystopian borough. These moments are added to the film’s emotional context by weaving them throughout. The viewer is able to feel a certain mood and atmosphere in this small sphere. This ambience seems well-cultivated to expound on all other aspects of Blade Runner. It is a dazzling, majestic place, despite the hellscape of twenty-nineteen Los Angeles. The world is vast and dark, but the people living there are tiny and struggling to survive in a harsh and difficult environment. In the new twenty-twenty year, it is possible to ponder whether this imagined corporeality will become a reality.
Blade Runner communicates many important philosophical themes throughout. These messages are reinforced by metaphors and deeply-rooted allegories, as well as the dystopian setting and characters. Replicants’ eyes and symbolism of the eye are often seen in the movie. Replicants’ eyes and those of other living creatures have a strange glow that reflects the darkened surroundings. Blade Runner features two replicants called Roy and Leon who meet a man who creates eyeglasses for Replicants. Leon is the man who created Roy and Leon. Roy calmly comments to him as they interrogate him. He is the one who created the eyes for Replicants. Although the Replicants are treated as simple tools or machines, and can be’retired’ without ethical concern, the Replicants actually see reality in a rich way. Roy’s quote of Blake in Eye Works.. draws attention not only to what is being seen but also to what isn’t seen. Roy points out Tyrell’s eyes, who is the most responsible for replicant slavery trade. His literal blindness, which is an eloquent symbol of human moral blindness, is displayed through the use of the Tyrell Corporation’s artistic medium. Dr. Eldon Tyell is the only maker of the estranged Replicants. He lives in a penthouse high up on a Babylonian ziggurat pyramid. This is an example of the type of person Dr. Tyrell is. He doesn’t consider himself humble. Blade Runner’s filmmakers aim to make it clear to the viewer that Tyrell is a prebiblical precious idol. All these factors and details combine to form a “lesson Learned”, which can be derived from the movie. This life message is simple: Reality and humanity’s innate definitions are not always as clear as they appear to be.
After watching Blade Runner, you can pose a few questions to yourself: What is it to be human. What is morally right? How do we define ourselves? How do our memories shape us? What does our social status have to do with us? What, then, is the most important thing?
Henry David Thoreau, the transcendentalist and leading thinker, once said that men have become their tools. This quote is true even though it was said by a man who was eighteen years old. Why? Why does the past’s abstract philosophy and conventions still have the potential for application in the future. Despite being criticized harshly when it was first released in nineteen-eighty-two, the film has since gained a historical cult status. Blade Runner’s multifaceted world and the characters and themes that inhabit it blend seamlessly to create a story that will inspire questions and thought for generations. The film’s conclusion brings an end to Rick Deckard’s ethically questionable “hero’s quest” which he embarks upon at the time Roy’s death. Deckard fears that Gaff is a former LAPD officer who has worked with Deckard. Deckard is met solemnly by Gaff. He tells Gaff, “It’s too terrible she won’t die.” But then again, he asks him: “It’s too bad she won’t live.”
