Blade Runner

Within the film, we see a postmodern deconstruction of contemporary, materialistic society. The filmÆs visuals provide us with an environment that basically predicts the end of reality and social order as we now know it. As Clayton (1996) maintains, it provides us with a ôportrait of ecological disaster and urban overcrowding, of a visual and aural landscape saturated with advertising, of a polyglot population immersed in a Babel of competing cultures, of decadence and homelessness, of technological achievement and social decay,ö (53). Within this ôdystopiaö, w

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Human beings rely on material objects and artificial stimulation to provide them with identity and origin in postmodern society as much as do the replicants of Blade Runner. The use of photos often distinguishes replicants from humans because humans, in fact, have not existed in the ôpastö like human beings. We see this most clearly when Deckard investigates LeonÆs apartment and comes across a small pack of family photos. The voice-over narration informs us, ôWhatever was in the bathtub was not human. Replicants donÆt have scales. And family photos? Replicants didnÆt have families either,ö (Scott 1982). It is from such small details we begin to understand and question the meaning and nature of human existence in Blade Runner. Deckard will use the photographs as if they hold some secret mystery, some ultimate truth that he can discover merely by piecing them together or analyzing them properly. This mirrors the manÆs futile quest for the meaning of existence that is never resolved. Despite this, when Tyrell tells Roy he should be grateful for whatever lifespan he has, we are provided with some solace in the face of a lack of meaning in the postmodern world. The way Deckard considers replicants as more than machines is not
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Approximate Word count = 3025
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)