Blade Runner — Director’s Cut or Final Cut

In Blade Runner, what (if anything) distinguishes the natural world from the man made?  Originals from copies?  Discuss one particular moment when these questions seem to be central to the movie. 

6 thoughts on “Blade Runner — Director’s Cut or Final Cut

  1. Thomas Wolpow

    One moment in which the question of natural vs. man made is central to the narrative occurs when Deckard applies the emotional test to Rachael. While this scene represents the the struggle throughout the movie to identify and eliminate artificial humanity, this scene holds particular importance, as Rachael seems stuck between the cyborg and human world, and we never find out for sure which world she really inhabits. Another moment/theme that sticks out is the idea of genetic engineering, which has man made and natural components, and ultimately becomes the main issue in the movie, as Roy forces the viewer to grapple with the idea that his humanity is real despite the fact that he is a creation. Unlike the characters, the aesthetic of the movie feels completely artificial, in particular the massive Coca Cola build board that appears several times throughout the film. We see no semblance of a “natural” world, only congestion and chaos.

  2. Nicholas O'Leary

    There is very little that distinguishes the real from the man-made, the only main difference being that of emotion, which the humans exploit to find the replicants. However, we know that the replicants are learning to feel, and that Tyrell has even created one who can feel, so, the line gets thinner and thinner, especially as the movie goes on and on and we see the feelings the replicants feel for each other, and they begin to look more and more human. For me, the time that these questions kept on coming up, was every time Deckard actually retired a replicant, because it closed the gap of real and man made as well as widened it. We see him struggle with this as he is always very emotional and shaken afterwards as if he killed a real human, but we also see it in the variety of ways in which the replicants die. The almost always require multiple shots from what appears to be a very strong gun, and can continue to move even after getting shot. This suggests superhuman ability. I was stricken by this is in particular when Pris died, as she violently thrashed about in exactly the way we might imagine a robot failing/dying when it is damaged. Deckard’s emotional response to killing them makes practically nothing distinguishable, but the replicants actual deaths imply a greater difference than Deckard feels and perhaps we see.

  3. Brianna Lipp

    If you take this question in it’s most literal state, very, very little in the world of Blade Runner is “natural”. Industry and urban life appears to have taken over any possible natural environment and eliminated any “natural” life, derived from the artificial animals and lack of any sort of plant in the Final Cut of the film. Everything is bioengineered — even some of the characters. Therefore, it makes more sense to focus on the film’s examination of humanity as natural or, as the case may be, even man-made. As Haley said earlier, the distinction between the human and the inhuman appears to be “true” memory. A replicant can have memories implanted and not know it (as is the case with Rachael and, depending on to whom you talk, Decker), but only a human can have real, long-term memories. Of course, this is complicated throughout the film as we’re introduced to the importance of eyes and vision to the story, especially when they link with memory. Rachael clearly feels an emotional connection to the photograph of her and her “mother”, and Leon has his “precious photos”. What use would an android, who has perfect recollection by it’s nature, have for photographs beyond some desire for memory creation and emotional connection? It’s interesting to think of how these memories (like the spider hatching) are not fake or constructed; they actually happened, just not to Rachael. Of course, there’s also Roy’s incredible final “tears in rain” speech; he talks about how he has visual memories humans on Earth could not even imagine. In his final moments, he chooses to pass on memories unique to him, nothing implanted. The question of memory and its connections to the genuine nature of humanity are very complicated in Blade Runner, as its characters struggle with letting their pasts define who they are. By not equating the human characters with “real” and the non-humans with “fake”, the movie allows both kinds of people to develop using memory as a tool of awakening in a journey to discover their own authenticity.

  4. Yoshinari Fukuzawa

    In Blade Runner, humans have not created copies of them by manufacturing replicants, but they have also intentionally or unintentionally replicated the rules of nature that bound the humans themselves by also bounding the replicants with the same laws of nature. This is best seen in the scene where Tyrell is confronted by Batty in his bedroom to extend Batty’s lifespan beyond the four-year limit. In response to Batty’s demand “I want more life,” Tyrell says, “The facts of life.” He explains that due to the nature of genes, he–ironically, since he is the founder of replicants–does not have control over the lifespan of the replicants. The fact that Tyrell cannot overcome some laws of nature despite the great advancement of genetic engineering further emphasizes the similarity between the replicants and humans: neither humans nor replicants can extend their lifespan. In other words, with the same laws of nature bounding both humans and replicants, the line between the natural world and the man-made is blurred.

  5. Jack Tyrie

    In Blade Runner, the line between the natural and man-made is so small that it is nearly impossible to distinguish. The only way to determine a replicant from a human is from a very lengthy test that looks at the reaction of the pupils in relation to an emotional response. It is even hard to tell which animals are man-made as we see Deckard asking Zhora whether or not her snake is real. We see this theme as central to the movie every time Deckard kills a replicant. He gets the shakes and it is evident that he feels some sort of guilt despite the fact that he knows he is killing replicants. Deckard sees the emotion in the replicants first hand and cannot help but feel guilty for “retiring” them. We again see this theme when Deckard begins to fall in love with Rachael. He knows that he should not have feelings for her as he is a Blade Runner and it is his job to kill her. However, he is unable to emotionally distinguish her from an actual human being. This feeling is perpetuated by the fact that Rachel does not know that she is a replicant and therefore is only distinguishable by the pupil test.

  6. Haley Glover

    In Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” the mechanic and human are blurred so much so that humans can not tell a replicant from themselves. The test administered in the opening scene and later on by Deckard, attempts to pinpoint a certain quality of the replicants that distinguish them from man and confirm their mechanic nature. The tests deal with emotions and measure the replicants’ responses to questions that should elicit a certain emotional response. Usually the the replicant is discovered if they respond with not enough emotion or too high of emotions because the replicants tended to develop their emotions within a short time span so that they became overwhelmed by them. From this, it appears not even something as human as emotion can separate man from machine. Rather, it is the past and memories that make something human and an “original.” Tyrell emphasizes this when he described how he made Rachael. Tyrell states, “if you gift them memories you can cushion their emotions and control them better.” Of all the replicants, Rachael is portrayed as the most human because she does not know she is a machine and has the memories to suggest otherwise. Pris later in the film says “I think therefore I am.” The nature of machine is to become what it was built to be. Thus, because the replicants were built to replicate humans, they adapted and learned emotions that allowed them to come even closer to the natural state rather than the man made. A human past gives the replicants connections and roots for these developed emotions to grow that essentially closes the gap between the original and the copy in the film.

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