Pick one moment in Blade Runner that helps to define some complex and conflicted relationship between humans (or a particular human) and replicants. Why did you choose this moment? Don’t pick a moment that simply expresses hatred. Those are obvious but also not that common in the film. Think about more complicated kinds of feeling and interaction.
7 thoughts on “Blade Runner–Group 1”
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One particular interaction between the humans and the replicants in Blade Runner that stood out to me was between Roy and J.F. Sebastian. At first, when Roy meets up with Pris at Sebastian’s house, they treat him nicely in order to coerce him into taking them to Tyrell. Their act is enough to win over Sebastian, but the camera shows to the viewers Roy and Pris sharing a knowing glance, indicating that they are emotionally manipulating Sebastian. However, once Roy is in Tyrell’s room, he tells Sebastian to “stay here” in a rather derogatory way, almost as if he were talking to a pet. It becomes clear that once Roy got what he wanted from his interaction with Sebastian, which was access to Tyrell, Sebastian no longer becomes important to him. Although there are many scenes that reveal humans treating the replicants in a derogatory manner, this scene shows how the robots also do not value or see humans as equals.
One scene that invoked a complex set of emotional responses between the replicants and humans was the battle between Leon and Deckard. After Deckard kills the snake lady, Leon attacks him and takes immediate control over his body. Up to this point in the movie, humans have had the upper hand, but in a 1-1 contest of physical strength, replicants have the edge . However, right as it appears Deckard is about to be killed, Rachel shoots Leon in the head.
I found this scene interesting because of the mixed bag of hatred and love. I know we weren’t supposed to write about hatred, but it’s the moment after Leon is killed that I found interesting. Deckard clearly has a distrust for replicants and has spent his life as a Blade Runner dedicated to hunting them down. In this scene, I see his view change into a sort of confusion. He turns to Rachel and looks at her like he would a human. Furthermore, I find Rachel shooting Leon interesting because we have not seen a replicant killing a replicant. She must suspect herself as a replicant by now, but she does not show loyalty to her “species”. The scene muddies Deckard’s understanding of the world because he starts to see replicants as humans. It took two replicants to be killed, but it made him (and me) question who the real humans were. What actually makes us human?
Lastly, I liked the way the the film panned back between Deckard and Rachel. I knew he was going to escape as the main character of the movie, but she saved the day so suddenly and dramatically. We see the bullet wound before Rachel. This interaction between the human and replicant feels kind of distant and calculated. Rachel does not jump into the battle and confront Leon. She does what needs to be done and shoots him in the back of the head. This moment may start the relationship between Deckard and Rachel, but it does not feel like an act of love. It feels like action of a machine.
A scene that stood out to me as both pretty uncomfortable yet fitting to answer the prompt is the one where, after Rachael attempts to leave the apartment when Deckard kisses her cheek, Deckard seemingly forces her to kiss him and say “I want you.” While watching this scene I definitely felt a bit confused about what was going on and why Deckard was acting so intense towards Rachael. Firstly, it seemed that Rachael initially attempted to leave because, having just discovered that she is a replicant and that her memories are implants, she was overwhelmed by any romance between her and Deckard. It brings into question what true, human emotion and passion is. If she’s a replicant and society so strongly enforces that her kind are less-than-human, then it only makes sense that she can’t handle what she might be feeling are human emotions. At the same time, I was definitely startled and uncomfortable after Deckard slams the door shut, shoves her against the wall and makes her kiss him. It seemed, in a way, to reinforce the lack of autonomy given to replicants, especially women. Since replicants are implanted with false memories that are meant to shape who they are and make them easier to control, then Deckard in this scene seems to almost be taking advantage of their supposedly programmable nature. Even Deckard, someone inching closer and closer to understanding the true nondifference between replicants and humanity, is susceptible to reinforcing the conventions of society. On top of this, I find it interesting that the kiss between Deckard and Rachael seems way less passionate than any between Roy and Pris. This is interesting because it reveals what you talked about in the slide, that replicants are more human than even humans are. Their passion between each other is more real than that of Rachael and Deckard’s.
Although, an analysis of this scene might be blurred when viewing it through the interpretation that Deckard is also a replicant, something potentially implied by the ending. In doing so, it might become clear that Deckard is also trying his best to control and understand the raw human emotions that he, too, feels. His motions are awkward, and definitely too aggressive, but this is possibly because he is trying to convey feelings to Rachael in a way society doesn’t allow replicants to. Maybe they are both scared and confused by the situation, resulting in an awkward and intense encounter.
The scene where Deckard administers the Voight-Kampff test to Rachael is a striking interaction between humans and replicants. Deckard initially believes that Rachael is a human and Rachael herself too believes this. However, by the end of the especially long test, Deckard determines that Rachael is a replicant. Later on in the film, Rachael tries to prove to Deckard that she is human by showing him a family photo. When Deckard informs her that she only believes she is human because she has been given the memories of Tyrell’s niece, Rachael begins to cry and then leaves very upset. I found these two scenes and the, more generally, the relationship between Deckard and Rachael so interesting because it raises the question, if you can’t tell the difference between a human and a replicant, then is there really any difference at all? Replicants can only be detected by their nonverbal responses during the Voight-Kampff test, but everything else about them, from their verbal and emotional responses to their physical make up, is entirely human. If being biologically human, having human thoughts and feelings and truly believing you’re human doesn’t actually make you human, then what does? The film questions “real” humans’ humanity, or perhaps lack thereof. What makes Deckard’s humanity real but not Rachael’s? It also brings into question the morality of such complex genetic engineering as the kind that goes into the creation of the replicants. Is it moral to create sentient robots? The film never really answers this question but it does, at the very least, show that the creation of such human-like beings is dangerous.
The most striking scene to me in regard to the interactions between humans an replicants was the “meeting his maker” scene in which Roy and Dr. Tyrell interact for the first time. This scene was so complex to me me for a variety of reasons, but namely the share of intelligence between two creatures who are smarter than their brethren. Direction keys us into Roy’s true intelligence when it picks up on the second chess direction Roy whispers to Sebastien (checkmate). The watcher immediately understands that without prior chess knowledge, Roy is intelligent enough to beat (or at least match) Dr. Tyrell at chess, when it has been pre-established that Tyrell is good at the game. The moment Roy stepped into Tyrell’s room, the scene was about their meeting and nothing else. They speak, and Tyrell labels Roy his “prodigal son” after denying him a longer lifespan. Roy understands that in order to “move on” from his label as machine he must destroy the man who made him, and thus the man who dictates Roy’s life and actions. He still respects and in a way loves Tyrell, and that is demonstrated with the emotional kiss he gives him moments before crushing Tyrell’s skill and killing him. With this action, Roy ensures that no other replicant will suffer after his generation. To me this really shows Roy’s true compassion and capability to love and care for other replicants/their future and humans as well as the dark, murderous tendencies that overlay the love. I see Roy in this scene as a flipped reflection of human beings, in which humanity’s dark tendencies UNDERlie the compassion available at a surface level.
The scene that struck me most was certainly the rape scene. It is clear that Rachel does not want to have sex with Deckard as she tries to run away and he doesn’t allow her to. This is a very uncomfortable scene as then Rachel feels pressured to give him words of affirmation and presumably sleeps with him. There is a lot going here. It is hard to know how the creators of the film intend it to be viewed. I do think, however, it brings up a really interesting discussion on the ethics of sexual relationships with robots. Even today, “pleasure robots” definitely exist. The replicants pose an interesting problem as they are so close to human that other humans definitely become attracted to them. All the replicants we are presented with are conscious and possess free will and act accordingly but this scene is fascinating as it begs the ethical question of whether or not a robot has to give consent for something like this to be okay in this society. I think this is brought up also through the character of Priss, as on wikipedia I read that she is a “basic pleasure model.” If Priss was really just a sex robot does that then insinuate that sexual relationships with replicants is acceptable and is it considered rape if Priss doesn’t consent?
Beyond just consent in sexual relationships there is also the question of love between replicants and humans. Seemingly, Rachel and Deckard fall in love after the ending of the film. But is this love the same as between two humans or two replicants? How could they know?
Roy Batty’s decision to save Deckard on the roof towards the end of the film was very intriguing. Throughout the film, and especially in the chase scene leading up to that moment, Roy Batty is depicted as a cold-blooded killer. Some moments show the emotional depth of Roy Batty, such as when he spoke to Dr. Tyrell about some of the questionable things he had done throughout his life. But, the final roof scene delves even deeper into Roy Batty’s psyche and uncovers why Roy Batty acted the way he did. The most telling moment in the roof scene was when Roy Batty spoke directly to Deckard and said, “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is like to be a slave”. After saying these words, Roy Batty saved Deckard. Roy Batty wanted Deckard to feel the same fear of death that he had experienced his whole life. Once he knew that Deckard had experienced this fear, he grew empathetic and saved him from falling. Roy Batty was able to experience empathy and act on it. This is something that humans in this film would never do for a replicate, as Professor Newbury alluded to in his slide show.