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.
6 thoughts on “Blade Runner–Group 3”
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The scene that defines the most complex and conflicted relationship between humans and replicants is Batty’s monologue. The “Tears in the Rain” monologue explains that the main difference between humans and replicants is the time they have to live. This is because this monologue occurs shortly after Batty rescues Deckard who struggles to hang onto a ledge. In this moment, we see Batty let go of a dove, contemplate his existence, and ultimately help his enemy. In this short time frame Batty realizes that he cannot simply take away Deckard’s time on Earth because just like he came to understand his creator it was simply not his time yet. After all, Tyrell’s idea was to create nearly sentient beings who at a time in which they could become sentient they died. Thus, in the ending scene we see Batty coming to recognize that his lived experiences were what made him human even if others did not perceive him that way. This is why he mentions that he has seen things that Deckard will never see. In this moment Batty continues to process what life means to him and even though it is one that he hates he accepts because he ultimately cannot escape his limited time. On the other hand, Deckard will continue to live on. When we first encounter him we see him reading a newspaper, brooding and wanting to be left alone. Throughout the film, he comes to understand the sentience of the replicants, this is why, I think, he falls in love with a replicant. Thus, in the ending when he is saved by a replicant, a being incapable of emotion, he questions his own existence. Deckard becomes aware of the same thing that Batty does–time waits for no one. That is why we see him and Rachael move on with their lives, outside of the city. Thus, I think that the question we should be asking ourselves is who is actually human in this film? The replicants who became capable of emotions and memories or the humans living in the crowded areas of LA?
I was almost certain Batty was going to kill Deckard at the end of the scene, especially after Batty saw that his girlfriend died because of Deckard and when there was no way that Deckard could fight back against Batty when he was hanging from the roof. Given that Batty spent most of the movie trying to kill Tyrell and the brutal way in which he killed him (choking him, smashing his head, and fingers jabbed into the eyes), I thought that there was no question that Batty was going to kill Deckard. I guess the million dollar question is, why on earth did Batty spare Deckard’s life at the end of the movie?
When Deckard is hanging from the roof, Batty says, “Quite an experience to live in fear isnt it?” (1:45:24). This quote might explain why Batty killed Tyrell due to the fact that they were conditioned to only live for a limited amount of time and that they would know when their death would be near. Looking back at the movie, it seems that they have a lot of moral value and that if it were not for humans that limited them, they would as the slides for today say be, “More Human than Human.” Replicants, like the relationship between Batty and Pris show that they have deep and passionate love for one another, which is ironic because this should be human’s greatest trait in the movie. So, that brings me back to the question I posed above and the reason I think Batty spared Deckard’s life at the end by grabbing his hand before Deckard slipped off the roof. I think it was to show that he and replicant’s had a better moral standard compared to regular humans that valued life. In a way, we also see this in Rachel, when he spares Deckard’s life by killing Leon, even though I think at that point Rachel suspected that she was a replicant.
Is Deckard a replicant or a human? That was one question I found myself to be asking at the end of the film with the origami unicorn scene. How did Gaff know about Deckard’s personal dream? Was it implanted into his memories like Rachel’s? That’s the explanation that jumps to me and would explain Deckard’s photo shrine on his piano since other replicants like Rachel and Leon have photos to link them to their memories. Also, Deckard’s own language at the beginning of the film when he says he’s “retired” links him to the replicants he chases and “retires”, and with society using replicants for dangerous jobs, it cruelly makes sense that they would use a replicant to hunt dangerous replicates. Once Deckard realizes that he himself is a replicant, it explains why all of a sudden he would change his beliefs and runaway with Rachel, whose tragic story is the only one he can empathize with (since it is his own story, and replicants are more empathetic allegedly).
This moment reveals the fragility of the concept of humanhood and removes the ability for the viewers to grant this status (since they couldn’t tell that Deckard was a replicant from the beginning) and removes the ability of granting humanhood to oneself (since first Rachel and now Deckard falsely granted humanhood upon themselves).
I was intrigued by the relationship developed between Rachel and Deckard, much like Ben. He goes from meeting her to discovering she is a replicant to being saved by her and then forcing her to sleep with him. I find this development especially since he refers to Rachel as it when he realizes she’s a replicant. I primarily want to focus on the scene before the kiss scene, time-stamped: 1:03:08 – 1:07:37.
Rachel has just killed Leon. Deckard tries to comfort Rachel by saying he also is shaken up by killing replicants, but it just part of the job. In most action movies the protagonist is never phased by what is thrown their way or is attacking them. This moment humanizes both of these characters for me because it shows that Deckard sees what he is doing as murder. To acknowledge that it is murder and to be disturbed by it put the replicants equal to humans as there is a level of sympathy involved.
I also find it interesting that Rachel doesn’t let Leon kill Deckard. He is a blade runner and she knows it. She probably also knows it’s his job to kill any replicants living on Earth, so why doesn’t she allow Leon to kill Deckard. She could have helped Leon kill Deckard, then joined the other replicants, or have given herself more time to escape Los Angeles. She probably feels more of an allegiance to Deckard since she has believed she was human her whole existence. Rachel’s reaction to killing Leon is very human she is disturbed by it. Since replicants are made to be killing machines it is strange to see her be emotional about it. Deckard at this moment appears to forget that Rachel is a replicant. He tries to brush off death saying it’s just part of the job until Rachel reminds him she’s a replicant. Showing us the line between replicant and human is not clear cut. Even Deckard the man who can tell replicants from humans has issues with doing so with Rachel. Just to cement the fact, we the audience get the visual reminder the Rachel is a replicant here with her eyes glowing red similar to the owl’s eyes. Rachel also gets treated more like a human by Deckard. This is apparent to me when Rachel asks about her expiration and creation date. Deckard has no answer or at least refuses to tell her, which contrasts his fight with Leon as he tells him how much time he has left. Much like a human Rachel doesn’t get to know when she dies. Which relieves her of the curse of being a replicant knowing that your death is near.
One example between a human and a replicant that shows the complicated relationship between them is when Deckard and Rachael kiss. Deckard was about to be killed by Leon, Rachael saves Deckard by using his gun to kill Leon. Deckard is conflicted with what to do with Rachael and ultimately promises not to track her down and terminate her. Then, Rachael is about to leave his apartment and Deckard restrains her and forces her to kiss him. This scene was a little weird to watch because Rachael looks uncomfortable and wants to leave the situation. She does not appear to want to kiss Deckard at all and when she wants to leave he stops her from leaving his apartment. This example shows a very complicated relationship between humans and replicants. On one hand, Deckard is supposed to terminate all replicants but chooses not to kill Rachael which makes him seem like a good guy. But then, he forces her to kiss him when she is not ready for it. Rachael believed she was human in the beginning of the film so even though it is possible she wanted to kiss Deckard in this scene, I think she cannot trust her emotions. I think Rachael is not sure what to trust anymore after being implanted with false memories. Finally, this scene where a human, Deckard, and a replicant, Rachael, kiss demonstrates how their relationship is confusing.
The scene that draws my attention the most is when Batty (our main replicant) confronts Tyrell, his “maker”.
A major question throughout the film is who is “right” and “wrong”. Most movies set up a protagonist who is the “good guy” and an antagonist who is the “bad guy”, somehow stationed against our hero. One thing I love about Blade Runner is that we are never sure who is supposed to fill these traditional roles. Sure, the obvious choice would be Deckart as the hero and Batty as the villain; Deckart is the protagonist of the film, and he is stopping replicants such as Batty, who we are set up to believe are the “bad guys”. At many moments in Blade Runner, we are led to question whether this assumption is fair.
In this particular scene, Batty confronts Tyrell in his bedroom. There are many ways to interpret the dynamic between the two characters, but I saw it as creator-creation with more personal father-son touches. As I was saying in the last paragraph, we are led by traditional cinematography to believe that Batty is the evil villain who ends up killing Tyrell in a brutal show of strength at the end of the scene. However, there is a vulnerability in this scene on both sides that would suggest it is much more than that. The set of the bedroom is dark with candles, giving a very religious aesthetic that frames Tyrell as a god who created Batty. However, the bedroom is a very personal space, and Batty entering Tryell’s bedroom to almost beg for more life feels like a child entering their parent’s room to ask for something. This father-son dynamic is supported by the proud looks and comments of Tyrell to Batty (“The best of all possible replicants. We’re proud of our prodigal son… glad you’ve returned. You’re quite a prize”), making Batty appear weak and even humble for the first time in the film. He loves the genuine pride that Tyrell has in him but hates him for what he’s done (programmed planned death), much like the (perhaps outdated in terms of gender) son’s feelings toward his father. These feelings culminate as Batty kisses Tyrell on the lips and murders him by gouging his eyes. There is a shot of Batty’s face as he kills Tyrell with what looks like a tear streaming down his cheek, showing that his feelings are much more complex than simple hatred.