Analysis of The Visual and Philosophical Elements in The Blade Runner

Throughout the centuries, people have always tried to imagine what the distant future would be like. A hundred years ago, people saw elaborate visions of grand Art Deco architecture and gigantic airplanes that could hold six-hundred passengers, outfitted with lounges. In the nineteen-fifty's and sixty's, campy space adventures and a colorful, nuclear-powered 'The Jetsons' world complete with flying cars was a commonplace fantasy. Meanwhile, Blade Runner showcases and builds upon the exact opposite of this: a dystopian 'retrofitted' Los Angeles, where the world is on a steady decline, and society is scrambling to keep up with the changes. In this 1982 science fiction masterwork, the imaginings, characters, narrative, and dialogue provide insights on how civilization and the state of being human is perceived, the lesson learned strongly suggesting that there may need to be a line drawn between what is considered human and what is not considered human as technology advances. In Blade Runner, all of the visual and philosophical elements work in tandem to express the themes of Man vs. Machine, as well was Man vs. Society.

The nineteen-eighties were a highly pivotal decade that went on to permanently structure the modern world as it is known today. Groundbreaking music, technological feats, fashion, and more characterized the eighties and made it incredibly special to those who were fortunate enough to be alive during this quirky, exciting time period. The eighties seemed to explode with bright hues and fanaticism filtered through a pop culture kaleidoscope, while most science fiction media despondently reminded Americans of the more modern, stylized idea of an antiutopian wasteland filled with artificial persons, overdeveloped cities, “corporate manpower that has brought about a policed society, foul air and corrupt world” (Jenkins, 2017), and omnipresent consumerism; this very setting directly contributing to the key theme and core message of Blade Runner. In fact, many consider Blade Runner to be a pioneer film of “cyberpunk” — a science fiction subgenre marked by the presence of high tech and low life. Science fiction was newly defined, perhaps even reborn, in this decade. The eighties shied away from a previously imagined utopia as, despite the fun presentation of the era, ruinous socioeconomic incidents took place globally, with America continuing to grow exceedingly commercialized with no sign of stopping. The AIDS epidemic, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Chernobyl disaster, the Ethiopian famine, and the Challenger tragedy shook populations worldwide. Technologic innovation and pioneering in the field was also an extremely critical aspect of the nineteen-eighties. The capabilities of early versions of video games, cellular phones, and other devices progressed as home computers such as the Apple II and Commodore 64 became more available to the general public. For the first time, signs of contemporary technology can be seen. Instead of computers simply being just an eccentric past-time for “geeks” and scholars, they were swiftly evolving into a promising product that can be advertised and marketed to a more widespread audience. The influence of these significant events can be seen in Blade Runner’s story, characters, and location.

At the beginning of Blade Runner, simple text slowly scrolls down the screen, briefly outlining the narrative of the film. Then, the audience is confronted with an avalanche of complex philosophies: What it means to be human, how memories shape us, with themes of love, exploitation, post-colonialism, social hierarchy, as well as social decay. The main character, Rick Deckard, must traverse this cyberpunk world in order to complete his mission. He is first shown as a bounty hunter that was dragged out of retirement by his former inspector, Bryant, to track down four Replicants that escaped the off-world colonies, but more of Deckard’s human intricacies come to light as the happenings in Blade Runner unfold. He is merely surviving, not thriving, in twenty-nineteen Los Angeles. Times have changed, with the Earth’s climate being radically distorted due to frightening levels of pollution, shaping Deckard’s home city into a dismal, overbuilt urban jungle. He is divorced, and is portrayed as solitary and far from romantic. Deckard is a jaded, reticent, cynical man, who battles with the moral ambiguities of being a killer, despite the inhuman nature of the Replicants he is instructed to “retire”. Nevertheless, over the course of the film, Deckard falls in love with Rachael, who is a hyper-realistic Replicant. He is presented with a multitude of challenges throughout Blade Runner, having to come to terms with what it means to live, die and be human. At the end of the movie, one is left with the burning question regarding whether or not “Deckard, the film’s protagonist, is an android, just like those he was hired to dispatch.” (Thompson, 2008)

As Deckard explores his surroundings in Blade Runner, a myriad of things can be viewed — such as crowded city buildings, bustling crowds, buzzing colored signs, everlasting rainfall, all representing a dwindling landscape of a dying Earth. It seems that the residents of this biosphere are trapped with no “other” place to go, aside from the off-world colonies which are never actually shown or elaborated on. But in another sense, other settings are in fact referenced comprehensively in the film – via the architecture of the metropolis, clothing, music, as well as the differing ethnicities seen passing by Deckard as he navigates through the inclement, confined streets. These all suggest that the city of Los Angeles in twenty-nineteen is in fact a diverse amalgamation of different races, social classes, cultures, and timeframes. “The crowded streets are narrow and filthy. There is a feeling of eeriness .. Each frame is like an abstract painting.” As the film guides us through the futuristic, decaying muddle that is the setting of Blade Runner, giant electronic screens shamelessly publicize some of the city’s largest commercial enterprises — the looming Tyrell Corporation, which is holding Los Angeles in a space-age prison of commercialism, and even Coca-Cola. Director Ridley Scott also elongates shots to showcase the ornate scenery of the dystopian borough, moments like these being weaved throughout the film to add atmospheric and emotional context. This seemingly limited sphere of neo-noir creates a distinct mood and ambience for the viewer, one which seems to be perfectly cultivated to emphasize and expound on every other creative aspect of Blade Runner. Despite the hellscape that is twenty-nineteen Los Angeles, it has a sort of mystifying majesty and awe-inspiring splendor to it. Everything is massive and ominous, but the people are small and scrambling to make a living in a grim world with a less than bleak outlook. Now in the new year of twenty-twenty, one can effectively ponder how this imagined corporeality can perhaps one day become reality.

Many heavily philosophical themes and messages are communicated throughout Blade Runner. For example, metaphors and deep-rooted allegories are utilized to accentuate these profound messages, with the nature of the characters and dystopian setting providing even further detail. Eyes and eye symbolism can be seen often in the movie — the eyes of all Replicants and other living beings that have been “replicated” have a strange gleam in the darkness, their artificial irises mirroring the heavy, neon scenery around them. In Blade Runner, two replicants named Roy and Leon visit a man who creates eyes for Replicants, this man in particular being the one who created Roy and Leon’s eyes. As they are viciously interrogating him, Roy serenely remarks, “Chew, if only you could see what I've seen with your eyes!” The film is illustrating to the audience how significant eyes really are — they are one of the most expressive aspects of the human face, and are commonly referred to as the “windows to the soul”. Whereas the humans in the film behave toward the Replicants as though they were just simple machines or tools produced only to perform laborious work, which can be 'retired' without ethical compunction, they actually experience reality in a rich and conscious way — their eyes aren't empty: “Roy's quotation of Blake in the Eye Works .. draws attention to what is seen, hence what is not seen; in particular, the moral blindness – including our blindness – to the system of slavery created for profit and pleasure. This connection is further emphasized when Roy puts out the eyes of Tyrell, the one person most responsible for the replicant slave trade. His literal blindness is a stark symbol of humanity's moral blindness.” Biblical and historical imagery is shown using the Tyrell Corporation as an artistic medium. Dr. Eldon Tyrell, who is the sole maker of the estranged Replicants, lives in a penthouse at the top of a Babylonian ziggurat-style pyramid. This displays what kind of person Dr. Tyrell is — he is not humble, and he considers himself to be a person of a higher standing, almost like a God, as he is the Replicants’ “creator”. The filmmakers of Blade Runner want to indicate to the watcher that he is a sort of ruthless pre-Biblical idol, even in a universe where the prospect is actuality. All of these details and factors come together to form a “lesson learned”, a takeaway that can be extracted from the piece. This life message can be defined as such: the innate definitions of humanity and reality are not as forthright as they present themselves to be. After viewing Blade Runner, one can propose to themselves a series of questions: What does it mean to be human? What is morally correct? How do we define ourselves? How do our memories shape us? How does our social class affect us? And, most importantly — What is real?

Leading transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau once said, “Men have become the tools of their tools”. This quotation, despite being stated by a man born in eighteen-seventeen, still rings true when it comes to the society of Blade Runner. Why? Why do the conventions and abstract philosophy of old still hold the ability to be applied to the future? The film has cultivated a historic cult following, despite the harsh criticism it received when it was first released in nineteen eighty-two. The astonishing, multifarious world of Blade Runner, as well as the characters and themes which reside in it, blend harmoniously to tell a story that is sure to provoke questions and thoughts for ages to come. As the film comes to a close, the ethically equivocal “hero’s journey” that Rick Deckard embarks on ends at the scene of Roy’s death. Deckard is afraid that Gaff, a police officer with the LAPD who worked with him previously, has already slain Rachael, who was marked as a fugitive. Gaff arrives solemnly at Deckard’s position. He tells him, “It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?”