Blade Runner Modernism

The term postmodernism has been defined in different ways over the past years but it still hasn’t had its official definition. Postmodernism is a daunting subject because of the disagreements between people of how they interrupt texts and art. Postmodernism is a critic of what we assume to be real or a fantasy of what we want to be real. Postmodernism raises an importance of identity. Postmodernism is a style and concept of the arts, architecture and the criticism that shows a break from modernism. Postmodernism highlights ideas and theories. It can include different artistic styles in art. For example, an artist can mix pop art with an icon image such as Marilyn Monroe, or make recycled garbage into new art. Watchmen

Postmodernism is a term that lacks a definitive definition. According to Fabe, postmodernism has become meaningless, which is ironically appropriate because one of the core concerns of postmodernism is meaningless (173). Mast and Kawin note that “postmodernism analyzes a world without a definitive center,” and builds on references to popular culture (630). In class, we discussed that postmodernism comments on contemporary culture, often through quotation, appropriation, borrowing, homage, reusing, and recycling. After watching the two postmodern films, Annie Hall and How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman, I think postmodernism fits into all of these definitions. I also think postmodern films offer a sort of truth that is often unrecognizable

Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner presents viewers with a dystopian world of Los Angeles where genetically engineered robots known as Replicants, are executed in an emotionless and indifferent procedure called ‘retirement’ by special police operatives called Blade Runners. The interactions between humans and Replicants highlight the diminishing state of humanity that humans have brought upon themselves. This is not only shown through the conflicting yet human ambitions of the Replicants, but contrasted with the cold and gloomy depiction of humans as a whole. Humans are additionally depicted to be ignorant of the many similarities between Replicants and themselves, often due to a lack of empathy. These depictions of Replicants as a more emotionally attached species prompt viewers to make a somewhat ironic conclusion: that they portray greater humanity than actual humans.

“Life has no meaning a priori… It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose”(Jean-Paul Satre). As is began in the mid to late 20th century, Postmodernism has become a literary movement that has greatly influenced writers, poets, music, film, culture, art, etc. While modernist theory is rational and scientific in reasoning, Postmodernism departs away from that focusing primarily on an innovative way of thought that is avant-garde and subjective. Films such as Fight Club and stranger than fiction are clear examples of postmodernism as they both hold postmodernist characteristics such as Paranoia, breaking of the fourth wall, and black comedy.

The goal of a movie is to make you think. Simple as that. No matter how trivial the topic, it should challenge some previous notion you’ve held. Even a movies like comedies should complete this goal. One genre of film that often challenges the viewer is science fiction. Considered to be the pinnacle of science fiction movies, Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” questions our definition of what is human. Based on Philip K. Dick’s book Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner’s portrayal of a dystopian future, with large class/wealth disparities and intelligent AI, certainly does its job of making you think. The replicants struggle to deal with their “humanity” and harsh treatment by humans. Though

Similarly, “Blade Runner” examines the danger of scientific advancement through the use of film noir elements. An establishing shot of Los Angeles highlights how scientific evolution has destroyed the environment resulting in an urban wasteland with a claustrophobic, polluted atmosphere personifying a physical representation of hell. Dissimilarly, the setting of “Frankenstein” embodies many romantic values such as “the changes of the seasons, tempest and calm”. Overt materialism and globalisation is shown through commercials of “Atari” and “Coca-cola” with the backdrop of non-diagetic music. Society values corporate greed derived from scientific discoveries ahead of the values of nature and emotion as “Frankenstein” embodies. Scott effectively uses mis-en-scene of film noir elements such as a misty room, silhouette figure and intense darkness in the interrogation of Leon to illustrate the superhuman power of replicants. Immense scientific advancement is contrasted through environmental degradation and genetically-engineered replicants that appear to be “more human than human”.

Choose one of these three styles and show how production choices helped to illuminate the literary style of the film.

The production choices regarding camera angles, music and costumes contributed to the overarching feeling that the movie is postmodernist because as previously mentioned, the camera angles chosen break the fourth wall between the actor and the audience, making it feel as though they are directly involved in the scene. For instance, during Leon’s interview, while Rick is observing, the camera angle changes and it feels as though you have been placed in the movie set. Again, after Pris’ gymnastic display, the angle switches to a “close-up” and she stares into the camera. This is significant as this creates a sense of audience involvement and breaks the fourth wall, two key features of postmodernist art. The costumes on the other hand, emphasize certain postmodern elements such as pastiche. As a result of high levels of recycling in this futuristic world, “recycled fashion” has surfaced and a re-emergence of dead styles have come forward; as is evident by Pris’ outfit and Zhora’s eye-catching plastic coat. The music in composed in Blade Runner has a very 'noir' feel to it and it mirrors that of the futuristic setting. Furthermore, it helps manipulate the audience’s emotions and draws them into the

In a postmodern Los Angeles, main character Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, is left with an ethical conundrum. Deckard must decide whether he should follow orders and retire the replicants that he has been tasked with killing. This sci-fi/suspense film brings many questions to the viewers mind about artificial intelligence in this society. This parable-like film addresses a multitude of topics such as what separates humans from androids and the different “tragic situations” found in this postmodern, nihilistic, dystopia (Martin, 106-107). In the Blade Runner: The Final Cut directed by Ridley Scott, Scott utilizes sound, setting, & characterization to convey the morals of artificial intelligence and what differentiates them from humans.

The film is set in 2019 and industry has taken over the once glamorous city of Los Angeles. The Tyrell Corporation has made history with the development of Replicants. Replicants look like normal humans but they are

Blade Runner, adapted from the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, is the cornerstone science fiction movie of it's time. It's neon lights and overcrowded megalopolis culture helped define what an entire generation thought of the future. In the movie, a nuclear war makes it necessary for off world colonies to be made. These colonies employ replicants, genetically designed androids with no emotions that are identical to humans, as slave labor. After an attack by rebellious replicants, they were banned on the earth. A police force was made to kill, or retire, these rogue replicants. These killers were known as blade runners. After a group of replicants infiltrate the earth, a former blade runner known as Rick Deckard is pulled out’ve retirement to hunt

Simply, a group of replicants lands illegally on Earth in order to find their creator and get him more time to live. Officer Deckard, a blade runner is called upon to hunt them down. The 1982 plot was quite understandable and laid solid groundwork for ambitious philosophical musings about the ethics of cloning or even the debate over what it means to be human and what a human being would define. At the end of the Scott’s Blade Runner, Deckard and his relationship with the advanced Replicant Rachel is left ambiguous, allowing for another film to expand upon these questions — and that it

This film shows the contrast of good and bad, but originally in the film it is shown as the humans being good and the ‘replicants’ being bad. Throughout the film this changes as we get to know that all the replicants are not necessarily bad, but have a will to live longer than four years. This questions the morality of killing artificial intelligence, especially when they understand life and want to live. This is an important message conveyed in ‘Blade runner’ and effects the audience as it makes us consider the impact technology advances could have on us in the future.

The term “postmodernism” was first used by the philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard in 1979. This term refers to the rejection of modernist ideas. However, if you have not had the chance to watch and films from the modern era, then it could prove difficult to tell whether or not original films are considered to be modernist or postmodernist. The films Stranger than Fiction and the short film Play are both postmodern films because they share the elements of hyper-reality, ambiguity, and metafiction.

Postmodernism is a concept that can be defined by many different ideas. This normally ends up with us being led to the idea of a dystopian or utopian future. The movie Blade Runner portrays the idea of a dystopic future through many aspects of the film. For example, using mis-en-scene we can see this through many effects i.e the lighting is very dark alongside the idea of a neon jungle in the crammed streets. It gives us the idea of poverty and the slum type living which is associated with a negative connotation therefore leading us to believe in this idea of a dystopian future. Also under mis-en-scene we see clothing. The people on the ground seem to be wearing quite worn out and messy clothing

This essay will discuss the representation of the body in Blade Runner because in discussing the effects of something yet to happen which is the dystopia presented by Blade Runner, in the present tense i.e. in assuming that it has already happened, we gain a greater insight and understanding of the consequences of our actions as a society now. Dystopic films and novels such as Blade Runner, Nineteen Eighty Four and Brave New World are invaluable as texts which have tied together philosophical, political, sociological and economic lines of enquiry and have presented ideas of our future and perhaps sometimes warnings about where a certain path might lead. I have chosen Blade Runner as my study text because it presents a future that is