Comparing Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

In the movie Blade Runner, humans create “androids” that resemble humans physically and have human emotion, implanted memories and the purpose to work as slaves. Throughout the course of the movie these androids, which are later referred as “replicants,” start to realize their desire to live longer as humans do and to try to prevent their death. Humans are threatened by this desire the replicants build and start killing them off to prevent any destruction replicants might cause. A belief that these replicants should not be granted human rights comes into play and sets the audience to question whether replicants can be perceived as human or not. Replicants are seen as non-human throughout the movie Blade Runner, yet still live lives filled with emotion as humans do. Therefore, rather than calling replicants “non-human,” they should be called “persons” and should be granted human rights because they reflect real human emotion and had no part in their own creation. This constitutes their innocence making them undeserving of punishment.

Many futuristic texts depict grim and bleak worlds; however the author often tantalizes the readers with a taste of hope, only to systematically destroy it . Hope is defined as that that is wanted or desired is attainable, without hope there is no reason to live. Throughout the novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell there is an undercurrent of hope, of the possibility that things can improve in the future. However, by the end the text is completely bereft of hope. In Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ we see a dystopia devoid of hope, where the only possibility of bettering your life is to move “off-world” and leave behind the now effete Earth behind.

After a brief introductory text crawl which explains the world in which the movie takes place, "Blade Runner" cuts to a dark, futuristic Los Angeles. There are some flying cars, but mostly we see dark, smog-filled skies and smokestacks belching fire. As the camera moves across this landscape, blue eyes are

Blade runner promotes that empathy is the defining characteristics for humanity. The replicants, designed not to show any emotion, develop spiritually and emotionally throughout the film.

A Comparison of the Themes of Blade Runner and Brave New World ‘Humanity likes to think of itself as more sophisticated than the wild yet it cannot really escape its need for the natural world’ Despite different contexts both Aldous Huxley within his book Brave New World and Ridley Scott in the film Blade Runner explore the idea that humans feel themselves more sophisticated than the natural world, yet are able to completely sever relations between humanity and the nature. Through various techniques both texts warn their varied audiences of the negative ramifications that will come from such disdainful, careless opinions and actions. All aspects of the ‘New State’ within Aldous

Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner reflects some of the key themes seen in Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein. For one, both the sources touch on the necessity of creators taking responsibility for their creations. Another key theme established in both works is the idea that emotional complexity and knowledge, over memory and appearance, allow people to be defined as human beings.

The idea of playing God is a strong theme throughout science fiction and portrays different effects in various works. One of the first characters to accomplish this is Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Another character of science fiction recognized to do this is Dr. Tyrell from Blade Runner. These men played God and created a new form of life, but for different reasons and different results.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, whilst separated by 174 years, feature very similar content which can be seen by comparing the two side by side. Coming from different contexts, they both express their anxieties about technology, which is shown through a man made creature, and they both exhibit a strong valuing of nature. However due to their different contexts, these ideas are represented differently. The medium of production is clearly different, as is the representation of the creature and whether or not they are able to assimilate into society. In both texts the responder

Despite different contexts, both Shelley’s Frankenstein and Scott’s Blade Runner enthrall the audience in a journey to explore the inner psyche through the various perspectives that are drawn.

Like many great films, Blade Runner is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? written by sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick. The story follows a

Frankenstein and Blade Runner both explore ideas that are universally alike, however are impacted by their form, context and values. The texts explore similar ideas about man’s place in nature and progression of society, but do so within the conventions and context of their creation. Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ and Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ both draw ideas from their rapidly changing periods to contextually explore and analyse mankind’s thirst for forbidden knowledge which destroys one’s morality. With the progress of man, many aspire to achieve power, and morality is devalued.

Bound by different contexts, authors often use a popular medium in order to depict the discontent of the ideas of society. This is evident in the module Texts in Time; as Blade Runner, having been written more than one hundred years after Frankenstein is still able to reflect the ideas proposed in the latter. Blade Runner by Ridley Scott deals with the effects of globalisation and consumerism during 1980’s. Alternatively, the epistolary novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley deals with the kinship to the natural world set in the Romantic Era and enlightenment period. However Blade Runner, although subjected by a different context, also portrays a similar idea to Frankenstein; the fear of science and technology coupled with the value of the definition of a human. Through this commonality, we are able to utilise the values of Blade Runner in order to truly understand Shelley’s purpose.

Blade Runner written by Ridley Scott is a movie based in the future. It is Scott's depiction of what is to become of Earth. But technological advances shown in Blade Runner have come to a point where humanity can be questioned. Reality is blurred and the nature of what is human is changing. Replicants appear identical to humans and even have emotions, while the real humans appear cold and unemotional. So who is really human and what does it mean to be humane?

Throughout ‘Blade Runner’ the directors use many symbols, representing the real and not real to add more meaning and they don’t show every detail of the story, giving the audience the ability to interpret and make their own ideas and opinions. Something that wasn’t real in the film was the use of a unicorn. Deckard dreams of a unicorn and then in the end an origami unicorn is left for him by Gaff, which means he knows Deckard’s memories bringing up the question on whether Deckard is real (human) or nor real (replicant). Although real, the humans on earth aren’t seen as real, most are nameless and faceless, often covering their faces or are seen blurred in the background. To Tyrell those left of Earth aren’t seen as important so they’re not seen or treated as people.

It opposes the values of love, empathy and community with the innovative forms of technology and social life under advanced capitalism. The binary opposition between man and technology is represented by three characters in the plot: Deckard, apparently a human. Roy, an android who fears death and longs to be human and Rachel, who thinks she is human and who enters a relationship with a human. These replicants represent capitalism’s oppressive characteristics and also to a certain extent the rebellion against exploitation. Deckard's realization of how the Tyrell Corporation exploits him, and the rebellion of the replicants against their oppressors, is the ultimate critique of capitalism. Since both sides — killer and killed — reject their status as servants of the corporation and refuse further exploitation. (Kellner, et all) The corporation in the Blade Runner that is used to illustrate capitalism’s destructive characteristics is The Tyrell Coporation. The Tyrell Corporation invents replicants to have a controllable labor force that will perform difficult and dangerous tasks. Similarly applicable to today, where capitalism turns individuals into machines that have only the function of productivity. Ironically, the replicants form a human rebellion; while the actual human characters in the film seem to submit to corporate domination and live a life like the corporations sees them to. It seems as if the humans have become so dehumanized that the replicants form a rebellion against their oppressor instead of human beings. Capitalism has dehumanized the population to such an extent, that technology is actually more