Blade Runner Book Vs Movie Essay
The transition of a novel into a movie always has its drawbacks. Like translating a document from one language to another, discrepancies arise between their plot lines. This is not because film writers believe the novel has flaws, or that they have better ideas than the original story writer. Instead, these differences reflect the demands of popular movie culture. The movie should be clear, relatively brief, suspenseful and have beautiful on-screen picture since no one would be entertained by a long, dull, confusing movie. The novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? experienced this firsthand when it was stripped and redrawn into its sister movie, Blade Runner. Although much of the original story is preserved, several aspects of its original plot were omitted, and new ones were added. The
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writers of Blade Runner altered its inspired story of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to meet the dramatic and exciting movie-going experience Hollywood represents and enterprises. The film writers kept the main plot structure from the novel in order to preserve the original storyline. The main characters – Rick Deckard, Rachel, J.R. Isidore, Tyrell, Pris, Roy, and others – from the novel are also kept in the film, but mostly just their names and identity. The novel and film revolve around the first major plot of Deckard hunting rogue androids. They tell the detective story of finding and killing the androids through Deckard’s perspective. A couple plot-driving events in the beginning of the film are taken directly from the novel. Deckard’s story is set in motion when an android kills a man by the name of Holden. Also, the dialogue between Deckard and Rachel where he uses the Voight-Kampff to test her humanity is mostly the same in the film and novel versions. The second major storyline kept through both mediums is the rogue androids’ refuge with Isidore, in his point of view. Maintaining the double plot structure, the film writers wanted to fascinate viewers with the same suspenseful storyline presented in the novel through the eyes of the pursuer and pursued. However, the film tweaks these plot lines to appeal to the Hollywood audience. In the novel, Deckard’s change in his perspective towards androids is the focus in his storyline.
Through his encounters with the androids, he learns that the distinctions he made between a human and android cannot hold water, and eventually feels empathy for the androids. The film, however, radically refashions Deckard’s encounters with the androids. A major change in the plot is Deckard’s development of a romantic relationship with Rachel, an android. In the novel, Deckard falls in love with Rachel and they have sex. Rachel is not in love with him, but uses sex as a tool to keep Deckard away from her android friends. She eventually tells Deckard that she had slept with many bounty hunters to protect her friends, but Deckard maintains his android killing role (although he cannot bring himself to kill Rachel). This relationship is extremely romanticized in Blade Runner, as love becomes Deckard’s main source of motivation for his actions. He realizes his true love for Rachel and denies his previous existence as a rogue android killer. He then manages to save Rachel from termination, leaving a happy ending. The film’s alteration in Deckard’s and Rachel’s relationship shows the popular culture of movies
at the time as it taps into the audience’s hunger for drama and heroism. The thirst of “repelling love” is quenched as a man and a robot have sexual relations, much like the relationships of Romeo with Juliet and Luke Skywalker with his sister Princess Leia (although they do not go all the way). Deckard exhibits heroic qualities in that he is burdened by his profession, and strives to act against and reform his own character to save the one who he loves. Rachel even becomes a hero in the film when she kills Leon – another android – in order to protect Deckard. This goes against her programmed nature to protect her android friends, but she does so in order to save the one she loves. Other androids leave a more cinematic imprint on screen. Roy Batty is an android who takes refuge under the care of Isidore, and his encounter with Deckard is completely flipped between the novel and movie. In the novel, Batty is easily killed by Deckard after Deckard kills Pris and Irmgard. The film, however, has Batty hunt Deckard. The two have a suspenseful chase scene (Batty after Deckard), and instead of killing Deckard which he originally planned, Batty decides to let him go. The entertaining chase keeps the viewers’ eyes attached to the screen, and Batty’s dramatic screenplay – the rain and tears – drive a dramatic momentum the audience could feel. Another android is Zhora who is based on the novel’s Luba Luft – an android that sings Opera and loves art. Zhora instead has a love for snake-dancing, and her interaction with Deckard is completely different. Luft’s sensitivity to art makes Deckard begin to feel empathy for the androids. But in the film, Zhora does not play a morally significant role for Deckard. Zhora is essentially used as a sexy target for a cinematic chase scene and dramatic killing. All of these alterations if Deckard’s plot by the writers of Blade Runner were to implement themes accepted by movie-goers like heroism, drama, beautiful cinema, and a sexy vibe. In this way, the writers could help the movie gain a fan base in the already sci-fi-hungry culture. Due to the plot alterations, the writers had to omit many aspects of the original plot they saw unnecessary to the main, refashioned storyline. The Blade Runner writers most likely made these changes in order to shorten the potential length of the movie, since filming the entire book would be extremely costly and probably would not perform well in the box office with too long and complicated of a plot. There are many details in the beginning of the novel that do not exist in the film. In the film, Deckard does not have Iran or a wife at all. This would have been confusing and very anti-hero trait for him to have, since he ends up falling in love for Rachel. Other pieces missing are Mercer and Mercerism, the Penfield Mood Organ, and the Buster Friendly Show. These details help shape the depressing setting of the novel. However, the film does not need to include these details into its storyline to show the unhappiness and unease of the post-WWT world. Instead, it can easily portray a depressing setting just through the screenplay. Also, animals do not play a role in the movie whatsoever. Deckard’s interest in animals is stripped away, along with the scene where the androids mutilate a spider. This helps the movie remain relatively shorter and clearer, since Deckard’s interest in animals or the androids’ act of murder is not significant in the storyline. Instead, these are separate details and symbols that do not have a strong enough driving force a film could use. All these omissions were implemented to make the film brief and clear enough for the Hollywood audience. The transition of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? into Blade Runner shows the alterations and omissions required to make a novel a successful film. The writers of the film knew that they could not fit the entire original plot on the big screen, so they made changes carefully not to completely change it into a different story. While doing so, they also kept in mind of what keeps Hollywood audiences fixated to their screens. If the film is not entertaining, there will be bitter outcome for those working very hard to make it; so, why not add some heroism and drama to appeal to the masses. Although there is always some loss of original content when transitioning a novel into a book, I believe this inconsistency exists because there are properties a novel has which a film cannot resemble. For one, the novel can undoubtedly fit more information. Second, themes, which are usually noticed by subtle hints by the author, cannot be described in a film. A novel writer has full command of how he/she wants to use his/her theme. It can be recurring, or very subtle; in any way, it most likely does not disturb the flow of the story. Sure, images can capture an object that represents a symbol, but to have that same theme repeated in film would mean that the same image has to be repeated until it is clear that the same object holds meaning. And if the film kept showing the same thing, wouldn’t it be a tad annoying?
writers of Blade Runner altered its inspired story of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to meet the dramatic and exciting movie-going experience Hollywood represents and enterprises. The film writers kept the main plot structure from the novel in order to preserve the original storyline. The main characters – Rick Deckard, Rachel, J.R. Isidore, Tyrell, Pris, Roy, and others – from the novel are also kept in the film, but mostly just their names and identity. The novel and film revolve around the first major plot of Deckard hunting rogue androids. They tell the detective story of finding and killing the androids through Deckard’s perspective. A couple plot-driving events in the beginning of the film are taken directly from the novel. Deckard’s story is set in motion when an android kills a man by the name of Holden. Also, the dialogue between Deckard and Rachel where he uses the Voight-Kampff to test her humanity is mostly the same in the film and novel versions. The second major storyline kept through both mediums is the rogue androids’ refuge with Isidore, in his point of view. Maintaining the double plot structure, the film writers wanted to fascinate viewers with the same suspenseful storyline presented in the novel through the eyes of the pursuer and pursued. However, the film tweaks these plot lines to appeal to the Hollywood audience. In the novel, Deckard’s change in his perspective towards androids is the focus in his storyline.
Through his encounters with the androids, he learns that the distinctions he made between a human and android cannot hold water, and eventually feels empathy for the androids. The film, however, radically refashions Deckard’s encounters with the androids. A major change in the plot is Deckard’s development of a romantic relationship with Rachel, an android. In the novel, Deckard falls in love with Rachel and they have sex. Rachel is not in love with him, but uses sex as a tool to keep Deckard away from her android friends. She eventually tells Deckard that she had slept with many bounty hunters to protect her friends, but Deckard maintains his android killing role (although he cannot bring himself to kill Rachel). This relationship is extremely romanticized in Blade Runner, as love becomes Deckard’s main source of motivation for his actions. He realizes his true love for Rachel and denies his previous existence as a rogue android killer. He then manages to save Rachel from termination, leaving a happy ending. The film’s alteration in Deckard’s and Rachel’s relationship shows the popular culture of movies
at the time as it taps into the audience’s hunger for drama and heroism. The thirst of “repelling love” is quenched as a man and a robot have sexual relations, much like the relationships of Romeo with Juliet and Luke Skywalker with his sister Princess Leia (although they do not go all the way). Deckard exhibits heroic qualities in that he is burdened by his profession, and strives to act against and reform his own character to save the one who he loves. Rachel even becomes a hero in the film when she kills Leon – another android – in order to protect Deckard. This goes against her programmed nature to protect her android friends, but she does so in order to save the one she loves. Other androids leave a more cinematic imprint on screen. Roy Batty is an android who takes refuge under the care of Isidore, and his encounter with Deckard is completely flipped between the novel and movie. In the novel, Batty is easily killed by Deckard after Deckard kills Pris and Irmgard. The film, however, has Batty hunt Deckard. The two have a suspenseful chase scene (Batty after Deckard), and instead of killing Deckard which he originally planned, Batty decides to let him go. The entertaining chase keeps the viewers’ eyes attached to the screen, and Batty’s dramatic screenplay – the rain and tears – drive a dramatic momentum the audience could feel. Another android is Zhora who is based on the novel’s Luba Luft – an android that sings Opera and loves art. Zhora instead has a love for snake-dancing, and her interaction with Deckard is completely different. Luft’s sensitivity to art makes Deckard begin to feel empathy for the androids. But in the film, Zhora does not play a morally significant role for Deckard. Zhora is essentially used as a sexy target for a cinematic chase scene and dramatic killing. All of these alterations if Deckard’s plot by the writers of Blade Runner were to implement themes accepted by movie-goers like heroism, drama, beautiful cinema, and a sexy vibe. In this way, the writers could help the movie gain a fan base in the already sci-fi-hungry culture. Due to the plot alterations, the writers had to omit many aspects of the original plot they saw unnecessary to the main, refashioned storyline. The Blade Runner writers most likely made these changes in order to shorten the potential length of the movie, since filming the entire book would be extremely costly and probably would not perform well in the box office with too long and complicated of a plot. There are many details in the beginning of the novel that do not exist in the film. In the film, Deckard does not have Iran or a wife at all. This would have been confusing and very anti-hero trait for him to have, since he ends up falling in love for Rachel. Other pieces missing are Mercer and Mercerism, the Penfield Mood Organ, and the Buster Friendly Show. These details help shape the depressing setting of the novel. However, the film does not need to include these details into its storyline to show the unhappiness and unease of the post-WWT world. Instead, it can easily portray a depressing setting just through the screenplay. Also, animals do not play a role in the movie whatsoever. Deckard’s interest in animals is stripped away, along with the scene where the androids mutilate a spider. This helps the movie remain relatively shorter and clearer, since Deckard’s interest in animals or the androids’ act of murder is not significant in the storyline. Instead, these are separate details and symbols that do not have a strong enough driving force a film could use. All these omissions were implemented to make the film brief and clear enough for the Hollywood audience. The transition of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? into Blade Runner shows the alterations and omissions required to make a novel a successful film. The writers of the film knew that they could not fit the entire original plot on the big screen, so they made changes carefully not to completely change it into a different story. While doing so, they also kept in mind of what keeps Hollywood audiences fixated to their screens. If the film is not entertaining, there will be bitter outcome for those working very hard to make it; so, why not add some heroism and drama to appeal to the masses. Although there is always some loss of original content when transitioning a novel into a book, I believe this inconsistency exists because there are properties a novel has which a film cannot resemble. For one, the novel can undoubtedly fit more information. Second, themes, which are usually noticed by subtle hints by the author, cannot be described in a film. A novel writer has full command of how he/she wants to use his/her theme. It can be recurring, or very subtle; in any way, it most likely does not disturb the flow of the story. Sure, images can capture an object that represents a symbol, but to have that same theme repeated in film would mean that the same image has to be repeated until it is clear that the same object holds meaning. And if the film kept showing the same thing, wouldn’t it be a tad annoying?