Loyalty In Blade Runner

What are some of the themes that are central to the film? How have they been communicated?

Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi, noir, thriller, Blade Runner, uses the importance of empathy to capture the flaws of species. The theme is perhaps most evident in the character of Roy Batty. The film develops the character as a “villain,” as he does devious things, appears sinister and delivers dialogue with a British accent. However, much to the audience’s confusion, the character is anything but a villain. Roy, like all replicants, wants to live longer. This idea of life and death is morbid and depressing, and yet it is something we humans ponder on a daily basis. In the film’s most bizarre twist, Roy saves Rick Deckard from death. Preceding this, Deckard
has done nothing but hateful acts towards Roy.
He spits in his face, murders his girlfriend and shoots him. Throughout the film, Roy experiences elevated emotion. This is something truly bizarre considering he is merely a replicant. Following the death of Pris, he cries. This human emotion is used as a foreshadowing device for Roy’s final moments. After saving Deckard’s life, Roy states, “All those moments will be lost… like tears in rain.” Through his quest to live longer, and to become human, Roy does all of this on his final night. He saves a life, and cries, the most human of acts. The idea of empathy in the film is represented by Roy, developing an understanding that, despite not being human, empathy is learnable.

The effect of religion is a key theme in Blade Runner. The eye is a recurring motif throughout the piece; the film begins with a shot of an eyeball overlooking the “Hades” of 2019’s Los Angeles. The overlooking eye is represented throughout the piece as if God is watching over the world he has created. Roy is a character who
desperately wants to live a life full of his personal memories, not implemented memories. He is a replicant, produced by Eldon Tyrell, and is called the “prodigal son,” by his creator. This being a reference to the Biblical story, from Luke 15.11-32, of the awestruck son, who returns home to his Father, after losing everything. Tyrell’s character is used by Scott as a metaphorical version of God, with Roy being his “child,” another reference to humanity. In saying this, the film displays Roy as Tyrell’s Lucifer, his most perfect creation rising and challenging him. The film uses all replicants as fallen angels, frowned upon by society, despite being immensely more powerful and in turn better than them. Tyrell appears to have an owl in his home; this owl is a symbol of wisdom. However, the owl, like Roy, was designed in a lab. Because of this, the audience can understand that Tyrell has what appears to be “false wisdom.” When Roy brutally murders Tyrell, Scott uses an extreme close up on the face of Tyrell as his eyes explode into the back of his skull. This signifies that the all-seeing eye of God is no longer present. This is mentioned by, Friedrich Nietzsche in The Gay Science where he states “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” Here the idea is that God (religion) is no longer the source of moral guidance; we must find morality for ourselves. This ties in perfectly with Roy’s development, and his moral journey leading to the death of his creator.

How important is the use of setting in the film? What is its significance in the film as a whole?

Scott’s film uses setting as more than just a backdrop for his peculiar characters.
The setting itself is a character, representing the shadiness of this incarnation of humankind. The setting cradles the theme of a failed capitalism, as the poor become more inadequate, similarly, the rich become more productive. Scott’s inspiration for the film’s look comes from the 1927 German film, Metropolis. The peoples, full of a mash of Caucasian, Asian and Hispanics, all desire to ascend into an “off-world” experience. Scott’s idea of a futuristic world is taken over by technology and is undergoing a societal decline. In Blade Runner, the setting is cold and features a unique blue filter when on the ground, full of poverty stricken ethnics. To contrast this, the rich, the superior and the stronger, live in the orange-filtered sky. While being subtle about it, Scott develops the idea that the rich look down on the poor. In our world, wealthy leaders like Donald Trump have skyscrapers overlooking thousands of homeless people in a city like New York. The director juxtaposes the concept that orange is typically matched with the ground, while blue is a colour found in the sky. By using these filters, Scott shows the audience that the orange, highlights the rich’s dirt, and grime, a form of irony, considering how advanced they are. The poor, however, are surrounded by blue, a bright and clean colour, showing their
innocence.

Which character/s are important in the film? What is their role and/or development and how have they been used as a tool in the film?

The incredibly realistic metaphor Blade Runner represents is its opinion on war and slavery. The Replicants in the film are robots, however, the humans who develop them feel it is essential to make them look and act like people and despite this, we lower their importance. The Replicants are metaphors for soldiers, and slaves alike. The training that Replicants go through to determine whether or not they are a robot includes a test; a reference to the testing required for men and women seeking to serve their country. In Roy’s final moments, he tells Rick that he has “seen things you people wouldn’t believe,” this statement is a reference to the comments made by soldiers when they return home from duty. Replicants do humanity’s dirty work; they go on “missions too dangerous” for humans, and they serve. The twisted idea here is that these Replicants do not have the option to decline; like the men and women of today, they are forced to serve and die. The concept of slavery is evident in the character of Zhora, who is in the sex-trafficking business. This “job” is at the bottom of humanity, and because of this, humans feel the need to let their slaves do their work. This is an allusion to slavery in America, as many black slaves were victims of sexual abuse and rape, often being “exploited.” Through the Replicants, Scott develops the idea that whenever humanity has a hold on another race/species, we treat them in disgusting manners, as we naturally cannot control our lust for power.