Blade Runner Forum

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Very interesting read. I feel compelled to give Blade Runner another watch. I was certainly impressed when I first watched it but I am pretty sure I haven't seen the arguably better Final Cut. It certainly is an interesting piece to wrap my brain around regardless.

Deckard is the substitute replicant of the human Blade Runner that is murdered at the beginning of the movie. Also the movie is not called Do Androids Dream of electric sheep? , so it gives leeway to other interpretations that doesnt need to match up with Philips K. Dick´s book

Really good article by the way.

I disagree, I think the replicants were too perfect. So much so that they couldn't coexist with a very flawed humanity, and that's what makes us, us, our flaws. And even though we are deeply flawed, our persistence allows us to succeed. Deckard was pretty shitty at his job, yet ultimately he prevails.

Of course this means I believe Deckard is a human.

Considering I'm currently in the middle of writing a 10,000 word dissertation examining the role of identity in contemporary science fiction, in which I intend to focus on Blade Runner quite highly, I'd personally like to thank you for writing this article. And that I think I love you.

@Arc209: Coboy bebop is just....fantastic. I love it with all my heart.. (As you can see from my name ;) )

@SpikeSpiegel88: Yep watched it a lot when it was on Adult Swim but now that I think about it, I have not watched the episodes in sequential order and, at that point, I am not sure if I have seen them all...hhmmm I might need to correct that.

@Beanpants: Just watched the movie for the first time, and then I read your comment and went =O....that would have definitely changed things.

@SlashDance: If I remember correctly, watching through all the versions of Blade Runner (which I recommend), the unicorn isn't in all of them. Something else to look out for though for "proof" would be his eyes. Rutger and Harrison both said Deckard isn't a Replicant and they both got angry at Ridley for saying he was, I think it just shows that the debate will go on. Although I guess you can argue that since it is Scott's film, he makes the decisions. I like to believe he isn't one though.

Here's something interesting for people to read.

http://www.brmovie.com/FAQs/index.htm

Actually, that's Holden's eye, not Deckard's. As weird as that is, it's true. The eye being filmed though, is neither, it's one of Ridley's assistants, Victoria Ewart.

@MooseyMcMan said:

Regardless of whatever BS was cut into the Final Cut, I will always believe Deckard was human. ALWAYS!

At least Philip K. Dick said he was human.

Edit: Part of the reason I believe this is because it makes absolutely ZERO sense that they (meaning the police) would send a replicant after replicants if the replicant they send out isn't as strong or agile as the other ones. While those guys are punches cars, and jumping from building to building, Deckard was getting the crap beaten out of him.

Funny thing is I saw the directors cut when it came out and completely forgot about the addition of the unicorn scene. That really does take it from the theoretical to actual.

The fact that he is weaker is not relevant. So is Rachel compared to Deckard. I think it is simple as they were programmed with false memories to believe they are human so they operate within human limits. Whereas the others were designed as soldiers and laborers with no false memories. By design they needed to be stronger.

Also technically they are "androids" not robots. But I would argue that neither word is accurate because robot has always meant mechanically and clear replicants, although artificial, are biological in design. Which really puts them in another class. I think bio-engineered humanoids would be more accurate.

We could be here for years bringing up replicant vs human arguments in regards to Deckard. I think, as it stands, the story wouldn't quite work out the same if he was a replicant. We're supposed to relate to the character and view the proceedings as he would. I guess that is part of the reason the narration was included with the original theatrical cut, and it does have some memorable moments of it's own. I like the part where Deckard's at the Sushi bar and he notes the nickname his ex-wife gives him: "Cold Fish", relating to the character's personality and temperament, besides the food he's about to eat. As a bounty hunter, Deckard is literally played out as a inhuman monster in the way he dispatches the replicants, but he says in the narration that he left the police force because he had a "belly full of killing". It isn't like he's enjoying it, especially since Deckard was black-mailed into re-joining the Blade Runner unit in the first place.

@Arc209: Should defonatly do that. Most of them have one-off stories, but there are some really great troughline backstories to the characters. Wount take you more then a day or two to watch em all, get some beer, some snacks and enjoy! (Also, see the movie as well if you haven't allready (Knocking on heavens door). It is set between .. ep 21-22 or something. Great characters)

Scott said he wasn't human, so there you go. It rather makes the whole "empathy" debate rather moot since he was programmed to do what he did, he wasn't acting out of human emotion anyway.

Being a bounty hunter has got to be a fairly straight forward rendition/capture/extermination job at the best of times, and a downright grizzly and merciless job at the worst of times. These guys aren't hired to spread hope and talk about their feelings. The legality of of what bounty hunters do is questionable to start with, but they do specialized work within a grey area of society that wouldn't have a lot of empathy going around anyway.

Scott screwed the movie over with not letting Deckard be human; that whole unicorn and implication/inferring crap was just lazy. Read the book, it's much better.

Coincidentally I've been watching Blade Runner and all it's special features the last few days and I personally feel he's a human. Now from all the special feature you glean that even the creators aren't all in agreement. Ridley has said he's a replicant, Harrison Ford played him as human, the producers and screenwriters lean a little more toward him being human but mainly say it's up to the viewer. Frank Darabont's comments in the Deck-a-Rep featurette are what swayed my into seeing Deckard as human despite the "evidence" Ridley sprinkles through the movie but in the end I do think it's up to each viewer and that that is what makes Blade Runner interesting 30 years later.

I loved reading reading this article. Good job! Please do keep writing interesting things on films and film in general.

Personally, I think it's great that a movie can inspire such divided viewpoints in it's fans whether or not Deckard is a Replicant or not, and either way there's a lot of evidence and dramatic ramifications that stem from whichever stance you take. The arguments that the movie inspires make the divergence so worth it.

@Arc209 said:

Also what's up with the unicorn?

The unicorn is one of the biggest pieces of evidence suggesting Deckard is a replicant, since he dreamed about one, and then Gaff leaves the origami unicorn behind, which would lead us to conclude Gaff knows of Deckard's (implanted) memories/dreams. Additionally, in folklore, unicorns are creatures that can and do kill any human that tries to come near them, and can only be tamed by a pure-hearted virgin girl (and then is captured). Their horns were said to be able to purify tainted water, heal the sick, and even provide immortality, which led to many other horned creatures being killed and sold as "true" unicorn horn.

@Armada: But other than the Gaff and his origami connection, what would make us believe that just because he had a dream of a unicorn meant that he was a replicant? Taking that information by itself does not make me think that he was a replicant, but I guess with other pieces of evidence, i.e. the comparable glowing eyes to Rachael's in some scenes, it would make more sense. I guess I am just not understanding the use of the unicorn as a symbol. So Deckard is a unicorn and Rachael is the pure-hearted virgin girl? =p