More Human Than Human (05.03.2002)
The first scenes of Blade Runner show its obvious achievement in visuals. Nevertheless, as important and spectacular as the cinematography and special effects are to the film, it is not above the greater meaning of the story. This movie raises some very fundamental questions of human identity and existence in a postmodern society of technological permeation. At its core, Blade Runner examines the always-unanswered question of the purpose of existence. A more specific question is raised, being the inquiry into what makes us human? The supposition of the film is that memories or experiences determine our character, and perhaps our humanity as well. Though the validity of memory and experience is scrutinized as to their validity.
Blade Runner's introduction of the replicant, being a synthetic humanoid life form with a lifespan of only four years and a lack of emotional response, immediately brings ethical issues of whether or not replicants are mere devices or if they are to be treated as humans are with the same rights and responsibilities. "Commerce is our goal here at Tyrell. 'More human than human' is our motto," says Dr. Eldon Tyrell. These replicants are stronger, faster, more intelligent, perceptive, and generally the ideal embodiment of humanity in all aspect with the exception of emotions. These replicants are not given any memories and have no more than four years of life. The reason for this limitation is due to the fact that replicants are designed without emotional response, yet emotions can be developed if memories are generated. At the point of some time after four years of life, Tyrell Corporations research showed that replicants developed emotions after enough memories were accumulated. With Rudger Hauer's character Roy, and his accomplices, emotions seems to have been developed much sooner however.
Roy speaks of his experiences towards the end of Blade Runner: "I've see things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain." It can be argued that what makes us human is nothing more than our memories and experiences. The difference in physical composition between organic human and synthetic replicant is a triviality in the mechanism, as organic and genetically engineered clones could be created just as easily. In fact, it would appear that the replicants in the film are partially synthetic and partially organic. So the question arises as to what truly separates man from replicant. If it is indeed memory and experience, then the difference is virtually non-existent. Experiences become memories, and are distorted in the mind. Memory is not entirely reliable as different individuals will remember the same experience differently, and that remembrance is misconstrued by the mind in application of priorities and interpretations of those prioritized elements of the experience itself.
Pris makes a reference to Descartes in her conversation with Sebastian when she says that "I think, Sebastian, therefore I am." This is a reference to the notion developed by Descartes in his Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. This notion states that all knowledge is derived from sense perception. Since sense perception is variable and subject to change, it is not a reliable sense of knowledge and cannot be trusted. Thus, if all knowledge of this kind cannot be certain, but is only an approximation of the truth, nothing can be known beyond the shadow of a doubt. However, Descartes develops one thing that can be known with absolute certainty, and that is our own existence. The phrase "I think, therefore I am," is the reference to the certainty of knowledge of the self due to the fact that we are thinking of the self. I know that I exist, because I may doubt everything that I am perceiving through my senses, but the fact that I am thinking of whether I exist is beyond sense perception, and I cannot doubt my thought of this existence.
This evocation of Cartesian philosophy is in direct correlation to the statement of "more human than human." Since these replicants can question their own existence, that very existence is granted validity in their eyes, and also granted as equal an existential validity as that of humanity. Moreover, the subjectivism introduced by the variability of memory and experience gives rise to the idea of relativity in regards to experience. This relativity is also one of perceived reality. Thus, in Blade Runner the replicants as well as the humans can live in a subjective and relative reality. When Deckard first meets Rachel, he says to Tyrell "She's a replicant, isn't she?" Tyrell responds by pointing out that "Rachel is an experiment. Nothing more." This makes us aware that Rachel is a replicant with memories and emotional response and is not aware of her true identity as a replicant but believes herself to be human. Her memories are implanted memories of Tyrell's niece. So Rachel believes her reality to be different from that of what Tyrell and Deckard know to be reality. Whether their reality is truer than Rachel's reality is a point of debate. This relative reality changes for Deckard as he becomes emotionally attached to Rachel and then romantically involved with her. Towards the end, Deckard does not see Rachel as a replicant any longer, even after she learns the truth.
For Roy and his companions reality also seems to be a relative concept determined by memory and experience. As is learned in the exposition of Blade Runner, Roy and the other replicants are of the essentially same origin as any replicants. For some reason, they develop the emotional responses sooner than anticipated, though that may be an intentional design alteration. In any case, reality for these replicants changes drastically as those emotional responses occur and they become aware of their true identity. Thus, their view of reality is altered by the knowledge of an existence as replicants or the lack thereof.
In retrospect, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is a hallmark of the science fiction film genre. It achieves its status in the phenomenal implementation of special effects in its cinematography, but more importantly, the deeply ingrained ethical, sociological, and generally philosophical issues raised by the characters and story. The movie is a template for any science fiction film to be made if success is desired. Blade Runner demonstrates what is necessary for a science fiction film to be successful, and a staple of the genre is the demonstration of a possibility of life in the future given humanity's current trajectory, lest we change. Though it is also a generation of awareness of the actions currently undertaken, and this film certainly causes us to consider our own lives in light of its philosophical issues, as any good science fiction film should.
