Blade Runner Through Lens of Anthropology

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Dominant Culture and Mortality
Anthropology of Emotions
Allegories of Replicants’ Cyberculture
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The universe of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is repulsive but strangely familiar, like many works of futuristic science fiction. The film is about flash technology and the startling cultural contrasts that separate different societies, yet their parallels to the contemporary reality are riveting. Blade Runner is set in a post-human, postmodern future when replicants, or genetically altered people, are prohibited from existing and from returning to Earth because they were effectively produced to serve as slave labor in other colonies. Four of these replicants, however, have come back to Earth and are being pursued by Blade Runner Rick Deckard, whose goal is to eliminate these rebellious beings. This paper investigates the movie from the perspective of anthropology in an attempt to uncover the connections between human anthropology and Blade Runner’s repercussions and reflections on replicants.

Replicants are genetically engineered beings that resemble humans in many ways. They behave and think like humans, and they have a body. However, they can be prolonged in terms of their service life. They are beings created to be employed as slave labor in the exploration and colonization of distant planets, produced in large quantities by Tyrell’s genetic engineers. They are viewed as disposable replacements for their human hosts since they are manmade artifacts. Replicants are treated as disposable because they have no moral or legal rights. These sophisticated androids are built to only live for four years, ensuring that they will never catch up to humans despite having human-like appearances, behaviors, and intelligence (Byron 2008). They are recognized as replicants since they have not naturally developed their emotions.

Dominant Culture and Mortality

It quickly becomes apparent that Blade Runner reflects on mortality and a desire to define what it is to be human. In its attempt to trace the anthropological setting, the movie was quite successful. This is well reflected in the plot, where it was seen how replicants became more humane than actual human beings. As the spectator witnesses Roy was laughing, crying (after Deckard kills his fiancée Paris), killing (killing Tyrell), and philosophizing, he is the most fully realized character in the movie (right before he dies). The allegories and reflections on dying are prevalent in the film since Roy and his friends were unsure how long they had to live. And because they began to experience feeling, they fear, love, and live much more passionately than real human characters. After some time, Roy comes to the conclusion that life is anthropologically sacred and is kind to Deckard (Byron 2008). Roy eventually came to the conclusion that if death hurts, it must be because it takes something valuable—the value of life—from the world.

It is customary for the passage storylines in human clone movies to highlight the limitations of the dominant culture’s originals. In Blade Runner, for instance, the replicants have greater physical and moral strength, discipline, talent, capacity for feelings, or selfless self-sacrifice than humans. Replicants are doomed to conceal a racially segregated urban underworld characterized by cosmopolitanism when they alter their boundaries, become actors of their own future, and demonstrate that they are “more human than humans” (Tyrell’s corporation slogan) (Battaglia 2001). Taking into account different perspectives, such as anthropology, it can be asserted that because their bodies are made and thus unique to their creators, they differ from one another. No other being made us as humans since there is no God, according to different philosophers and anthropologists who were contemplating on this topic (Byron 2008). Humans are living creatures with autonomy over how to live their lives. As a result, it can be seen in the movie that the Replicants have a materialistic body that is only their essence.

The movie’s characters, however, can be argued to be dependent on something larger than themselves, namely the genetic engineer who created them. However, one of Batty’s tasks is to kill his creator in order to prolong his life. This storyline became particularly interesting for this topic. It is reflected in how he yearns for humanity which makes Batty remarkably close to what it is to be a human. It may be considered that this is the allegorical desire to alter one’s fate and life in general. Anthropology, in this sense, assumes that hopelessness strengthens human traits by encouraging us to pursue a life of autonomy and opportunity.

Anthropology of Emotions

Another interesting topic concerns Leon Kowalski, the first replicant encountered in the movie, who appears human-like, and it is hard for a viewer to tell that he is a replicant. This trash disposal engineer not only appears to be human, but he also exhibits tell-tale signs of trepidation when being scrutinized. There must be a discernible difference in drawing the line between created products and humans, and if the characters in the movie are right in asserting that there is a difference between a replicant and a person (Battaglia 2001). The reason why they should obey someone is unclear if there is no discernible difference.

In Blade Runner, the Voight-Kampff test, which tracks emotional response through involuntary iris variations, capillary dilation, and blush response, is the only way to determine if someone is a human or a replicant. However, not all emotional reactions are necessary to tell a person from a replicant. The test makes no attempt to distinguish between emotions like fear or fury. Even a four-year-old can experience the fundamental emotions of fear and anger. In contrast to more primal emotions, empathy demands maturity, which takes longer to develop than four years. The Voight-Kampff test concentrates on emotion by posing hypothetical questions about the suffering of people or animals. Leon is very immediately recognized as a replicant by the test because he lacks that level of emotional sophistication.

In contrast, the characters in the movie do not seem to be able to act or react in real human ways. In Blade Runner, Deckard is depicted as being a lonely person. He is unsure of whether he should be practicing his real vocation, killing replicants, and he also appears to lack the ability to determine whether it is morally proper to do so. But as the movie goes on, this alters in a number of ways. Deckard slowly comes to realize his humanity via his love for Rachel, a replicant and is thus better able to comprehend what it is to be human. This has a lot to do with accepting one’s own personal human experience. The replicants and the characters in the movie are similar, making it challenging to distinguish between the two.

Deckard’s moment of truth occurred as he recognized that everyone had self-doubts regarding their anthropological position. While Deckard takes some time to properly understand the potential of memory implants, the crucial information is made abundantly obvious in this sequence. This can be explained that as soon as this last pillar of self-assurance is shattered, he is once again faced with all of his other moral issues. His awareness of the moral affinity between himself and his target and his confusion over the anthropological meaning of replicants is now seen in a different light. Because if memories can be implanted into machines without the machines realizing that the memories do not belong to them, then the seeming sense of self is not at all evidence for the existence of the “I.” This understanding would be terrifying and disorienting for any person, but for someone who continuously considers these issues and who acts based on the difference between a human and a lethally violent replicant, the implications are, if possible, considerably worse.

Allegories of Replicants’ Cyberculture

The issue of replicants is multi-layered and can be approached from numerous perspectives. Asserting the anthropological lenses, by putting the other group down, people always attempted to retain their alleged superiority. According to the pre-modern perspective of the anthropological three-level model, man and animals are not fundamentally different from one another. It was widely acknowledged in the contemporary era that man is a more complicated animal, asserting dominance over other species. Later, in the postmodern era, categorizing people using scientific methods was dropped, while the concept of dominant specie stayed the same. Animals became the lower beings, but in the world of Blade Runner, they are uncommon. This leads to the fact that animals must thus be replaced by a different species since the impression of the other group as inferior is necessary to maintain the illusion of superiority (Graves-Brown, 1997). Obviously, superiority results in the enslavement or tyranny of the group that is thought to be under it (Bowker et al. 2009). Only an emotional immaturity or lack of empathy could permit such hierarchical thinking.

Batty, in many ways, ended up saving Deckard. He preserved both his biological life and his humanity. Eventually, he allegorically demonstrated to Deckard what it meant to be a responsible adult free of artificial constraints, as opposed to Tyrell’s imprisoned mechanical bird. The movie advances the argument that what defines a person as truly human is their emotional development and their decision to show empathy and compassion (Battaglia 2001). Since Tyrell and other genetic engineers cannot make Batty human, he must develop human characteristics within himself. The movie vividly depicted that being human is a condition of mind and feelings rather than a unique DNA structure (Downey et al. 2005). He shows emotional maturity by accepting his own death and rescuing the man who attempted to kill him. The Voight-Kampff test would have been passed by him.

Nowadays, being human is directly correlated with technology and other artificial personality traits. One can assert that the threshold of what it means to be human has been crossed and that it is no longer plausible to assert that being human requires the possession of particular physical characteristics (Hines 2010). In light of this, consideration should be given to cybercultures and how they perceive the anthropological attitude toward new technology, as well as how these technologies have fundamentally altered conceptions of what it is to be human and the anthropology of the question.

New technologies are being created and adopted at an unprecedented rate in the 21st century. They are numerous: people use computers, phones, and other gadgets that are designed to enhance social connection and communication. Human bodies, however, have fundamentally changed as well. The physical qualities and other elements of the body can now be enhanced artificially (Downey et al. 2005). The potential of natural human biology can be nearly endlessly increased (Boellstorff 2011). The genetic engineers in Blade Runner provide an illustration of how this is possible. They generate bodies that are quite similar to human ones. Given that the replicants in the movie are likewise capable of emotion, touching, and perception, it is hard to distinguish the distinctions.

Identities, personalities, and other facets of the human condition are undoubtedly impacted by these developments. The development of technology has made people’s ability to communicate and perceive themselves mobile yet shallow. It is possible to have numerous identities and “I” in cyberspace. This is illustrated in an intriguing way by the characters in Blade Runner, who seem to be evolving continually. Sometimes they behave like replicants; other times, they appear to be more human. This implies that one is evolving, and with that, his identity.

Conclusion

The anthropological perspective is largely predicated on the notion that existing in society and being comprised both by others and by one’s own actions are essential components of what it means to be human. It is believed that biology and culture are closely tied to humans. A person exists in a society, but his or her biological characteristics also influence how that individual interacts with the outside world (Sturken 1997). This area is particularly interested in how humans have shaped society throughout history by acting like living things. Therefore, when seen through the perspective of anthropology, physical characteristics are both a product of culture and a product of nature. Generally speaking, humans are able to separate themselves from the outside world and establish a sense of their place within it.

The main aspect from the anthropological perspective is that the body is a crucial tool for a person’s perception and exploration of the outside environment. This implies that the body can also be many, pliable, and fluid, but it is crucial that it retain its core characteristics (Sturken 1997). Materiality is viewed in transhumanistic theories as an immobile, passive substance that may be modified to suit the preferences of the individual. Blade Runner demonstrates how the flesh and its anti-religious connotations exist in the digital world.

With regards to understanding the topic of “what it means to be human,” some of Blade Runner’s most important themes are intertwined with debates on cybercultures, new technology, and anthropological considerations. Although technology has become a part of humanity, one should think about how it will change the way humanity exists and, moreover, to what extent they are actually necessary for human life. It can be said that philosophy, computer science, anthropology, and many other fields are key areas in discussions related to this topic. The visual and textual rhetoric of resistance in movies such as Blade Runner frequently focuses on the status of the subject of the possible aspect. Concluding, it can be seen that replicants perform acts of memory and forgetting and demonstrate that they can learn and transform relationship patterns for them. Their activity becomes crucial in comprehending whether the human anthropology lens should consider it just a technological advancement or a major breakthrough in methodology.

References

Battaglia, Debbora. “Multiplicities: An anthropologist’s thoughts on replicants and clones in popular film.” Critical Inquiry 27, no. 3 (2001): 493-514.

Boellstorff, Tom. “Virtuality” In A Companion to the Anthropology of Body and Embodiment. Blackwell Publishing, 2011.

Bowker, Geoffrey C., Karen Baker, Florence Millerand, and David Ribes. “Toward information infrastructure studies: Ways of knowing in a networked environment.” In International handbook of internet research, pp. 97-117. Springer, Dordrecht, 2009.

Byron, John. “Replicants R Us: The Crisis of Authenticity in ‘Blade Runner.” Sydney Studies 34, no. 1 (2008).

Downey, Gary Lee, Joseph Dumit, and Sarah Williams. “Cyborg anthropology.” Cultural Anthropology 10, no. 2 (1995): 264-269.

Graves-Brown, P. (1997). From highway to superhighway: The sustainability, symbolism and situated practices of car culture. Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice, 41(1), 64-75.

Hines, Dwight. “In Pursuit of Experience: The Postindustrial Gentrification of the rural American West. ” Ethnography 11, no. 2 (2010): 285-308.

Sturken, Marita. Tangled memories: The Vietnam War, the AIDS epidemic, and the politics of remembering. University of California Press, 1997.

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