English 345: Cine/Technology Senior Reading Guide

Article Citation

Senior, W.A. "Blade Runner and Cyberpunk Visions of Humanity." Film Criticism 21 (Fall 1996): 1-12.

Note

In his article, Senior discusses the theatrically released version of Blade Runner, not the director’s cut screened in class. The theatrical version includes extensive voiceover narration by Deckard. Senior quotes Deckard’s narration when describing Gaff’s language as “a polyglot stew of English, Japanese, German, ‘what have you . . .’” and when noting that Deckard’s ex-wife considers him a “cold fish.” If Senior references dialogue or plot incidents you do not remember, assume the content comes from the theatrical release. While Senior observes that the director’s cut creates a different characterization of Deckard and thus requires a separate investigation, his arguments about the way Blade Runner engages questions of humanity apply to the revised film.

Article Guide

Senior’s first sentence indicates the purpose of his analysis: to categorize Blade Runner as a “cyberpunk film.” Like the cyberpunk fiction it both echoes and prefigures, Blade Runner questions the definition of humanity and deconstructs the boundary between human and machine. Although he focuses on Blade Runner, Senior outlines issues for us to contemplate as we study other films where humans merge with machines or androids appear more humane than biological humans. Underline the questions Senior poses at the end of the first paragraph and make notes about how Blade Runner answers them. Also consider whether Metropolis, 2001, and Sleeper—class films that feature robots or human-like machines—engage these questions. If so, how? If not, why do you think that questions regarding the human/machine distinction constitute a primary concern of cyberpunk films and fiction? Why these questions at this time in history?

Senior defines the term “cyberpunk” in the third paragraph and, more fully, in his first footnote. He explains that cyberpunk fiction examines the nature of humanity in new ways, as it doesn’t delineate incontrovertibly “human” qualities. Rather, cyberpunk’s human characters meld with other forms, including the mechanical and the biological. Senior briefly summarizes key cyberpunk novels to offer an overview of the genre’s concerns. Make a note about the primary connection Senior sees between Blade Runner and cyberpunk fiction. On what basis can he argue that Blade Runner is a cyberpunk film?

Paragraphs 4-7 compare characteristics of Blade Runner and cyberpunk fiction: setting, the dominance of Asian cultural elements, the ubiquity of technology, and the presence of protagonists caught within systems of corporate or government control. Senior supports his claims by examining setting details such as buildings, streets, video screens, and the hostile environment; Asian props; lighting that arranges light and dark in a way that “fade[s] everything together”; and the narrative’s characterization of Deckard. In the margins, summarize what Senior has to say about how each element connects Blade Runner and cyberpunk writing or how the film visually expands upon cyberpunk fiction.

In paragraphs 8-14, Senior turns to an analysis of what he sees as the film’s central concern: the definition of humanity. He contends Blade Runner aligns Deckard with the replicants. Indeed, “we become uncertain whether Deckard himself is not a replicant; at the same time, [the film] implies that distinctions between human and replicant ultimately fade and do not matter.” Make notes about the evidence Senior uses to develop his reading of the film, paying particular attention to Deckard’s ability to survive fights against physically superior replicants the similarity between Rachael’s and blade runners’ style of interrogation, Deckard’s status as “retired,” Rachael’s, Leon’s and Deckard’s affinity for photographs, and the characterization of Deckard and all the replicants as passionate, emotionally round individuals. Did you note other connections between Deckard and the replicants that Senior does not discuss? If so, describe those connections in the margins.

As he parallels Deckard and the replicants, Senior points out that replicant characters typify behaviors considered quintessentially “human.” In contrast to most of the film’s “human” characters, Deckard and the replicants care for one another, treasure memories, and have keen emotional responses to others. As Senior notes, “the situations, behaviors, reactions, and needs of the replicants parallel or exceed in intensity those of the few humans in the film.” Make notes in the margins about whether and why you agree or disagree with Senior’s overall argument in this section.

Senior continues to explore similarities between Deckard and the replicants as he develops his argument about the dissolution of the human/replicant boundary in paragraphs 15-19. However, Senior focuses on death and mercy, conditions that unite humans and replicants. Make note of the ways in which Senior aligns Deckard and Batty with one another and Christ/the Holy Ghost during their battle. What does the connection suggest about their humanity and the nature of humanity itself? How does Batty’s mercy towards Deckard render him “human,” according to Senior? Paragraph 19 offers a brief analysis of the Sebastian storyline. What does this story have to say about humanity, death, and caring?

In the final two paragraphs, Senior concludes by summarizing Brian Aldiss’s critique of Blade Runner as adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? For Senior, criticisms like Aldiss’s miss the mark, for they do not acknowledge the film’s key questions regarding how we define humanity (and how we deal with those outside our definition). Cyberpunk fiction takes up the same question. In both cyberpunk film and fiction, “humanity expands to occupy many forms . . ..”