1. Blade Runner (1982)
2. A company called Tyrell Corp. created robots very similar to humans called replicants. They had increased intelligence and strength and stamina. They were almost impossible to tell from humans but they only lived four years. One group of replicants revolted and tried to kill people. Blade Runner was a job created to hunt down and “retire” or kill these replicants. The only way to tell the difference is with a test that focuses on the eyes where they are asked questions designed to bring out an emotional response. When the story starts a group of replicants had killed a group of people and taken a ship back to earth and attempted to break into Tyrell Corp. They bring Deckard, a retired blade runner, back into action to hunt down and “retire these replicants. At the beginning of the film, Deckard sees replicants as robots and hazards. He doesn't like them at all and certainly doesn't see them as equal. Humans are the gods and robots are their subjects. He then meets Rachel who is a replicant that doesn't know she is a replicant because she has had memories implanted in her. He calls her it instead of her showing how he certainly doesn't see them as anything near human. Tyrell tells Deckard that their motto is “More human than human.” Deckard starts tracking the rogue replicants. Then it shows the replicants searching for the man who created them, Tyrell. Deckard is visited by Rachel and he reveals that she is a replicant with memory implants. She begins crying after hearing this and Deckard begins to see that replicants have emotions just as much as humans and even feels bad for her. The replicants get closer to meeting Tyrell through J.F. Sebastian a guy who makes robots and Deckard finds more clues. He uses an artificial scale to track down and kill one of the escaped replicants. He is met by the head of the police who tells him Rachel has also disappeared and he must also hunt her down as well. He sees her as they drive away and follows her and is attacked by Leon who wants to know how long he lives. He also talks about how painful it is to live in fear and how knowing when you die is like having an itch you can't scratch. Right when he is about to kill Deckard, Rachel shows up and shoots Leon. Him and Rachel talk and she expresses that she doesn't want to be a replicant and Deckard says that if she ran away he wouldn't hunt her because he owes her for saving him, but that someone else would. She also questions Deckard about how he knows he isn't a replicant. Deckard and Rachel have a moment and get physical. Clearly, Deckard's feelings about replicants have changed.The last two replicants are at J.F. Sebastian's house. Sebastian is excited that they are the newest model because he designs them and asks them to show him something. The replicants say that they are not computers but physical and also use a line from Descartes “I think, therefore I am.” The replicants convince Sebastian to bring them to Tyrell. The replicants reveal that they want their life extended. Tyrell explains that just like humans he cannot extend their lives and that death is just another fact of life. Roy then kills Tyrell and Sebastian. Deckard then heads off to Sebastian's house and fights and kills another replicant just leaving Roy. Roy realizes he is starting to die and Deckard realizes he cannot beat Roy and climbs to the roof. He is hanging off the ledge and Roy is standing above him. Roy tells him that living in fear is what it's like to be a slave and then catches Deckard when he falls off the ledge. Roys talks about how he has seen and experienced things that humans wouldn't believe and that all those experiences would be lost when he dies., and then he dies. Deckard goes back home and finds Rachel and confesses his love to her and they leave together.
3. There are a couple philosophical issues dealt with in this movie. One is what does it mean to be humans, what makes humans and machines different. Everything seems to be the same between humans and replicants, the companies own motto is “more human than human.” If Descartes is to be believed with “I think, therefore I am” then these replicants would be as human as us. In this sense, the film is similar to Ex Machina. If a person is someone who has flesh and blood, these replicants also have that. The second is dealing with mortality and the meaning of life. The replicants struggle to deal with the fact that they are mortal, something everything living must deal with. At the end of the movie, Roy explains that he has experienced and seen things that humans wouldn't believe and yet it will all be lost like tears in the rain when he dies. If all your experiences will just be gone and lost forever when you die then what is even the point of experiencing them? The Robots talk about how torturous it is to live every day knowing you will die, knowing you are just a slave to the endless cycle of life and death. However, in his struggle for more life his master, Tyrell, gives him advice saying that he should embrace what life he is given and live every day to the fullest. At the end of the movie he is watching Deckard about to fall to his death when he realizes that some things he does live on past his death and have meaning when he is dead. He saves Deckard's life so Deckard could continue to live and be with the person he loved, so in that way he did find a way to give his life some meaning by impacting another person's life. In the end he gained control over what he was fighting so hard against. I think these are both important and interesting because the first one is not as relevant now but will be very relevant sooner when artificial intelligence becomes better. What right will we grant robots and how much freedom will we give them not only over their lives but ours? I also think the second philosophical issue is very important because it is something that we have always and will always have to address forever, but also if technology comes to a point where we can live forever, what will that take away from our lives? What is the importance of mortality? But also the biggest question what is the point of it all? This movie gives some answers in some indirect ways. I think this movie is saying that the point is to enjoy it and not focus on the death part but focus on the living part. Don't look at it as being a slave to death but control your own life and make it what you want to. Also I think it says some very interesting things about artificial intelligence and their relation to us. In the movie the replicants were only treated bad when people knew they were replicants. Similar to Ex Machina they just wanted to live a life similar to humans. This movie also showed the humanity in AI by having the main character going from disliking them and calling them “it” to falling in love with one. He feels bad making her cry which asks the question just because their emotions come from algorithms for computers why should that make them any less valid. Her sadness still affected her the same way it would a human, it still brought out the same guilty feeling it would in Deckard if he would have made another human cry. This movie brings up a lot of interesting and good things to think about as technology will start to reach heights similar to the movie. It also brings up good points that have been asked for as long as there was someone to ask them.
4. The first source is
Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy. Paris, 1647.
I think this would be a good reading to use because Descartes talks about what it means to be human. The movie even goes so far as to use one of his own lines in the movie “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes thinks that being human means being aware and certain of yourself, using rationalism and reason and what you know to be true to gain more knowledge. In the movie, the replicants do just that they are very self-aware of their life and experiences and rationality. They have human aspirations and even in some cases even human memories. If humans are merely things that have feelings then certainly these replicants should be considered humans, you see them cry and get mad and upset and even see their desire to live and fear death as many humans do. If this is the basis of what a human is then should Deckard really be hunting them down for wanting to live? He even falls in love with a replicant. Also, Descartes and Deckard sound very similar if you pronounce the “A” in Deckard as a long “A” and not a short one. So I think that Descartes has a close relation to this movie.
The second source is:
Nagel, Thomas. What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy. Chapter 10. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
I think this is a good chapter to look at this movie with. This movie looks into the meaning of life and I think God in a way. I think God is presented in an interesting way in this movie. To the replicants Tyrell is God. He is their creator, their master, he is in control of everything and dictates what their purpose is. This movie in a way shows what could happen if we could interact with God. Roy Batty, the most intelligent replicant, finds his way to meeting Tyrell. Roy does this because, like most humans, he does not want to die. He thinks his experiences are too good to just fade away and sees death as some sort of torturer. I feel like Roy shows a situation in which a human gets to meet their god and have confirmation he exists and what his purpose it. Roy, however, is not too fond of his God. He demands more life and when he learns it cannot be done and instead of this meaningless quest for life he should be enjoying and living his life to the fullest. Tyrell even calls him the prodigal son. Roy hates this and kills Tyrell and Sebastian. This movie, however, demonstrates that it may be better that we, in real life, have it better off not knowing confirmation of God or our purpose or have ways of communicating with him. Roy was given and knew his purpose in life. He just hated it because it wasn't one he chose. By being cut off from God in real life we have the opportunity to give God the benefit of the doubt and feel in some sort of control. The replicants are tired of feeling like slaves. Slaves to Tyrell and the life and death he forced on them. Even though Roy’s meeting with his God did help him find meaning in life by finding his own purpose and saving Deckard, his entire life was filled with resent and was really just a meaningless quest that got him and his friends killed. This chapter talks about accepting God and how it could be more beneficial and accepting the meaninglessness of our lives sometimes and I think this movie says similar things. It also says that by not knowing our God we can figure these things out without having to personally talk or waste our life on a quest to meet our God and we can spend our short mortal life making our own purpose and doing what we want and if we must, pretending that it is all God’s plan. The replicants can't pretend because their God is feasible.