The movie plays with whether they are rightfully being exterminated or not. It seems like they are mostly murdering in self defense with the notable exception of Batty.
I always thought about Deckard being drained of emotions, but you’re right–it’s most of humanity like that, trapped on a dying world.
Earth has been converted into a capitalist machine that only services the perpetuation of itself
It’s fucking terrifying in its inevitability
Edit: Blade Runner is really a story about hunting down and killing even the slightest glimmer of emotion or hope in the service of relentless and infinitely expanding technofascism
It just occured to me that “Batty” is another word for insane and Philip K Dick had his own run-ins with the mental health system. I’ve always thought that mental health was largely a construct built around protecting what I schizotypically refer to as The System, but I never thought to incorporate Blade Runner into that mythos. Yeah, maybe Batty sees the system for what it is and therefore must be exterminated.
You might enjoy the writings of Ted Kaczynski aka the Unabomber. From a half-remembered Wikipedia article on his last book: He wrote that competitive capitalism will eventually destroy the planet. Any enterprise that is destructive to the environment will continue despite dooming humanity because to stop would just give another soulless corporate entity the competitive advantage. Humanity is in a race to the very bottom.
Edit: Forgot where I was for a minute. The Bell Riots can’t happen soon enough!
I think it’s called The Icarus Effect— that trying to achieve the ultimate understanding of something results in madness. That the closer you get to finally understanding the ultimate truth of something, that once you finally “touch” that ultimate knowledge, it will drive you insane.
Because such knowledge is not meant for mankind. Only the pursuit of it. For it is the pursuit of it which defines us. The struggle.
After all, it’s all about the journey, not the destination.
The movie plays with whether they are rightfully being exterminated or not. It seems like they are mostly murdering in self defense with the notable exception of Batty.
I always thought about Deckard being drained of emotions, but you’re right–it’s most of humanity like that, trapped on a dying world.
Earth has been converted into a capitalist machine that only services the perpetuation of itself
It’s fucking terrifying in its inevitability
Edit: Blade Runner is really a story about hunting down and killing even the slightest glimmer of emotion or hope in the service of relentless and infinitely expanding technofascism
It just occured to me that “Batty” is another word for insane and Philip K Dick had his own run-ins with the mental health system. I’ve always thought that mental health was largely a construct built around protecting what I schizotypically refer to as The System, but I never thought to incorporate Blade Runner into that mythos. Yeah, maybe Batty sees the system for what it is and therefore must be exterminated.
You might enjoy the writings of Ted Kaczynski aka the Unabomber. From a half-remembered Wikipedia article on his last book: He wrote that competitive capitalism will eventually destroy the planet. Any enterprise that is destructive to the environment will continue despite dooming humanity because to stop would just give another soulless corporate entity the competitive advantage. Humanity is in a race to the very bottom.
Edit: Forgot where I was for a minute. The Bell Riots can’t happen soon enough!
I think it’s called The Icarus Effect— that trying to achieve the ultimate understanding of something results in madness. That the closer you get to finally understanding the ultimate truth of something, that once you finally “touch” that ultimate knowledge, it will drive you insane.
Because such knowledge is not meant for mankind. Only the pursuit of it. For it is the pursuit of it which defines us. The struggle.
After all, it’s all about the journey, not the destination.