Deckard's Struggle With His Actions And Emotions example essay topic

Blade Runner (1982) is a futuristic Film Noir that takes a cynical look at the intermingling of technology and humanity. Set in 2019 Los Angeles (presumably after the Third World War), the film focuses on Rick Deckard, a former police officer and bounty hunter who is reluctantly recruited to search for and kill four rebel android replicants (genetically-engineered robots who have strength and intelligence superior to human beings but who are designed with a lack of emotion). Originally created to work as slaves on an off-world plant, the replicants have returned to earth in search of their creator, Tyrell, in order to force him to extend their lives, which have been artificially limited to four years in order to prevent them from developing human-like emotions. The quest of the replicants and Deckard's continuing struggle with his emotions leads to a central them of the film: What does it mean to be human? Are humans more than just a body? This essay will focus on the characters of Deckard and Rachel and examine how emotion and feeling are central to their being.

Rachel is a Nexus 6 replicant designed to be "more human than human". Tyrell has not only created her with superior intelligence but has also cruelly given her a set of memories, which have allowed her to believe that she is actually human. The tangible proof of Rachel's memories lies in a set of photographs she has. Rachel's photographs, like all personal photographs, serve as a visual history of who she is.

Photographs are a theme continually repeated throughout the film. Whether we consciously are aware of it or not, photographs help us define who we are. Births and birthday celebrations, funerals, vacations, graduations, marriages, etc. are all just fleeting moments in time. Photographs, however, allow us to extend those moments and events indefinitely. They serve as a visual genealogy and establish bonds signifying who we are, where we " ve been and who and where we " ve come from. The replicants, like humans, have developed enough human characteristics to want establish these bonds.

When Rachel shows up at Deckard's apartment, she tries to show him her photographs as proof that she is indeed human. In what is arguably one of the most cruel and insensitive moments in the film, Deckard coldly points out to Rachel that her memories are artificial - that they were implanted in her by Tyrell. At that moment, we see a tear run down Rachel's cheek? A product of her emotions? Later, in another display of her humanity, Rachel comes to Deckard's aid during a life and death struggle with Roy, another replicant, by shooting and killing Roy. She has developed empathy.

The character of Deckard provides another interesting look at what it means to be human. Deckard's insensitivity to Rachel is ironic as we would not expect such behavior from a film hero. But Deckard is unusual. He's not a moral character as heroes tend to be. First of all, consider his job. He's a killer.

Additionally, his tactless remarks to Rachel further indicate a lack of character and conscience on his part. Ironically, however, Deckard is involved in a continuing internal conflict where he continually questions himself and his actions. At the beginning of the film he has given up on being a cop and a heartless bounty hunter and is attempting to live the live of ordinary humans. After the incident with Rachel, we hear him express sympathy for Rachel and her plight. At that point, he also begins to question why he would even care.

After all, "Blade runners [like Replicants] weren't supposed to have feelings". Much debate has centered around the question of whether or not Deckard himself is indeed a Replicant. There is much evidence in the film to support this. Most obvious is the lack of emotion we witness during the first part of the film. Another interesting thing is the fact that early in the film we find out that there are six replicants who have returned to earth. One was killed trying to enter the Tyrell facility and Deckard is searching for four others but the whereabouts of the sixth is never explained.

Could the sixth replicant possibly be Deckard? If Deckard is the sixth Replicant, it makes perfectly good sense. A continuing theme throughout Blad Runner is the evolution of the Replicants in terms of their humanity. Deckard's struggle with his actions and emotions certainly points a similar evolution. Eventually, Deckard develops feelings of love for Rachel - the most human of emotions.

Like all good science fiction films, Blade Runner forces us to ask questions about who we are and what we risk in our race in pursuit of greater and greater technological advances. Like ordinary children who grow and experience life and establish a set of memories providing them with links to time, people and events the replicants in Blade Runner are evolving and establishing their own histories and emotions. By showing us the Replicants' quest and Deckard's struggle to with his own emotions, Blade Runner serves as a cautionary fable pessimistically examining technology, it's ever increasing unity with humanity and the need to distinguish the two.