Fantasy Themes analysis of “Blade Runner” 2049
Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel to the 1982 sci-fi dystopian film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott. The original is based on Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” In the sequel we are placed in a dystopian future where cities have replaced the natural world, and synthetic beings have begun to be produced as a commodity or a product. The film is a slow burn, taking its time to slowly unravel the plot and immersing you in a dark rain ridden world where neon signs highlight the degradation of humanity.
I chose this film because I found that every creative choice made throughout its runtime is directly tailored to enhance its core themes that are explored, and contribute to the message that Denis Villenueve is expertly whispering towards the audience. What better medium to explore the human condition than a synthetic world of manufactured people, and the journey of one such replicant through the fog of societal programming to an answer for the questions of the soul. Who am I? How do we define consciousness? Is our Humanity unique? Does being born give us our soul? These philosophical quandaries are universal thoughts that can be pondered by every single member of the audience. We are led to these questions through the lens of a synthetic human who throughout the story uncovers information that makes him question his entire existence. Is he real or fake? We begin the film with news that a replicant has given birth to a child, this comes as troubling news for the human police chief who aims to reaffirm the status quo that replicants are below birthed humans. This hunt for the messianic child leads our main character seemingly right to himself. He begins to realize that the memories he was told were implanted into his head are in fact real. This comes as expected information given the position of the protagonist, we expect the main character of this story to be this messianic figure that changes the world. However, the twist comes at the information that our protagonist is not the messianic figure and is indeed just another replicant made of somebody else's memories. But this revelation is the genius of this artifact, the source of its relatability, and the catalyst for symbolic convergence.
K / Joe
Finds the body of Deckard's wife Rachel, and kills the replicant who lives there.
Discovers that his memories are real.
Lies to the police chief.
Finds Deckard and confronts him about his child.
Watches Joi get “killed” by Luv
Discovers he is not Deckard's son.
Saves Deckard from luv
Reunites Deckard with his daughter.
(Every below mentioned setting except the wallace headquarters)
Scrapyard orphanage
Protein farm
Luv
Watched Wallace kill newborn replicant
Saves K in scrapyard
Kills police chief and doctor, then lies about it
Kidnaps Deckard and kills Joi
Fights K mortally wounding him but dying in the process
Wallace Headquarters
Police building
Wallace Archives
Her vehicle
Irradiated casino
Flooded area
Wallace
Kills newborn replicant
Gives Luv Mission to track down Deckard's child
Wallace Headquarters
Deckard
Meets and fights K at the casino, then tells him he doesn't know his child.
Tells wallace his clone of Deckard's wife is not perfect (the eye color is wrong)
Gets saved by K, goes on to meet his daughter
Irradiated casino
Wallace Corp. Headquarters
Luv’s vehicle
Flooded area
Dr. Stellines lab
Joi
Greets K at home and makes holographic meal
Gives K the name Joe and reaffirms that he's special
Dies telling him “I Love you
K’s apartment building
K’s vehicle
Irradiated casino
Downtown as an advertisement
Dr. Stelline
Tells K that his memories were real, and confirmed that someone lived it.
Greets her father Deckard
Dr. Stellines lab / sterilized room for creating memories
Rhetorical Vision:
Through the coding and analysis of this film we can get a clear rhetorical vision for this artifact. The film heavily discusses what makes our humanity, and how we must all find our own meaning in life. The film uses the setting of a mostly artificial world lacking all natural elements. This reduction of the world serves to show how far we've strayed from genuine connection with holographic partners and manufactured humans and animals. This setting and the absence of humanity and connection serves as the perfect avenue to discuss these themes, in the vacuum we can truly see the necessity for these aspects of ourselves. The film offers a message as well with no matter the standing of one's birth whether replicant or human, we can find meaning in our lives through connection with one another and the altruistic service to others. The film also goes to say that even replicants can have souls by showing that they have a separate inner self from the exterior outerself. These themes are reflected in the actions of both K and Luv the protagonist and antagonist of the film.
Research Question:
How does the use of an unimportant protagonist help portray the themes whilst also subverting the expectations of the audience?
Essay:
Within the Science fiction and fantasy genres there is an overwhelming overuse of the chosen one archetype. Messianic figure who unknowing possesses the means to bring about change in the world and defeat the antagonist. Blade Runner 2049 flips this on its head completely by leading us as the audience to believe our main character K is this figurehead who will bridge the societal gaps between replicants and humans, and become the hero he always wanted to be. The film also tells us that K believes to be born is to have a soul, an important theme for later in the film. The antagonist of our story is Luv, Wallace’s second in command who is also a replicant. She is on the same quest as K to find this child but I believe she intended to go behind Wallaces back to bring her fellow replicants out of oppression. It's hinted that she has started to believe that replicants are superior to humans, and humans are unworthy of the stature that they possess. Now this doesn't seem like an evil quest to be on and it's not when we look at the most prominent human characters in the film, she is on almost the exact same character arc as K. Both her and K want the same thing to be human, to be special, to have meaning, and to be connected with the rest of the world. The difference is K is an unwilling hero, he is thrust into this position and ultimately finds his meaning in sacrifice, Luv on the other hand is forcing herself into this messiah role believing herself above the rest. K becomes his most relatable at the twist of the story, he is not the prophesied child, but another manufactured replicant. He must find his humanity elsewhere, and I believe he does or rather might have possessed it all along. Throughout our story we see K make several choices and changes, the first being his choice to lie to the police chief. A direct separation from what replicants were supposed to be able to do. But what does this mean, lying provides a wall between your inner self and your outerself. It allows you to withhold parts of yourself that are only for you to know, a freeing revelation for K. This action is the first step to what I believe is K taking his humanity for himself, an action mirrored by Luv who takes the same liberating step. The next is K’s acceptance that he is not special and his decision to still give himself to the cause but not for the praise or reward, but because of his connection to Deckard and the altruistic act of reuniting a father with his daughter. At the end we find Luv and K both staking claims for their own humanity for directly conflicting reasons, two souls grasping for meaning and connectedness but standing directly in the way of each other. Both would lose their lives, however K dies having achieved what he had desperately wanted. K dies a human having developed an inner self, found meaning, and become connected to the world around him. This all is a direct cause of the creative decision to make him unimportant, another cog in the machine. This makes him incredibly relatable to everyone today, we are all searching for our own meaning of life, trying to build up what we see ourselves and who we are. Bormann believed that the sharing of narratives can sustain consciousness and entice communal cohesion. Blade Runner 2049 achieves this spectacularly, for each and every person walked out of the theater on the same quest as K and Luv. To search out the meaning of our own humanity and find our own avenues to become connected to others and the world itself.