Humanity In Blade Runner And Ridley Scott's Blade Runner

The first time I watched Blade Runner (1982) I only viewed it as a poorly filmed, weird 80’s movie. However, with my new understanding of postmodernity I’ve come to view Ridley Scott’s movie, along with its sequel Blade Runner 2049, as some of the most fascinating movies I have ever seen. Upon watching both I have been captivated with thoughts on how to fix the problem that both movies show. The problem being that the internet has altered the nature of information and how it is processed by society. Elton Tyrell in Blade Runner touches on this by saying the Nexus-6 replicants are “more human than human.” Tyrell is conveying that these human-like robots has been able to overcome revolutionary change of information in society. This quotation

Los Angeles in Blade Runner has advertisements covering every building, ships flying in the sky projecting the news, and screens showing media on every surface possible near the streets. Replicants are imported with memories of actual humans to give them a since of humanity and understanding. This allows the robots to have a foundation to build their understanding of emotion on and interact like a self-conscious human. Except the mass media cannot pull the Nexus-6 robots into the pit of misconception and virtual reality that most of the humans have fallen into. As you watch the movie all the humans are emotionless and bleak because they rely on technology too much in their lives. Their conversations are held mostly over the phone and they use technology every second of the day. The robots show more facial emotion and connection with each other. Borgmann writes that “Information about and for reality used to mediate between humanity and to produce a distinctive kind of world”(Borgmann 23). The robots clearly still have the ability to do this while the human’s emotions have faded away because the distance between information and reality is blurred. Replicants are “more human than human” because they have the ability to distinguish reality from virtual reality and this has led them to still keep in touch with moral values of community and a sense of

He explains that “Information as virtual reality has its own and direct affects on culture. It serves utility in design, manufacturing, medicine, and science. But it serves consumption as well, and saps everyone’s vigor in dealing with the actual world”(Borgmann 30). This is quite true in the movie because mass media has taken over more than it has in our actual world. All the humans rely on virtual reality to do their jobs and live. In Blade Runner 2049 the main character has a virtual girlfriend that he believes he has a close connection with but, this product is mass produced and millions believe they have a personal connection with her. Virtual reality has mainly grown through social media and instant messaging much like the virtual girlfriend. Replicants in the movie still process information the “old fashion way’ that Borgmann says “keeps, or used to keep, the fairness of space and time distinct from the nearness of those persons and things that make up the focal area of our lives” (Borgmann 23). They live fulfilling lives because they hold a strong sense of family and individualism because they use information to benefit their lives instead of replacing