Cyberpunk: Battle of the Androids and Replicants

It’s hard to predict the future many years ahead of your own time. In 1968, Philip K. Dick had written Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? with a riveting complex futuristic plot that would grasp a group of people and change the way they viewed their upcoming years. The novel was then released into a movie produced by Ridley Scott; known as Blade Runner, in 1982. There were a vast amount of differences between the movie and the book. The only reason I could think of to why the many changes is because times change and so does people interests through many generations. Even though this book is published and not an orally based story, still Ridley Scott felt the need to put his own ideas into an already built artistic masterpiece, to make it seem more appealing to the public.

In the book, Deckard is married. He wakes up to his wife in a bad mood due to a device called a mood organ, which is not in the film. She disapproves of his job as bounty hunter, killing androids, because of this religion known as Mercerism, which is also not in the film. Nevertheless, he is not married in the film so you throw all of that away. Deckard, played by Harrison Ford in the film, is attracted to the replicant Rachael in the film, which makes the story a bit different. These changes does not necessarily change the theme of the movie, it just makes it more appealing to the average movie viewer. Having the main character attracted to the very things that he is supposed to destroy, makes the movie an interesting twist. In the book, Rachael the character is different. She is used for company gain only, to sniff out information regarding the Nexus-6 android’s flaws though bounty hunters and their use of the Voight-Kampff test.

Though the movie does make certain remarks about animals being robotic and their outrageous quality, it does not obsess about it as much as the book. Deckard is using his low pay bounty hunting money that he gains in the book to buy a real sheep instead of the electric ones. But why are animals this rare commodity in the book? User 1318 from the kuro5hin.org diaries explains “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is structured around the fake religion of Mercerism, that doesn’t exist in Blade Runner. Mercerism is a strange cult that seems to exist for the sole purpose of affirming the “empathetic union” of life forms.” So, Deckard and his wife, owning a real sheep would further symbolize their humanistic expressions.

Another crashing moment that is in the film that leaves the viewer thinking was the question “Is Deckard an android?” The movie explains the role of memory implants and how replicants can have memories to make them feel more realistic. This is the same plot that also surrounds Rachael throughout most of the film. She finds out that she is a replicant through Deckard, and has a mental breakdown because she thought she had been human her whole life. Deckard has some arguable moments that he is a replicant as well. How does one come to dream of a unicorn when one has never had the actual experience to see one? In his world, unicorns do not exist. He dreams that moment, and later there is a origami unicorn, made by one of the other blade runners and placed on his doorstep. This event lets the viewer believe that he knows what kind of memories or dreams Deckard has. Others insist there is no definitive answer, and that the clues merely "suggest" Deckard might be a replicant. I think this post from David Caldwell’s site, http://www.brmovie.com/, has some great insight when they answer with this statement, “Some accept Deckard as a replicant because of the clues, but feel he shouldn't be, because they feel the movie works just as well if not better if he's human or if the question is left "unanswered.” I really agree with this statement, because people viewing it and people reading about it will come up with different answers and this argument would just go on forever, and it is the best choice to leave it an unsolved mystery. It would just make perfect since to leave most of the questions unanswered since the end of the movie was really left open ended. Collectively vast differences come from different minds in different times.

Work Cited

Cowie, Johnathan. "Blade Runner vs. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"

last update: 4/15/08, http://www.concatenation.org/contact.html

User 1318. "Blade Runner vs. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"

7/9/05, http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/7/9/45918/48434

Carreon, Maria. "Blade Runner vs. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"

McGrievy, Matt. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner)"

August of 1998, http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~palmquis/courses/reviews/matt.htm

Caldwell, David. "The Blade Runner FAQ: Is Deckar a Replicant"

Last update June 26, 2008, http://www.brmovie.com/FAQs/BR_FAQ_Deck-a-Rep.htm