Artificial Freedom and Intelligence

Phillip Root

Film 301/319
February 18, 2009

Visual Assignment 1

Artificial Intelligence and Freedom

When looking towards the future, one must ask the questions of what shall be, or what could be, and with Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982, Los Angeles and Burbank, California. Sheppertion, and Surrey, England, UK.), the audience is shown a unique perception of a possible future. With the financing of 15 million from Warner Brothers studios (1), Ridley Scott was able to create an incendiary world of fantasy, while maintaining a logistical take on what the future could be. With the basis of the book, “Do Androids dream electric sheep” (2), by Phillip K. Dick, Scott began to craft a tale of the future loosely based upon the text. From the emphasis on freedom, and cultural lines blurring, the question the movie poses is what made a human, human? These answers and more were examined throughout this science fiction epic from Ridley Scott in the proposed future in 2019.

Coming off of the enormous success of Aliens, and the mourning over the death of his brother, Ridley Scott began the journey towards creating a film that once again would visually and mentally arrest the viewer (5). Considering the films being made at the time such as, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, by Steven Spielberg (9), and “The Empire Strikes Back”, by George Lucas (11), Scott was given the freedom to create a film with both an exciting visual concept and the capacity for philosophical undertones. Such evidence is in the way in which Scott establishes humanity within his science fiction films. This humanity was present through his ability to create humanity in his earlier science fiction film Alien, by creating a blue-collar mentality to the characters, or as he called it, “truckers in space”(5). This mentality created an opportunity to service the story in a new and fresh strategy, by allowing the audience to connect to the journey taken by Harrison Ford’s character, Rick Deckard.

Following the main character of Rick Deckard, the audience is shown the city of Los Angeles in 2019. The world of factories and clashing cultures, crashed together by overpopulation and globalization, created an incredible sense of mise en scene for the picture to convey the image of claustrophobia. With the narrative following the use of a science fiction setting through the use of flying vehicles and larger than imagined architecture, the audience is thus transported. The story focuses on Deckard, a former Blade Runner, which is the label for an assassin of Androids known as Replicants. The main functions of these machines are to work as the slaves for the off-world planets, even though they resemble humans in learning and features. Upon the escape of six replacints, Deckard is once again asked to terminate the problems that exist. The main replicant is a challenge, because with his ability to learn and reason, the story takes an unexpected turn.

Rob Batty, the head replicant responsible for the exodus, escapes slavery to come to earth to plea for extra life from his creator J.F. Sebastian. This topic of a robot wanting life or even fathoming the concept of life is remarkable due to the time in which the film was made. Considering the original character concept of androids such as Robby in, Forbidden Planet (10), and C-3P0 in, The Empire Strikes Back (11), androids had a structured purpose that dealt with servitude and the role of support to human kind. This perspective on free will and determination for freedom was new territory, and with the murder of Tyrell, his original creator by the hands of Batty due to his refusal for extended life, the film thus takes on a different viewpoint of what purpose an android has.

The historical context of the film also correlates with the effect of slavery and inferiority. According to Judith Kerman, in her book, “Retrofitting Blade Runner”, “That the replicants are perceived by the police as inferior is made clear by the racial epithet with which they are characterized by Capt. Bryant.”(3) This name used is “skin jobs”(3) and with this term is associated a prejudice connecting with any other racist term degrading person. Feeling oppressed, Batty revolts and thus embodies the spirit of change and civil rights justice. Conjuring characteristics of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Batty is similar in achieving freedom through action and peace. For example, when Batty interrogates one of the Engineers for information to find J.F. Sebastian, a man with the key to his continuing existence. Batty's methods of assertiveness reflect a urgency reserved for the actions of a human. This reflects the methods of action in which Malcolm X, as he would quote, “by any means necessary”(6). Yet Batty also relates to Martin Luther King Jr., by showing mercy and remorse for Deckard in the final conflict on the top of the skyscrapers. This compares to the actions taken by King, by showing mercy and remorse for the white moderate were naive and arrogant, as clearly stated in King’s writings from Birmingham jail (4). Considering as well the context in which Scott portrays this touchy issue was in fact a current issue of what Phillip K. Dick was experiencing while writing the source text. During the sixties, the Civil Rights Movement was in affect, and with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1965, and 1968(4) a new and unknown era was beginning, which is envisioned through the film with the merging of one society.

Through the progress made in racial divisions, questions in the film arose of how far we could go in blending together. Such an example is seen through the character of Gaff, a Hispanic officer, who uses a combined language assorted by the multiple cultures mixed together, which is called, “Cityspeak”(1). With this new culture, new ideas are mixed within each other to form something new and spell bounding. From the incredible frame of the Geisha visual advertisement reflected across the incredibly enormous skyscraper, we visually see an underlying message of the crossover of cultures. Meaning that advertising that was made for Asians primarily, now was nationally known in the future of 2019, from the shrinking world that has evolved into globalization.

These questions posed by the original text by Dick and modernized by Scott, gave the viewer questions to ponder considering where our world was headed, and where it had been. The possibility of technology becoming aware or in fact, evolving towards a state of consciousness is paranoia for us as a society due to our inability to grasp change, as seen by our segregated past. Yet also shows how change can be hazardous due to the possible ability to play god by creation, or create new prejudices. What makes the film work is the idea of the unexpected or the acceptance that the world is unknown. That the science fiction genre can be pulled down to examine an intimate story of learning the concept of love instead of hate and resentment. Shown in Deckard’s character, we see a loss in connection at the beginning of the film, with his flying car and aspirations of his own freedom from his occupation, or slavery in a sense. When looking at the concluding sequence of the film we see his love for an Android by the name of Rachael, juxtaposed from his earlier surroundings, he is seen as free in a car riding through a beautiful countryside (8). This idea of freedom through the power of open-minded idealism creates a masterpiece of contemporary film by the true modern genius of Ridley Scott.




Works Cited


1. "Blade runner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia. 14 Feb. 2009 .

2. Dick, Philip K.. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Pg. 112 New York: Signet, 1969.


3. Kerman, Judith B.. Retrofitting Blade Runner: Issues in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Bowling Green State University: Popular Press 3, 1997.

4. King, Jr., and Martin Luther. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. New York: HarperCollins, 1963.

5. "Ridley Scott - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 15 Feb. 2009 .

6. Speeches, Any Means Necessary:, and Interviews. "Malcolm X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia. 15 Feb. 2009 .

7. Alien (Two-Disc Collector's Edition). Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Sigourney Weaver. DVD. 20th Century Fox, 1979.

8. Blade Runner (Four-Disc Collector's Edition). Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Harrison Ford. DVD. Warner Home Video, 1982.

9. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition). Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr. Theater viewing. Sony Pictures, 1977.

10. Forbidden Planet. Dir. Fred M. Wilcox. Perf. Leslie Nielsen. DVD. Warner Home Video, 1956.

11. Star Wars, Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back (Widescreen Edition). Dir. Irvin Kershner. Perf. Harrison Ford. Theater viewing. 20th Century Fox, 1982.