DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

I wrote this essay for my Writing and Rhetoric course during my freshman year. It concerned the film Blade Runner, a film that I had not seen before working on this project, and I absolutely adored the film. This version went through some revisions, but it is close to final.

 

"like...tears in rain"

 

Rathin Kacham

Professor Smith

 

 

What is human?

            As technology and human knowledge continue to grow, the impossible becomes possible. From genetically engineered mosquitoes being used to stop the spread of Zika virus (Plumer) to the development of computers with artificial intelligence smarter than the human brain (Burton-Hill), it seems as though it will only be a matter of time until man creates life. Naturally, this leads to several questions of ethics and morality that are becoming more and more relevant: “Do we have the right to play god?” “Should we create artificial humans?”, and, perhaps most important of all, “What even defines human?” The film Blade Runner attempts to answer these questions. Even though the piece is science fiction, it does more than simply amaze its audience with special effects. Instead, it challenges the viewer to question their definition of humanity and realize the ephemeral nature of life. By doing this, the film continues to claim that humanity is determined not by biological processes, but by the value on places on life – not only his, but the lives of others as well. This is best conveyed to the viewer in a short but significant scene in the film: the Tears in the Rain soliloquy. The scene is vital to the themes of the film, and it is the subject of multiple analyses because of its importance and the effectiveness of its rhetoric. This is a result of the plot building up to the soliloquy.

            In Blade Runner, humans have all but overcome the technological restrictions present in the modern day. However, instead of presenting a worry-free utopia that many consider the future to be, the future the film presents is dark, gritty, and far dystopian than consider the future to be. In the film, the Tyrell Corporation manages to develop artificial creatures known as “replicants” that are almost identical to human beings. These creatures are used for hazardous jobs too dangerous humans, but eventually grow rebellious. This results in the banning of replicants on Earth, and the destruction of the replicants present on Earth is tasked to the Blade Runners. The main character of the film is Rick Deckard, a retired Blade Runner forced out of retirement to hunt down a group of rogue replicants. Deckard manages to hunt down all but the last replicant, Roy Batty. As he attempts to chase Roy down, Deckard finds himself hanging onto a ledge on the verge of death. At this moment, Roy begins the iconic Tears in the Rain soliloquy, and concludes it by saving the life of his hunter even though he had the opportunity to let Deckard die. After saving him, Roy expires, reaching the 4-year self-destruction  age built into all replicants as a failsafe. At this moment, Deckard realizes the error of his ways. Through this scene, the film concludes that humanity is determined by compassion, and this is accomplished through the use of Deckard, Roy, and the setting of the scene itself.

            Throughout the film, Deckard is concerned only with the task at hand. He wants to eliminate the replicants, and has no hesitation in killing them. This is best represented by Deckard’s reaction to Roy as he hangs from the ledge. On the ledge, Roy speaks to Deckard: “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.” Deckard responds to this by spitting in Roy’s face and letting go of the ledge. This is especially shocking because of the circumstances of the situation. Deckard spends what could be the final moment of his life in an act of defiance. This highlights how adamant Deckard in his opinion on replicants. He refuses to change his viewpoint on the prey he has hunted all his life even on the brink of death. It takes Roy saving him to realize that he has been wrong for most of his life. After Roy grabs and saves Deckard after he lets go, Roy begins his monologue, and Deckard simply watches in shock while speaks, only realizing the error of his ways, as implied by the look of realization on his face, until after Roy expires. The adamant nature of Roy’s character as depicted by this scene serves to support the film’s main theme well. Throughout the film, the replicants are considered to be subhuman and artificial by a variety of characters. The strength of this sentiment is depicted in this scene, and it makes the replicants seem all the more human because Roy saved Deckard’s life despite their previous grievances. The audience is forced to question their beliefs on the supposed antagonists of the film, and this strengthens the argument of the film by showing that these supposedly artificial beings can be more human than actual humans.

            This idea is further supported by the statements of Roy himself. The actual soliloquy is no longer than a few sentences, but it still carries a significant weight behind it:

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears...in...rain. Time to die.

These sentences manage to capture the extent of Roy’s humanity in contrast to Deckard’s brutality. Through this short monologue, Roy reveals the extent of his travels to the viewer and the experiences of his short life as an artificial human. But instead of claiming that these make him superior to Deckard or humanity, he approaches the idea from a unique, if not unexpected, perspective. He states that what he does will not matter in the long run. He is aware of the ephemeral nature of his own life, and even announces his death to Deckard before dying. This, combined with the compassion shown by Roy to Deckard, gives Roy even more human-like characteristics. He is aware of his own mortality, unlike Deckard, who is willing to throw his life away in order to kill Roy, and is aware of the value of life as a result. This drives him to save Deckard from the ledge, and further supports the depiction of humanity presented by the film.

            The significance of the interactions between Deckard and Roy is magnified when the setting of the scene is taken into consideration. The scene begins with Deckard hanging onto a ledge with Roy speaking to him while he hangs on. This is significant because it highlights the contrast between Roy’s humanity and Deckard’s adamant cruelty, as previously mentioned. However, the weather in the scene may be the most significant element in the piece, as it serves as an added layer of depth and symbolism to Roy’s monologue. In the film, the citizens of Los Angeles face constant acid rain because of pollutants from factories in the city. As Roy and Deckard have their final showdown on the rooftops of the city in the rain and Roy mentions his own mortality in his monologue, the viewer is reminded of the ubiquitous rainy weather stemming from human pollution. As Roy ends his soliloquy with “Like tears in rain,” the viewer is not only forced to consider his own consideration of mortality, but the implications his statements have for the setting as a whole. In a future where the line between man and machine is blurred, life becomes nothing more than a commodity, and the suffering of both man and machine are forgotten in the pursuit of progress as a result. This is contrasted by Deckard, who spits at Roy before letting go of the ledge. This act showcases the lack of value he has for life – he is more willing to die than give in. He has little to no value for his life; he just wants to complete the mission assigned to him. The setting of the scene contributes significantly to the themes of the piece by building on the idea that Roy is aware of his own mortality. This makes him seem more human to the audience, as he is more appreciative of life than an actual human is.

            The significance of Roy’s soliloquy in both the film and its impact on audiences cannot be understated, and many authors have echoed the sentiments mentioned previously. One notable retrospective is the recently written piece by Michael Newton in The Guardian. In the piece, Newton analyzes the context in which the film was developed, the symbolism involved in a variety of scenes in the film, and even some of the questionable cinematic liberties taken by the film, but synthesizes his argument in a single sentence: “…suggesting that in the replicant, as in the replicated technology of film itself, there remains a place for something human.” (Newton). This melting between human and non-human is mentioned in a variety of analyses, but one unique perspective is offered by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. In his analysis, The Parting of the Mists, Reagle considers the film to be the retelling of the Bible story of Adam and Eve and considers the symbolism of the dove: “… Roy further prepares the way for Deckard, by transforming into a dove, which parts the black fog that has permeated the film. This … allows Deckard and Rachael (Adam and Eve) to part from the clouds as well, to an unpolluted garden.” (Reagle). Both analyses point to the depth of the film’s rhetoric and the implications it has for the definitions of humanity, and are, in general, representative of current opinions on the film today, as Blade Runner initially released to mixed reviews, only finding its current popularity years after its release. However, this may be indicative of something more than a cult following. As society became more technologically advanced, Blade Runner gained a larger and larger audience, suggesting that the film does have a place as a measure of humanity as the idea of the replicant becomes closer to reality.

In some ways, the growth of Blade Runner’s popularity is similar to the relationship between Roy and Deckard. It took Deckard a considerable amount of time to realize that, in some aspects, Roy was more of a human than he was. Unlike Deckard, Roy was well aware of this throughout the film, and his knowledge of his own mortality and the value he places on life is best represented in his Tears in the Rain soliloquy. This aspect of the replicant is supported by the symbolism provided by the setting of the scene – a rainy rooftop. All these facts point to the difficulty of supporting the argument on humanity the film attempts to make. Blade Runner’s current universal acclaim was not always present – it took years to find its current praise. But the ideas and themes of the film are becoming progressively more relevant in times of great social change brought on by technology. Claiming that humanity is not a definition based on biological processes but compassion and mortality is a difficult claim to make, especially in a science-fiction setting. But Blade Runner manages to accomplish this and set a precedent for man’s future struggles with the definition of humanity, even if it took well over a decade for the public to realize it.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Harrison Ford and M. Emmett Walsh. 1982.

Hill, Clemency B. "The superhero of artificial intelligence: can this genius keep it in check?" 16 February 2016. The Guardian. 18 February 2016.

Newton, Michael. "Tears in rain? Why Blade Runner is timeless." 14 March 2015. The Guardian. 18 February 2016.

Plumer, Brad. "Can GMO mosquitoes really help us stop Zika? A closer look." 17 February 2016. Vox. 18 February 2016.

Reagle, Joseph. "The Parting of the Mists." 1996. reagle.org. 18 February 2016.

 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.