2020 Tarkovsky Prize Third Place: Shiuan Cheng

Portrayal of Humanity in Blade Runner

by Shiuan Cheng (Lowell High School)

In the film Blade Runner (1982), Ridley Scott explores the idea of humanity, portraying how an individual’s struggles and experiences are what make them human. Throughout the movie, the replicants are depicted to be inhuman, not because of their mechanical existence, but rather because of their perfect design. Yet, as they begin to realize the futility of their quest for survival, the replicants begin to seem more humane. To express this struggle that defines one’s humanity, and the hardships that accompany it, Scott uses the cinematic techniques of lighting, symbolism, and imagery.

In Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, lighting is used to represent the imperfections that deem an individual, human. Over the course of the film, a variety of close-up shots are employed while the characters, human or not, exchange dialogue. However, a major difference which Scott applies to differentiate between replicants and humans is the lighting reflected in their faces. Shots of humans, especially Deckard, consist of imperfections in the brightness of their face, with usually one side being darker. In shots of the replicants, on the other hand, the lighting reflected in the entirety of their face is nearly always the same hue, with no irregularities. This element of lighting expresses the burden carried by human individuals, as they must live with the weight of their mistakes and weaknesses. The replicants do not share this burden, as they are designed to be flawless in every way, and so they are alienated from humanity. However, as they begin to face defeat in their quest to prolong their four-year life span, the replicants begin to shed their invincibility. As the androids begin to succumb to the efforts of Deckard to “retire” them, the imperfect lighting reserved for shots of human individuals is broadened to include shots of Roy Batty, the replicant leader. As he begins to accept the fate to which his allies have already fallen victim to, this defeat is represented by the lighting of Batty’s face, which now shows irregularity in tone and brightness, since the replicant has accepted his intended death. The futility of his quest, and the eventual failure that Batty and his replicant brethren meet, is what ultimately deems them humanlike, as they yield to the mortal threat of death, though their subsequent acquisition of humanity is reflected by the meticulous utilization of lighting by Scott.

In Blade Runner, Ridley Scott employs symbolism to reflect the flaws and experiences of defeat which make up the human soul. The Voight-Kampff tests, which are designed to determine whether a subject is human or a replicant, takes advantage of the fact that replicants are designed to be the “perfect” human: they are stronger both mentally and physically, and have the ability to perform tougher labor without the limitations imposed by human emotions and pain. The tests utilize a series of emotionally provocative questions to elicit and observe a subject’s psychological response, in the form of their heart rate, respiration, and eye movements, and it is the replicants’ exact inability to share human empathy and stress that leads to their detection. The Voight-Kampff tests express the symbolism of how although the removal of the ability to feel empathy was done to free the replicants of a seemingly human flaw, the absence of this “defect” is what is exploited by interrogation to reveal what the replicants lack: a human soul. Without the seeming “flaws” of human emotions and stress, the replicants are inhuman, and it is this idea that is examined by the Voight-Kampff tests.

Ultimately, as the androids’ mission draws to a close, chief replicant Roy Batty is left as the sole survivor. Though he is seemingly hunting Deckard to avenge his fallen allies, Batty ultimately reveals his harmless intentions after saving Deckard’s life, while also ensnaring a dove in his hands. Deckard, still fearful of the resilient automaton, grows calm as Batty expresses his thoughts. While he regrets the loss of his experiences “like tears in rain,” Batty reveals his acceptance of the fact that it is his “time to die.” Following his dramatic monologue, and peaceful death, the previously captured dove breaks free of the android’s grasp, and soars into the open sky, symbolic of Batty’s now released soul. By yielding to his ultimate enemy of death, the replicant leader is toppled from his faultless pedestal, but humanized by his failure. Though he was created as an automaton, the released dove symbolizes the obtainment of humanity by Batty in his final moments, with his acceptance of defeat, and it is through the use of symbolism that Scott is able to express the importance of flaws and failure in the definition of a human soul.

Ridley Scott utilizes imagery in Blade Runner to express how struggle characterizes humanity. Through the duration of the film, the cinematic technique of film noir is used in conjunction with practical effects, including the manipulation of smoke and blinding spotlights, to form a mechanical and industrial setting. The imagery of this environment: dark, lifeless, and robotic, reflects how the adoption of machinery by humans to remove their struggles and responsibilities results in the detachment of life from societies. Without the necessity for human labor and strife, humanity departs from their community, both physically and metaphorically, as machines have litterately taken over human jobs, leading to their physical departure from society. Yet, allegorically, the lack of struggle and purpose that was once created by the need to work has also led to the shriveling of humanity within certain individuals, such as J.F. Sebastian, who has grown distant from his community and surrounds himself with mechanical “friends,” which he designs.

Without the purpose once given to him by his job as a genetic designer for the Tyrell Corporation, Sebastian has lost a part of his humanity as he has grown more attached to his robotic companions, rather than his human community. This idea that humanity is defined by the purpose given to them through challenge and struggle is further exemplified by the difference in imagery of human and replicant eyes. Although the eyes of human characters always appear natural and lifelike, the eyes of replicants often appear glassy, and have an unnatural reflection of lights. Since the replicants have been designed to be flawless, their eyes, much more durable and effective than those of humans, lack the soul that comes with strife. While human eyesight is held back by physical limitations, the vision of replicants suffer no such hardship, which is reflected in their soulless eyes. Without suffering the same restraint faced by humans, the replicants lack the life which is characterized by hindrance, and as eyes are the “windows to the soul,” the lack of a soul is also reflected in the glassy and reflective eyes of the replicants. It is through the precise utilization of imagery, that Scott is able to convey the importance of strife in the definition of humanity.

With his meticulous use of lighting, symbolism, and imagery, Ridley Scott addresses the idea of humanity, in his film Blade Runner (1982). Scott argues that humanity is defined by an individual’s flaws and struggles, and this idea is depicted by the transformation of the replicants. Though initially alienated by their perfection, the replicants ultimately acquire humanity as they experience and accept defeat in their quest to prolong their life span. Although individuals often seek mastery of their lives, and the elements that surround them, one must realize that it is through defeat and struggle that growth is enabled, and it is growth rather than presumed success which defines a human.