Bladerunner

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BLADERUNNER BATTLE
Geoff Willmetts (GW) argues the toss with Barry Purcell (BP) about the finer points of this classic movie.

see Geoff's original article which sparked this debate

ROUND 1
BP. Roy Batty was clearly identified in the movie as a battle-type replicant, in the same way Pris was the pleasure model. It is entirely conceivable that Deckard was a model less hardy than Batty.

GW. You're making an automatic assumption that Dekkard is a Replicant. But let's look at your point. The Nexus 6 type was typical of all of the escaped Replicants and regarded as the superior model.

If a Replicant was employed on Earth, wouldn't it stand to reason to keep something there up to date than an old model that couldn't cope with the new models?? Like any corporation, Tyrell would have always want to introduce the next improved model to keep his market share.

With the callous destruction of Replicants, it would have made more sense to 'retire' him if he no longer wanted to work for the police division again.

ROUND 2
BP. There is no authority for allowing replicants freedom of movement, true enough. Presumably, however, if you were in the nefarious business of convincing replicants that they were real people, these priorities would be rescinded.

Otherwise how would the illusion maintained? For your inspection: "No Rachel you cannot leave the building" "Why not?" "Er..the air is toxic" "No it's not. Deckard just left" "Cause...you're needed upstairs! Yeah that's it. Upstairs." "I'm outta here"

GW. Rachel was an experiment as to how close she would be to passing the Voight Com test as well as being long-lived. It was also disclosed in the film that providing Replicants with some sort of stability in their mental mind-sets made them more efficient workers and enabled better reaction to working with and for humans.

Replicants don't spout oil when shot but blood suggesting the initial framework is probably cloned cells with modifications, like new eyes later. This is exactly the opposite of what Phil Dick wrote in his original book when they were essentially robots with a suitable epidermis covering. I'm digressing. Rachel would have seen plenty of people leave the building not to be worried about it.

If you refer to the film, she left the building because she wasn't reassurance that she wasn't a Replicant after the doubt was put in her mind. The only person she could address outside of Tyrell would have been the person who gave her the doubt: Dekkard. You can't change events to fit what you think is appropriate.

ROUND 3
BP. Where does it say that a replicant would not know what to look for or not to look for in a VK test? You are extrapolating here. There is no way I could sink a hole-in-one on a par 4. But I could spot one a mile away. What's more, Deckard and RAchel are presumably attempts to defy to VK test. Rachel very nearly passed.....

GW.Oh please. Would you send someone who is colour blind to spot someone else who is colour blind?? This isn't anything like watching someone playing golf.

Hitting a ball into a hole can be observed as an empirical action that no one could doubt. Telling the difference when you can't spot it yourself doesn't fall into the same category. You'll be telling me next that the chap who first interrogated Leon was a Replicant as well!

ROUND 4
BP. And if Tyrell said it, it must be true. He has no interest in lying, now, does he? Of course it wouldn't be lying, really. It's providing a machine with a particular array of data.

GW.What's Tyrell got to gain by lying? Rachel is probably the biggest indication that he didn't like giving the Replicants short lives. What you're missing here is why would Tyrell tell a Replicant such information?

Imagine the effect if he had told Roy Batty the same information. That really would have given a stronger incentive to kill Tyrell. It's a pity you didn't suggest that Dekkard doesn't know he was a Replicant. [I could counter that too, by the way.]

ROUND 5
BP. I fail to find anything here in support of the theory that Deckard may not be a replicant. What is the point you are trying to make?

GW. As to implanted memories. It's really the same point as my answer above to point 3. A Replicant that is aware of implanted memories in others wouldn't be aware of them in himself if they existed.

It would be another blind spot or certainly not told about lest any similarities were observed. Incidentally, something occurred to me as I wrote this reply. Look around Dekkard's apartment. It's pretty well packed with someone's life, including a piano! It isn't dependent on a set of photos to suggest a past.

ROUND 6
BP. With the stupid ending and the voice over through out the movie gone, it was a much cleaner and crisper affair. The posibility exists, however grim, that Deckard and RAchel never made it to the bottom of the lift alive.

GW. That can only be regarded as supposition. There is no evidence there to support your lift theory. If that was intended, then such an ending would have used rather than a fade into the sunset.

As I recall, Ridley Scott was quite happy to have both of them escape, just not happy with the voice over. Considering the points I noted at the end of my article about the plot holes that really exist, it's amazing the film holds together as well as it does.

ROUND 7
BP. I would have reckoned that Gaff knew about the whole thing all along, and possibly worked for Tyrell, as did Bryant. Remember what he said about cops: "If you're not cops you're little people." Well Tyrell isn't cops. And he's not little people.

Makes you think, doesn't it? No? Gaffe's use of a unicorn and his last line (seemingly directed at Rachel, but not necessarily) would seem to indicate that his knowledge of Deckard's replicancy is not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility.

GW. Oh please. Do you need to be reminded that Tyrell is actually dead by this time? If Gaff was a police officer also working for the Tyrell Corporation, don't you think he might have killed Rachel than let her get away? His own motives were already outlined in his introduction: He was after promotion. You're reading too much into it.

ROUND 8
BP. This seems to be a bunch of coulda-shoulda-woulda which again does not seem to have a single clear point. As soon as I have one I will refute it.

GW. I will be happy to read whatever you have as proof that Dekkard was a Replicant as long as you bear one thing in mind: It has to have been shown in the film and not any supposition of 'possible' events off camera.

When I do articles of this nature, this is one rule that I really adhere to. Working from existing cloth is a lot safer in the long term.

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