Why You Should Watch BLADERUNNER 2049
… and why film reviews are bad for you.
What makes one distinctively human: Their ability to reason? Their self-awareness? Their flesh, blood, and perhaps the vocal cords to sing and speak? It’s by far not a shortlist: humanity refuses to be confined in definitions, and to identify what-it-is-not is a much easier task. When I wake up and see my cat curled up still asleep, as much as I’d hope otherwise, I know it is not like me. As I walk down the market isle browsing for salmon and ground beef, I don’t think of the Nanjing Massacre or the Auschwitz, because my conscience reservers little for the slaughter and cruelty of the kinds not like me. (one more…) The differences in appearances, genetics, intelligence, we come to understand ourselves through that which we are not — a human identity depends on the life and objects of the world around them reminding it of its uniqueness. And thus granting another the rights and recognition deserving of one’s peers follows a process of elimination, and it has not been hard so far — with so much in the world for us to eliminate.
But there are uncomfortable times which the methods fail, when the distinctions are no longer tangible and are of semantics and philosophies. Is a three-month old fetus human? It materializes in a womb, it has an expected genetic codes, it has a noticeable heart beat. But does it constitute its humanity? Is abortion a termination of human life, or a removal of a cluster of protein and water with a genetic code attached to it? The concept of the “potential of personhood” embodied in an embryo or fetus enters the conversation as an unwelcome guest, conflating a medical procedure with an act of murder. Both side have their moral claim, and the one common ground among the two is in the human’s origin of heterosexual insemination.
This uncomfortable conversation of the constitution of humanity can end before it ever starts: it must be true that one cannot be human without it being created by an organic heritage passed down by the very first of its kind, and in the universe of Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner, it had.
One of the most iconic sci-fi movie in history, Bladerunner (1982) is an undisputed landmark that introduced the cyber-punk atheistic into popular space. Never-ending nights, constant rain, the varied, bright and neon lights over multilingual store signs and gigantic advertisements presents a globalized commercial world — and a desolate and depressing one no less. The story follows the LAPD detective Deckard, designated Bladerunner, in hunting down four renegade Replicants built by the Wallace Corporation to serve as laborers in “off-world colonies”. The replicants, or artificial humans, return to earth seeking to prolong their four-year lifespan, and upon the conflict the drama unfolds.
“The best angel of them all, aren’t you, Luv?”
Perhaps what makes one distinctively human is to long for a stable sense of identity, and to be agitated by ambiguity.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
“You have been getting on fine without one … a soul.”
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
“Hes literally me.”
