HON 255- Thoughts on Blade Runner (1982) and Philip K. Dick

I found this movie to be thrilling. I think it definitely encompasses the sci-fi genre for sure. The dystopian Sci-Fi elements of this movie are completely intriguing, and they are essentially what the entire movie and story is focused on. I found it interesting how the replicants were almost identical to humans with the exception of their lack of feelings, fixed emotional responses, and absurd amounts of physical strength. This film really focuses on existentialism, or the philosophical belief that everyone is responsible for creating individual meaning in their own lives, and how it pertains to the significance of our lives. I thought it was brilliant to incorporate existentialism into the film as it can really make viewers dive deeper into thinking about what within our lives is worthwhile to kill for or to die for. No matter how many times people watch this film, viewers can always learn something new and look at elements of the message and story form different perspectives. It sets a dark mood but is it visually incredible and a deep film that leaves people pondering about the nature of being human in a world of constant advancements.

Philip K. Dick is an American science-fiction writer of novels and short stories depicting “psychological struggles of characters trapped in illusory environments” (Britannica). He was most well-known for focusing on and including futuristic technology in his works. All of his published novels and short stories have been incredibly important to the genre as a whole and have given insight to artificial intelligence, authoritarian governments, and virtual aspects of reality which have been interpreted has way ahead of their time. His focus on the advancements of technology and their impact on human worth and human lives in general go beyond what is considered to be just regular the sci-fi genre. He enlightened people about having suspicion in regard to the power of highly advanced electronic systems. His work is still so powerful to this day because it sheds lights on answering important questions in life including “What is real?” and “What does it really mean to be human nowadays?”. He was one of the most noteworthy authors in exploring what identity is to humans. Only having lived until age 53, his influence among the science fiction world until the modern day in age has been the utmost impactful and has gotten people to question their reality and their future in this world. His film Blade Runner, is still profound even 40 years after it came out and is most definitely still worthy of praise even though it bears little similarity to the present times and times that have occurred in terms of society’s electronic times.