HEAD OVER HEELS FOR ARTIFICIAL WOMEN, OR SACRIFICE, LOVE, AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE MODERN SCIENCE FICTION FILM: HUMAN CULTURE AND OBSESSION IN BLADE RUNNER AND SOLARIS

Abstract

Abstract Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), though once casually dismissed by general audiences and critics alike, is now regarded as one of the most influential and thought-provoking science fiction films of all time. This film is worthy of study from many angles, particularly because of the highly realistic visual representation of the 1980s American culture it was created in and its provocative and stunningly prescient estimation of a horribly real, definitely possible Los Angeles of the year 2019. What makes the film most memorable, though, is its moving exploration of the relationship between man and his biologically and genetically manufactured (non-human) creation. Poignant questions about the nature of humanity and the definition of human are raised, and the ultimate sacrifice of one man for a fleeting chance at a romantic love relationship with a woman who is not human is compellingly examined. Blade Runner shares much with Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris (2002), a more recent science fiction film in which the central male character is motivated to sacrifice everything for a woman who is not truly human. Though Solaris lacks much of the social and political commentary that is established definitively (intentionally or not) in Blade Runner, the two films share a fascinating existential drama over the nature of humanity and a moving portrayal of a sacrifice for an uncertain love with an artificial woman.