Blade Runner 2049 (thoughts and spoilers--big ones)
Tue, Nov. 21st, 2017 03:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scarlettinaTook myself to see BLADE RUNNER 2049 last Friday night with varina8. Besides really enjoying the company and the movie--a fitting sequel, I thought, to the original--I noticed something interesting. Between the first film and this one, in this universe, all of the dreamers and makers and inventors are other-abled, or what we might call disabled. In the original film, Sebastian the genetic designer has "Methuselah Syndrome", a genetic premature aging disorder. In 2049, Niander Wallace, the CEO and visionary (so to speak) of the company that now produces replicants is blind and enhanced. Dr. Ana Stelline, the designer of replicant memories, has a genetic disorder that has ruined her immune system, forbidding her from leaving her protected environment.
I'm pretty sure that this is no accident. The only scholarly piece I've seen on the subject of disability in Blade Runner is a paper presented at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, and it approaches the question from a different angle.
From my perspective, this limitation of extraordinary creative brilliance to the disabled seems almost to be a statement about the nature of the society that has evolved as a result of the events in this world's history--the sacrifice required, one so profound that it is nothing less than embedded in the DNA of a given individual. The impression one gets is that most people live lives of quiet desperation--even the extraordinary people. But those with disabilities seem to be able to parlay their specialness into what might look like magic (such sufficiently advanced technology!) and thereby manage to transport themselves away.
There's more to mine here and I want to think about it more carefully because I'm pretty sure there are depths I haven't plumbed here. But I wanted to get these thoughts down before I lost them, and perhaps find a way to expand upon them in the future, maybe propose an ICFA paper of my own.
varina8. Besides really enjoying the company and the movie--a fitting sequel, I thought, to the original--I noticed something interesting. Between the first film and this one, in this universe, all of the dreamers and makers and inventors are other-abled, or what we might call disabled. In the original film, Sebastian the genetic designer has "Methuselah Syndrome", a genetic premature aging disorder. In 2049, Niander Wallace, the CEO and visionary (so to speak) of the company that now produces replicants is blind and enhanced. Dr. Ana Stelline, the designer of replicant memories, has a genetic disorder that has ruined her immune system, forbidding her from leaving her protected environment.I'm pretty sure that this is no accident. The only scholarly piece I've seen on the subject of disability in Blade Runner is a paper presented at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, and it approaches the question from a different angle.
From my perspective, this limitation of extraordinary creative brilliance to the disabled seems almost to be a statement about the nature of the society that has evolved as a result of the events in this world's history--the sacrifice required, one so profound that it is nothing less than embedded in the DNA of a given individual. The impression one gets is that most people live lives of quiet desperation--even the extraordinary people. But those with disabilities seem to be able to parlay their specialness into what might look like magic (such sufficiently advanced technology!) and thereby manage to transport themselves away.
There's more to mine here and I want to think about it more carefully because I'm pretty sure there are depths I haven't plumbed here. But I wanted to get these thoughts down before I lost them, and perhaps find a way to expand upon them in the future, maybe propose an ICFA paper of my own.
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Date: Wed, Nov. 22nd, 2017 01:42 pm (UTC)My main takeaway from the original -- please don't laugh -- was the scene where someone was taking a shower which included a dryer built into the shower. WOW! Why does that not exist in real life? Imagine, just like a car wash! No more towels! I love the idea.
Erm. That's what I got from the original. Can there be any hope at all for me?
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Date: Wed, Nov. 22nd, 2017 03:39 pm (UTC)