Blade Runner as a Retroactive Manifesto
The readings and videos presented all seemed to pose a "what if" scenario that many thought possible at the time. In my response, I will focus on the themes presented in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" as it poses a futuristic view of Los Angeles which in the timeframe of the movie (2019) is not too far from where we are now.
The movie's "what if" scenario is a response to the increasing prominence of technology in our society. One of the book we read over the winter break was about creating simplicity, but that simplicity cannot exist without complexity. The complexity in the way that the "replicants" are created and think helps simplify life for humans. But what if the emotions of the replicants brings them desire to live like the humans (and long past their expiration dates? They begin to invade the Earth (illegally) and finding their creators. I thought it was an interesting portrayal of how our everyday reliance on technology to simplify our lives can become a danger. However, as we see in the movie, it is also the same technology that saves us.
"Blade Runner" also relates to Rem Koolhaas' "Delerious New York" manifesto as the expanse of Los Angeles has created crowded streets and the "Bigness" of the buildings has rendered them undesirable architecturally.
I feel that "Blade Runner" can fit into the theme of a retroactive manifesto as its ideas of what the future will become is spawned from the reality of our ever increasing dependence on technology.
Hi Jon!
ReplyDeleteI thought the following comment you made was really insightful: "...our everyday reliance on technology to simplify our lives can become a danger. However...it is also the same technology that saves us." How else does this apply to architecture? To relate again to Bigness, as the population of humans continues to explode, vertical living becomes even more of a necessity. Vertical farms supplement this addition of land into the atmosphere. Yet, what is the longevity of a mile-high building? Man has merely a century or so of experience with these building types, so many of the longterm, generational effects are still unknown. Physical lifespan is not the only concern. What types of psychological consequences might these typologies have long term? How connected to our world will we really be when floating above it for the majority of our lives?