FAQ  •  Login

Replicant = Clone or Machine ?

Moderator: Wilkins Rep-Detect BR2349

<<

lucid_dream

User avatar

Rookie Rep Detect
Rookie Rep Detect

Posts: 2

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:16 am

Post Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:06 pm

Replicant = Clone or Machine ?

Hi, I'm new to these forums, but not new to BR. Like many people in their late 20's I have recollections of first seeing this movie on TV (or VHS) as a kid sometime in the late-80's (before the DC). I was obviously too young to completely understand the film at the time, but the wonderful thing about BR is that every few years you find yourself re-discovering its magic.

So onto my question :

How do you consider the replicants? As machines or as clones?

When I was younger it was quite obvious to see them as "robots" because as a kid this concept is easier to understand. And the science behind cloning humans was definitely not as advanced as it is now and a more complicated thing for a child to understand. I think in the book DADoES its clearer that they are definitely androids with mechanical parts. Its been a while since I read it, but I seem to remember descriptions of springs and coils exploding out of the bodies when Deckard retires them.

More recently though, its possible to consider the replicants more as human clones, possibly with no mechanical parts whatsoever. But in the movie this is made ambiguous due to the terminology used. For example, Deckard clearly says "Its a machine" in the Tyrell building when he is VK-ing Rachel. But at other times, the words "genetic engineering" is mentioned which implies cloning. And again I believe Batty uses the term "bio-mechanical". Which is a combination of the two!

I assume that they early Nexus models were more basically how we would describe a traditional "robot". Almost completely mechanical. By the time we are at Nexus 6 though, it seems they are mostly biological, possibly with some mechanical enhancements. The thing that puzzles me still though, is the scene where Batty is told that "Tyrell designed your brain". If the Nexus 6 are simply clones, you wouldn't need to design a brain. You would just take the brain of a very intelligent person and clone it. The phrase used seems to suggest that the Nexus 6 brain is more like a computer. Very confusing.

Anyway, feel free to discuss. I'd like to hear other peoples thoughts!

:D
<<

Gene Ettix

User avatar

Blade Runner
Blade Runner

Posts: 618

Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2001 6:00 pm

Location: Tyrell Corp. U.S.

Post Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:38 pm

Welcome, lucid_dream. Peoples' thoughts here.
I'm sure there's much more in the Android Science forum.
ImageImageImage
<<

lucid_dream

User avatar

Rookie Rep Detect
Rookie Rep Detect

Posts: 2

Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:16 am

Post Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:48 pm

Thanks for the link!

I hadn't seen that...
<<

Gene Ettix

User avatar

Blade Runner
Blade Runner

Posts: 618

Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2001 6:00 pm

Location: Tyrell Corp. U.S.

Post Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:16 pm

No problem. Enjoy the forums!
ImageImageImage
<<

Kaneda

Senior Rep Detector
Senior Rep Detector

Posts: 111

Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:34 pm

Post Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:09 pm

I always find this to be an interesting topic because no one really knows for sure.

I personally think that the technology is left vague so that the viewer will see what makes them human as opposed to foreign.

That being said, I think there are things that might differ a replicant from a human, physically. I imagine they might have a skeleton reinforced with some sort of stronger, perhaps metallic material as proposed by the storyboard mentioned in the other thread and the fact that Roy plows both his head and his fist through a wall unscathed.
"Just when my coil's reaching the green line..."
-Shotaro Kaneda

"Implants! Those aren't your mammories. They're somebody else's. They're Tyrell's niece's."
<<

Masao

User avatar

Rep Detect Instructor
Rep Detect Instructor

Posts: 232

Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:54 am

Post Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:34 am

Interesting question, but rather limited. I never like "either or" questions, since they are usually traps.

I have an alternate answer to the question. Neither. I believe that with the failures as described in the books and game illustrate a very real bioengineering problem with making a humanoid lifeform as a slave. I also believe the kind of minds who would approve such a creature would have any hesitation in creating a third alternative.

Tyrell asks Batty if would like something modified...indicating that even at his late stage he can have improvements made.

This also suggests that human/replicant capability is not a problem, since even memories can be implanted.

These suggestions open up the possibility that "Human" and "Replicant" are not mutually exclusive. If this is the case, then there is the distinct possiblity that Tyrell lied and "Nexus 6" is the lie.

Replicants may be 'customized' existing humans. This idea would even scare PKD.


Don't feel bad about not fully understanding BR, some of us believe that even RS has changed his mind over time. ;) -Hey it happened with Lucas!

LOL
<<

msgeek

User avatar

Elite Rep Detector
Elite Rep Detector

Posts: 416

Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:49 pm

Location: Paranoia City, Valley Sector, LA County

Post Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:08 pm

I think it works best to look at Replicants as vat-grown humans, albeit with genetic tweaks that allow them to transcend human capabilities. Remember the line that appears in both the deleted scenes version of Blade Runner and in DADoES: "It's a wipe-out, Deckard! They're almost us." They aren't almost us: they are us. They differ in some ways, but they are us.

If you consider that the UN is behind the trade in Replicants as slave labor, as is suggested in DADoES, the UN itself violates several of its earliest treaties against slavery and human trafficing. Therefore it is in the UN's best interest to continue to advance the line that Replicants are not human, that they are something beneath humanity in spite of their obvious phystical advantages and possible mental advantages for some, as in the case of Roy Batty.

Eventually "natural" humanity and vat-grown humanity will have to come to terms with each other in the greater world of Blade Runner and DADoES. The genie is out of the bottle. How "natural" and vat-grown humanity eventually deal with each other is literally fodder for a thousand fanfics, or maybe even a pathway to a real series of new stories/movies/tv series/manga/anime set in the milieu. The best tagline for the whole milieu is the original: "Man has made his match. Now it's his problem." This is the essence of the whole thing. How do you come to terms with being a creator of a being with the same or better capabilities than you? And where is the line between human and Replicant, or does that line exist at all?
Yes, I really live in Los Angeles. Srsly. And yeah, life really does imitate art here. Especially now we've got those video billboards. No spinners yet. But I suppose that's next.

Return to Blade Runner Round Table

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests

cron