| I'm a bit disappointed to know that Ridley Scott intended Rick Deckard to be a replicant in Blade Runner, since in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Deckard's grasp on his humanity drove the story. True, in the novel, there are a couple of times where he or we question his humanity. Dave already mentioned the Voight-Kampff test, but the androids also try to trick him into believing that his life was a lie by impersonating police officers from another district and leading him to believe that his district does not exist (and neither does his job, wife, etc.). But Deckard eventually uncovers the lie, thus proving that he is smarter than an android, and that intelligence makes him human. I agree with L. Arkwright that it is a let down to know that humanity can and has been replaced, so that the world no longer needs humans. This is thought-provoking, true, but ultimately the revelation begs the question: Why does it matter if Deckard hunts replicants if humans and replicants are so similar on almost every level, and replicants are no longer a threatening "other"? |