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BtVS and Blade Runner
Apr. 15th, 2003 01:40 pmLast night in my film class we watched "Blade Runner" (the director's cut). What an amazing movie. I'd seen it a few times, but never really sat still and paid close attention before. I'm just in awe of the gorgeous, carefully constructed visual world, and of the wonderfully complex and thought-provoking story.
Now I totally want to write a paper comparing Spike and Roy Batty. One of the essays we had to read along with the film was about the replicants as represenations of oppressed and alienated groups. They are defined as "less than human" and so they can be used and murdered without consequences. This is just how Buffy and the Scoobies have treated Spike: he is officially defined as less than human, no matter what good he does, so it's okay for them to use and abuse him at will.
The essay also discussed the replicants as a contrast to humanity, showing something not human so that we can try to discern what we consider to actually be human. Interesting that the test of humanity in the film is an "empathy" test, not an intelligence test like I might have expected ("I feel, therefore I am" rather than "I think, therefore I am"). Which is very relevant because machines can now "think" faster than humans, and artificial intelligence seems like something that may soon be possible. So the definition of humanity has changed from intellect to empathy. (This also has very interesting implications for animal rights, since many animals cannot think the same way as humans, yet anyone who has a cat or dog knows that they feel).
Yet in the film the replicants certainly have feelings and also seem to develop empathy after a while--most notably when Roy Batty cries over Pris and then later saves Deckard. I'd love to compare this to soulless Spike's development of empathy (for Buffy, Joyce, Dawn, and maybe even Willow and Tara) in season five. It's this whole thing about the use of machines/monsters to reflect our beliefs and assumptions about what defines humanity; I'd love to bring Frankenstein or Terminator 2 into it too.
Of course, I'll probably be too lazy to write this into an essay, but at least it's giving me something interesting to think about.
Now I totally want to write a paper comparing Spike and Roy Batty. One of the essays we had to read along with the film was about the replicants as represenations of oppressed and alienated groups. They are defined as "less than human" and so they can be used and murdered without consequences. This is just how Buffy and the Scoobies have treated Spike: he is officially defined as less than human, no matter what good he does, so it's okay for them to use and abuse him at will.
The essay also discussed the replicants as a contrast to humanity, showing something not human so that we can try to discern what we consider to actually be human. Interesting that the test of humanity in the film is an "empathy" test, not an intelligence test like I might have expected ("I feel, therefore I am" rather than "I think, therefore I am"). Which is very relevant because machines can now "think" faster than humans, and artificial intelligence seems like something that may soon be possible. So the definition of humanity has changed from intellect to empathy. (This also has very interesting implications for animal rights, since many animals cannot think the same way as humans, yet anyone who has a cat or dog knows that they feel).
Yet in the film the replicants certainly have feelings and also seem to develop empathy after a while--most notably when Roy Batty cries over Pris and then later saves Deckard. I'd love to compare this to soulless Spike's development of empathy (for Buffy, Joyce, Dawn, and maybe even Willow and Tara) in season five. It's this whole thing about the use of machines/monsters to reflect our beliefs and assumptions about what defines humanity; I'd love to bring Frankenstein or Terminator 2 into it too.
Of course, I'll probably be too lazy to write this into an essay, but at least it's giving me something interesting to think about.