...engaging and discerning culture, as a way of life...

February 24, 2005

Blade Runner - 7

This is a good film that deals with what makes humans human. It explores the questions of artificial intelligence that humans have made in robots, called replicants (similar to A.I., although better). To make machines that are as complex and human like as possible is to engage the question, what is a human being? The human traits this film deals with is memory, fear of death, and emotions like empathy and love. Ultimately though it gives great insight into the fact that memory and learning are connected and that these things are what in fact lead to knowledge and emotions. You wouldn't have to create the emotions in robots, rather they could learn it through memory and experience. In the film this works out as a drive toward survival and a fear of death, in both humans and replicants. The questions are dealt with more honestly than most futuristic AI films.

1 comment:

Jason said...

This is one of my favorite movies. The ending always makes me weep.

Another movie worth checking out for a similar theme is Ghost in the Shell 2. You may or may not be a big anime fan, but it's a very well-done and thoughtful movie that lacks a lot of the lame cliches that most modern anime has latched onto.