Why is the Blade Runner Postmodern?
I will be discussing how Blade runner is postmodern. Firstly postmodern is difficult to identify the starting point of postmodern ideas in cinema and film. Blade runner is postmodern in many ways for example the hyperidenties are shown throughout the film as the city with many high sky scrapers with adverts. In the beginning scene of Deckard eats noodles the audience is shown a high angled shot looking down at the city which is full of lights and is glowing from a digital advert on one of the sky scrapers. At this early stage of the film the audience see the distinction between humans and machines. Postmodernist would ask if emotional feelings be programmed, can humanity be manufactured.
Los Angeles is seen to be pastiche if ideas of the east, west and the future this was shown through many aspects of the film, for example, in the opening sequence the camera is shown to be making a panning movement across a large building which is somewhat shaped as n Egyptian pyramids which references the Egyptian culture and can be seen as symbolising the togetherness of different cultures.
As many cultures are coming together and mixing together is another element of pastiche, when Deckard ears noodles a heavily stereotyped Chinese man shown when Deckard is ordering his food, Deckard orders in English and the Chinese man replies in Chinese this signifies that English isn’t the native language anymore and English isn’t as dominating . In the scene Deckard is surrounded by many other people who are of a different culture and nationally also signifying that the he is a foreigners in his own country.
Another postmodern aspect which runs throughout the genre of the film is it is set 40years backs and forth. In the opening sequence tells the audience the film is set in 2017 however this is seems unreal when the audience is shown what people are wearing, for example in the shopping market when introduced to Deckard, the people are seen to be wearing clothes in the style of 0940’s which however the hair styles and the makes seem very exclusive making the film seem 40years back and forth. The low angled shots of city shows the glamorous city with large skyscrapers filled with lights and flying cars which the audience can only imagine can this to happen. However the high angled shots looking up at the black sky the audience can see the mucky town as the smoke form the market alone with the everlasting rain making the city seem dirty. This signifies the different classes, those who are higher classed are literally high up, and they live at the top of the high building and own flying cars where as the immortal people who are the last humans left on the world are shown to be near the grown as they are a lower class.
The genre is also shown through the mise en scene as the technology shown is also 40years back and forth. The scene where Deckard is scene to investigating the picture he found he inserts the picture into a computer. The computer looks very old and also makes very old ‘click sounds’ significant its 40 years back, however Deckard is able to speak to the computer and the computer does what he says, this makes the technology seem 40year forward. Which is an element of postmodern as it shown time banding.
Through technology is shown to be very fascinating and interesting however technology is seen through a negative view. This is because bad things happen that is shown for example the class division and the replicas. As the skyscraper tower over the city the and dominated the screen time therefore is seen negative view and film is shown to be technophic which is a fear of technology. This is shown though the storyline as people running away from technology.
In my opinion I think that the film is seen as postmodern because of the technology and how the film shows two different time period coming together for example the technology looks interesting and fashionable are interesting such as flying cars and glowing digital adverts and the computer being voice controlled.
