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BLADE RUNNER - CONTEXT + REPRESENTATION - Coggle Diagram
BLADE RUNNER - CONTEXT + REPRESENTATION
CONTEXT
A post Vietnam film
The USA failed to defeat communism
Atrocities commited in the war and the Watergate scandal made baby boomers more distrustful of the authorities
PTSD from the war
A massive rise in Asian immigrants came into America because of the destruction and turmoil the war caused
The 80s
Growing concerns of the rise in the Japanese economy
And also the way that Japanese companies were making their way into American culture (eg buying property in New York)
A boom in consumerism, and the rise in people's desires for commodities to shake off post war trauma
Backlash against the 2nd wave of feminism
COMPARISON WITH VERTIGO
Main women goes through a transformation to become more "desirable" for male characters
The once strong and imposing Rachael becomes feminine and submissive
Taking off her shoulder pads, taking away her masculinity
Random perm, letting her hair down (metaphorically and literally)
The devious femme fatale Judy, tricking our hero Scottie, becomes the submissive and perfect Madeline
Humble browns and pinks become a bold green
Men with an identity crisis, learning to take back their masculinity and courage
Scottie overcomes his vertigo and becomes the based alpha male
Deckard gets over his world weariness and wins over the girl
Both contain scenes where the protagonist hangs on the side of a high-rise building
Post-war disillusionment with the American Dream
LA in Blade Runner is an apocalyptic hellhole where the people live below at the bottom of society, and the sun never shines on them.
The plot of Vertigo is Scottie getting over her fears through trying to get past a lie and forging his power
Heavy noir influences
NEW HOLLYWOOD
The death of Hays code
Sort of fizzled out of existence, most filmmakers were largely ignoring it
Allows for filmmakers to make more gritty, current, relatable films that were wanted by the baby boomer crowd
Power shifted to studios < directors
Big, studio films were going down, and smaller, indie projects were on the rise
Hitchcock was one of the exceptions of the rule for his time, where his freedom of control was used to push forward the envelope of what Hollywood is possible
Younger, hip directors made films now compared to assembly line, forgettable films in the old age
Films were allowed to be more artistic
A major turning point for films that were coming out
The rise of the antihero
Some of the biggest films of those years featured anti authoritarian / counter culture themes
Sex, drugs and rock n roll were talked about more
Featured more issues that were relevant to society and were relatable to modern audiences
Films like In The Heat of the Night, about a black detective on a case in a redneck town, were popular and revolutionary
The film's black lead, Sidney Poitier, was the first black man to win an acting Oscar
The end of the era
STAR WARS - A blockbuster on a modest budget was a huge spectacle that the whole family could enjoy, which became a massive success
The success of Star Wars and other similar blockbusters like Jaws made studios shift away from risky adult content and the 70s / 80s were the
birth of the family blockbuster
Also a popular type of blockbuster was the
hard body action
(Shwarznegger, Stallone, Willis, Norris) - big guns, big action
Was a reaction to the 2nd wave of feminism
A part of what made Star Wars so successful was the merchandising that came from it - some directors said that studios got the wrong idea that merchandising was the only way for success, like Scorsese and even George Lucas later on in life
The production of Apocalypse Now was an absolute mess, where a major flop was expected
Despite the fact that the film was a success, it made studios more wary to give big budgets to individuals
The notorious Michael Cimino film Heaven's Gate was an expensive box office disaster, and almost made the production companies, MGM and United Artists, go bankrupt
The disaster of Heaven's Gate signified the end of studios having trust in expensive individuals, and forced them onto making family blockbusters
RIDLEY SCOTT
The master of SPECTACLE
Consistently shaking up his portfolio - always switching between genres and styles
Sci-fi (
Blade Runner
,
Alien
franchise,
The Martian
)
Historical epics + Swords and Sandals (
Gladiator
,
The Last Duel
,
Robin Hood
, the upcoming
Napoleon
)
Dynasties (
House of Gucci
,
All the Money in The World
)
Feminist (
Thelma and Louise
,
GI Jane
)
Common trademarks
Epic scope / scale
"Everyman" / common people as protagonists
Long takes to take in the scale
"Painting with light" (smoke-filled scenes, especially in his early work)
Themes of misogyny + toxic masculinity
Auteur debate
Technical competency
- Yes. HIs films are brilliantly constructed, with massive scope and scales
Personal style
- While the scope is always present, the style isn't as consistent throughout his films. For example, the gritty and noir-ish futures of
Alien
and
Blade Runner
is completely different from the clean and realist future of the
Martian
Interior meanings
- His stories range heavily, and don't always have the same morals or meanings as each other. Some films have sexist undertones to them like
Blade Runner
, and some films have strong female protagonists, like
Alien
and
Thelma and Louise
CONCLUSION - The scope of Scott films are consistent, but his style and themes change too much within his films that it'd be hard to call him an auteur. He's more of a
metteur en scene
: someone who's technically outstanding, but his style is second to the script (eg Peter Jackson)
Kael / anti-auteur
Scott is spectacle over substance: his plots are paper thin and his characters are barely characters in the first place, lacking any kind of dimensions
Other key contributors for Blade Runner include:
Jordan Cronenweth
(cinematographer, also came up with the eye glimmer effect)
Philip K Dick
(wrote the original novel,
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Vangelis
(score)
Laurence G Paull
(production design)
David L Snider
(art director)
GENDER REPRESENTATION
Fits into Hollywood gender norms: active male + passive female
Male protagonist being the one that makes all of the decisions and actively moves the plot forwards
Rachael is only in it for 4 scenes, and becomes "desirable" midway through
Women's deaths are fetishized heavily
Compared to how quickly Leon dies and how graceful and Shakespearian Roy dies
Pris dies painfully
Writhing on the floor with a seizure
Almost half naked
Spends an uncomfortably long time focusing on her dying
Zhora's death can be described as spectacular
Her exaggerated reaction from the gun impacts
The glass shattering around her, reflecting neon lights
Her see-through costume that exposes her body parts
The slow motion making us take in every moment
Zhora's and Pris' death seem painful, also like we're supposed to pity them
Male protagonists begin with an identity crisis, and attempt to regain their masculinity
Deckard builds up the courage throughout the film to get over his male identity crisis and "seduce" the girl that says no
Once a retired, world weary cop, forced into a job that he doesn't want to do, he later gets back his will and determination to do what he was built for: be a blade runner
Roy Batty is the hero
Gets over his shadow self in his final moment to save Deckard
Sees traumatic things you people wouldn't believe, and filled with
hate and trauma, compared to Deckard who we know nothing about
Is actually respectful and likes his girlfriend
POWER CONTROL IDENTITY