Introduction
People have always been fascinated with the idea of glancing into the future, which is why the shelf life of most science fiction stories is remarkably long. Specifically, the relevance of Philipp K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and its central theme appears to be high with modern audiences. Set in a dystopian future and addressing the issue of humanity, the novel renders some of the fears that the late-60s technological breakthrough introduced, particularly the idea of artificial intelligence and the challenge of retaining humanity. The described concept is rendered in a more recent sci-fi creation, the 1982 “Blade Runner” movie, which reimagines Dick’s idea by skipping the concept of Mercerism and focusing on the conflict between retaining humanity and reconciling with the fear of AI becoming indistinguishable from people. Although Dick’s novel addresses the theme of empathy in a much more pronounced way than “Blade Runner,” both share a deep sense of disturbance and confusion over human nature and the fear of AI technology muddying the subject matter even further, while neither provides a definitive answer.
Background
Approaching both sci-fi creations critically, one should point out the authors’ backgrounds in greater detail to understand the context in which the novel and the movie were created. For instance, while Dick drew a substantial part of his inspiration for the novel from R. L. Hubbard’s work titled “Fear,” “Do Androids…” was also injected with a notable amount of concern for the technological advances of the time, particularly computer science and the prospects of creating AI (Dick).
In turn, having been produced in 1982, “Blade runner” represents a range of slightly different concerns. At the same time, the issues of humanity and identity, as well as its crisis, are also rendered in “Blade Runner” as some of the core issues facing the US. The population at the time. Specifically, with the dramatic foray into computer science that the 80s witnessed, particularly the emergence of the World Wide Web and the related innovations, the concept of AI became increasingly more vivid, thus, eliciting understandable fear (“Blade Runner”). As a result, “Blade Runner” and its themes turned out to be particularly relevant for the 80s audience. Still, even with the passage of time, both creations retain their impact and relevance.
Analysis
The theme of fear as the most pervasive element of both the novel and the movie reveals itself immediately, thus, becoming the leitmotif for both narratives. Though neither of the works mentions the idea of fear toward AI directly, it is heavily implied in the manner in which androids are treated (Kathrani 1.). Specifically, the very concept of hunting down and virtually destroying androids that may have developed sentience represents blatant fear for the unknown: “Thinking that he felt the fear grow; it snared him completely, now that he had let it approach his conscious mind” (Dick). Though being less pronounced and rarely addressed in a dialogue, the concept of fear of the unknown is represented thoroughly in “Blade Runner”: “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave” (“Blade Runner”). Furthermore, unlike the book, the movie represents the experience of fear through the lens of an android, namely, the being deemed inhumane by the protagonist and society at large.
The described difference in perspectives introduces another common notion that both the movie and the novel approach yet render in a completely unique way. Namely, the notion of humanity and the threat of losing it by muddying the concept and embracing the AI’s ability to feel emotions are incorporated in both the novel and the movie effectively, even though in different ways.
Therefore, for present-day audiences., “Do Androids…” is likely to remain quite relevant and relatable since it seeks to address one of the core concerns associated with the rapid development of technology. Namely, the question of humanity, which both lies on the surface of the novel and eventually turns out to have multiple underlying meanings in the novel, is proven to be the core concept that both the film and the movie manage to address and examine.
However, apart from the specified notion, both works also render the theme of morality without naming it directly. Indeed, the need to face an ethical challenge or a specific moral choice haunts the leading character throughout the novel, making the reader question whether it is ethical to kill a sentient, albeit not quite humane, being. Both the movie and the novel themselves also name the specified dilemma several times: “Wake Up. Time To Die” (“Blade Runner”). However, “Do Androids…” focuses on the critical ethical concern in question in a slightly different way. Specifically, Dick alludes to the necessity to make ethically ambiguous or downright wrong decisions as a natural part of being a human and remaining a part of society: “You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go” (Dick). Therefore, the manner in which the novel approaches the concept of annihilation of a sentient being or, in essence, the murder of a human-like creature is both rational and cynical. On the one hand, the specified perspective suggests the presence of the nebulous greater good for the sake of which sentient beings are destroyed. On the other hand, it cynically recognizes the morally ambiguous issue yet does nothing to correct it.
In turn, the movie takes a slightly different route to address the specified issue. Namely, the theme of humanity and the concept of murder are tackled in a more down-to-earth yet quite a profound manner. Specifically, the idea of effectively murdering a sentient being is rendered at the very beginning, when the infamous eye test is performed on one of the androids: “Chew, if only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes” (“Blade Runner”). Uttered by an android, the specified quote points to the presence of unique experiences and, perhaps, complex feelings in androids, therefore, making the notion of destroying them an almost criminal act. Furthermore, the specified statement questions etch legitimacy of the lead character’s humanity, allowing for the effective blurring of the line between an android and a human. Thus, in the movie, the problem of failing to recognize one’s humanity surfaces prominently.
Remarkably, some of the elements of the story have been updated so that they could be more palatable to modern audiences. Specifically, the aesthetics of the future environment, as well as the appearance of androids, have been altered in the film so that it could mirror the present-day reality better. Therefore, both the novel and the movie illustrate that the attitudes assumed by modern audiences in relation to the concepts of humanity and technological development, particularly the emergence of AI, have changed only slightly (Szollosy 435.). Having evolved past the initial perception of AI as a robot imitating a human being and focusing on a more comprehensive concept of AI, modern audiences have retained the fear of challenging their humanity. As a result, the ethical dilemma of annihilating a being that has developed sentience remains unresolved and raises quite a number of concerns, as the 1982 movie demonstrates in a rather transparent way.
Furthermore, fear as the main fuel behind the development of biases toward androids and the attempts at shutting them down once they gain any semblance of emotions and the need for independence also proves that the core factor driving the resentment in both the novel and the film, which indicates that suspicion and apprehension toward innovative and disruptive technologies are of the essential characteristics of modern audiences. Moreover, the fact that the concept of fear was initially injected into the novel and then expanded in the movie shows that the specified attitude used to be a dominant perspective for the audiences of the 60s as well. Therefore, the specified quality, namely, the inherent fear of disruptive technology that replicates certain functions of the human brain, appears to be emblematic of any audience at any time.
Conclusion
Despite a substantial difference in the themes, namely, the complete removal of the issue of empathy from the movie’s thematic elements, both “Blade Runner” and “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” render the same unsettling sense of unease that borders fear once the concept of AI becomes nearly indistinguishable form the human nature, thus, bringing the essence of the latter into question. Therefore, both the novel and the movie share profoundly philosophic thematic elements.
Works Cited
Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott, performances by Harrison Ford, Rutger Haure, and Sean Young, Warner Bros., 1982.
Dick, Phillip K. “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”TheFreeBooksOnline.net, 1968.
Kathrani, Paresh. “Do Androids Dream of Asylum: The Blade Runner Films (1982, 2017) and Fear of the Other.” ESLJ, vol. 16, 2018, p. 1.
Szollosy, Michael. “Freud, Frankenstein and Our Fear of Robots: Projection in Our Cultural Perception of Technology.” Ai & Society, vol. 32, no. 3, 2017, pp. 433-439.