How is Ridley Scotts Bladerunner Postmodern?

Postmodernity is called an anti-big story for multiple reasons, that are clearly represented in this film noir creation of 2019 Los Angeles, where humanity declined; welcoming artificial reproduction, in the form of replicants. Postmodernism is a reaction against all modernist views, in all disciplines, like art, philosophy, film and literature. It stands for the rejection of meta-narratives, as it subverts the traditional stereotypes defined by social structures. Within cinema, postmodernism avoids realism and instead incorporates confusion over time and space, retro-nostalgia, the recycling of recent past and film imitations. These factors are portrayed within Bladerunner, through religion, intertextuality and symbolism - enhancing Baudrillards idea of a hyper-reality, by collapsing the differences between the real and the simulated. Bladerunner quotes from many different films and film genres, as well as from actual historical periods and other visual media. This has been created through its intertextual references. For instance, the main protagonists Deckard and Rachael resemble the characters of Humphrey Bogart, from The Maltese Falcon and Mildred Pierce from the film of the same name relating to its film noir genre, as both films were made in the 1940s. Deckard and Bogarts similarities of being world weary expolicemen and Rachaels 1940s femme fatale style, as Bukatman argues, fulfils the role of intertextuality played in Bladerunner adding to the existence of film imitations as a postmodern aspect. Furthermore, the notion of religion with the intertextual links is developed through the characters of Deckard, Tyrell and Roy. They all resemble persons from religious scriptures, as Tyrell poses as God, who has created the replicants and given them life. However, those rebel replicants, like Roy, embody the role of the devil, with the heroic figure being Deckard. Although, the postmodern art of contradiction and irony is portrayed through Deckards religious persona as the angel of death, as he does save the city from ruin yet he symbolises an impending ruin from within himself. Bladerunner also makes reference to Miltons Lost Paradise, but just changes the way God is treated. For instance, Roy is able to meet, confront and then kill God, something no human can do, as he is according to Christianity and Catholicism, the creator of the world. It poses the question of how can a mere human destroy such a powerful being. Roy killed him by gouging his eyes out. The symbolism of the eyes combined with religion is prominent within Tyrells death scene. The image of an owl switches to Tyrells eyes being gouged and then switches back to a one-eyed owl conveying his brutal murder, as eyes are the windows to the soul. In addition, the opening scene of the close-up of an eye portrays the old saying that seeing is believing. we are able to see the state of the city through this unknown persons eye presenting the idea of whatever we see is true. This is a symbol for how the replicants minds function anything they are shown, to them is true and believable. The point of having one eye and not a pair of eyes is to convey the manipulation of the situation this is the result of one perspective, a biased one. Baudrillards hyper-reality is created through his theory of simulacra, which is a symbol for the entire film. For instance, the films narrative revolves around Deckards investigation into locating the rebel replicants and stop them from causing chaos. These replicants are man-made humans, who have been programmed with memories, dreams and characteristics, by Tyrell; their creator. This is depicted in the start of the film, where Mr. Holden, who works for Tyrell Corporation, is questioning Leon about hypothetical scenarios, very explicitly therefore embedding them into his mind, so he believes them to be true. Similarly, Deckard did this with Rachael in their first meeting. Therefore, the blurred difference between reality and simulation is detected through their different traits, varying from

tremendous intelligence to great strength. So these simulacrums began to deviate from the original models. Also, the setting of 2019 Los Angeles is a hyper-reality in itself, due to its composition of diverse styles and fads, with no geographical centre and no original past. Hence the reason for the replicants ability to share and imitate each others characteristics; plugging into the settings schizophrenic state. Furthermore, the involvement of Pastiche is relevant through the architecture aspects of the film. The buildings resemble Greek pillars, Egyptian pyramids, and brickwork. For instance, Deckards apartment is similar to Mayan Palatial architecture. Genre has a significant influence upon the postmodernism, with Bladerunner, due to the range it carries. Bladerunner is known for its Science-Fiction genre, however it also posses traits of a crime drama, romance and most importantly film noir heightening its postmodernist appeal. The crime aspects are drawn from his characters profession being an ex-cop, who investigates these rebel replicants. His and Rachaels intimacy imply the inclusion of romance to the genre. However, the main two genres are science fiction and film noir. Its Sci-Fi style derives from its reliance on the future, being set in 2019, within a society where man-made humans are made. This involvement of science and rationalism reinforces the notion of the future, within the film. Also, the use of hover crafts as their daily mode of transportation upholds the theme of futurism. Film noir is especially important as a genre of Bladerunner, as it is a postmodern genre in itself. For instance, Bladerunner is film noir, due to its visual and narrative motifs and conventions, which emerged in the 1940s. Ridley Scott said that the film was set forty years hence, made in the style of forty years ago meaning the conventions of film noir and the era of the 1940s inspired Bladerunners design and setting, hence why its set 40 years in the future. A convention of film noir is binary oppositions, many of which are present in Bladerunner, such as: good v. evil and right v. wrong raising issues of trust and morality in central characters. Good v. evil is illustrated through the scene where Pris and Roy exploit the innocence and goodwill of J.F Sebastian, tricking him into leading them to Tyrell, where Roy murders him. The main example of this is Deckard and the enigma code of whether he is a replicant or not adding to the ambiguous climax. To conclude, the postmodern aspects of Bladerunner are its varied genres, intertextuality, religious symbolism, and pastiche. These representations are prominent within the film, as a part of the entire notion of the enigma code of Deckards identity. The general typifications of postmodernity is consistent throughout the narrative, conveying the subversion of traditional codes and conventions of film; especially with the plot revolving around people invented by man adhering to Baudrillards hyper reality.