The idea of progress: the film "Blade Runner"

To illustrate the notion of progress we studied in class the film « Blade Runner ».

The film is adapted from a science fiction novel (=roman) written by Philip Dick. The movie was directed by Ridley Scott (he also made Gladiator, Alien…). It was released (came out) in 1982. The plot (=l’intrigue) takes place in 2018, in a near future. It is set in Los Angeles. The main characters are replicants and a police officer working for the special forces know as « blade runner ».

The replicants are robots designed and developed by a very powerful corporation led (prétérit de lead) by a very rich and smart man. The name of the corporation is « Tyrell Corporation ». It is a dystopian world. In this world, animal have disappeared and replaced by artificial animals (no longer real animals). The leader of the corporation have designed « replicants ». The replicants have been genetically engineer. They look exactly like human beings. No one can tell the difference between human beings and replicants. Yet (=cependant) replicants do not feel pain or any feelings. They are really resistant and stronger than human beings. The movie raises the issue of technological breakthrough (advances). The Tyrell Corporation has managed to design and develop super robots able to do things normal human beings can’t do: for instance they are very good chess players, they do not feel pain.

However(=toutefois) in order to control them, the Tyrell Corporation has programmed them so they only have 2 or 3 years to live.

We can wonder(=on peut se demander) why the Tyrell Corporation has developed such robots.

In spite of (despite) technological progress, no one (no engineer) has been able to tackle the issue of overpopulation and pollution which is a paradoxe. The city of Los Angeles is overcrowded. It is always raining, there is no natural light, people walk around wearing masks. There are no animals, only artificial animals (ones). Our planet has become a place where life is extremely hard. That’s why they are exploring new planets where life might be better. The replicants are made to conquer the new planets.

The replicants are made to conquer and face potential dangers. Replicants are not supposed to feel, to have memories. They have designed so that (=pour que) they have no memories they can not have children, they can not love and they can not harm (=faire du mal) humain beings.

The replicants have became so sophisticated that they are aware of (=être conscient de) their own death. They want to meet their quote unquote (=entre guillemets) creator but their creator is a man who has played God.

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