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  • Essay / The representation of women in “Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep” and “Blade Runner”

    Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (a novel) by Philip K. Dick and Blade Runner (a film) by Ridley Scott emphasize the comparison: Ridley Scott The film is based on the story told in the novel by Philip K. Dick. These works were created about ten years apart from each other and therefore had significant differences in situation which influenced their creations. More importantly, Ridley Scott never finished reading the novel and did not allow anyone working on the film to read or refer to it. Given these notable differences, this essay will explore the difference in the representation of women in the two works, as well as how many of the novel's missing ideas are still present through different representation. This essay will focus on the representation of women and how it communicates the objectification of women, the oppression of women, and the animal equivalence of women. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay The need for women, android/replicant and human, to be artificial is a theme in both the film and the novel , but it is emphasized in the film. The film lacks the presence of Luba Luft, an escaped android now working as an opera singer, as the film is in the film noir genre and Luba does not fit into the femme fatale character archetype as the others do women ; therefore, its omission highlights the importance of the representation of the femme fatale. Unlike the novel, the film constantly displays propaganda with images of Japanese women. This propaganda objectifies women and shows the ways in which women, both real and replicative, have become both technologically advanced synthetic beings and consumer products. At the time of the film's shooting, Japan was in full technological ascendancy and the images therefore represent an "advanced" woman, a synthetic woman. More in the novel than in the film, the relationship between Pris and Rachael is emphasized by the fact that they resemble each other, adding to the quality of the consumer product of their production line. This idea of ​​an artificial woman is not only recommended in the film through propaganda. , but almost demanded by society in the film, as can be interpreted by the fact that all the female leads are artificial women. The only “real” women seen in the film are an elderly oriental woman and a liquor seller. Additionally, the film sets the story in Los Angeles, as opposed to San Francisco, as is the case in the novel. This adds to the idea of ​​artificial women, as Los Angeles has a reputation for an abundance of celebrities, and celebrities have a reputation for plastic surgery and other forms of visual manipulation. This gives the impression that in the Los Angeles of the future, a woman must be artificial in order to have any meaningful identity. It is for this reason that all female androids/replicants are designed to have an aesthetic appearance. This is confirmed when Eldon Rosen in the novel and Eldon Tyrell in the film, of the replicator manufacturing company Rosen/Tyrrell Corporation, describe Pris as a "basic model of pleasure". In the novel, another bounty hunter tells Deckard "if it's love towards a woman or an imitation of an android, it's sex" (Dick 141). This quote overtly suggests that to a man, a woman and a machine are the same and should be the same. The novel and the film also express the oppression of women. In the first chapter of Dick's novel, the reader meetsDeckard's wife, Iran, and becomes aware of her emotional instability as she uses an empathy box to control her emotions. She reinforces the stereotypical gender role of a submissive and emotionally distraught housewife. Her submissive nature can be seen when she allows Rick to compose and he composes "594: Happy Acknowledgment of Her Husband's Superior Wisdom in All Matters" for her; for himself, he calls for "a creative and fresh attitude toward his work" (Dick 5). In Scott's film, we see the same power of Deckard and the subservient nature of women towards Deckard. This is especially seen in the scene between Rachael and him, where he doesn't hesitate to tell her the lines she needs to say to him and almost forces her to get involved with him. This scene is disturbing; it could almost be considered rape if Rachael wasn't human. Rachael's character in the film is the complete opposite of her character in the novel. In the novel, Rachael is deceptive and much firmer in her stance, as can be seen in her order to Deckard: "Dammit, go to bed" (Dick 193). In the film, Rachael initially appears to be a very confident and independent woman despite having no doubt that she is not human; it is characterized by its rapid and precise responses to the Voight-Kampf test. Later in the film, when Deckard informs her of her replicant nature, she becomes the passive, submissive woman, the femme fatale in film noir. Pris and Zhora are also femme fatale characters, using their sexuality to obtain a certain stability. Zhora, a trained replicant assassin, uses her sexuality to work at a strip club and perform some sort of sex act. Pris, a replicant, uses her sexuality to reach Tyrell by persuading Sébastien to help her and Roy. One of the most noted aspects missing from the film is the theme of real/electric animals. This theme is again found in the film through the representation of women. In today's society, many women feel hunted by men like pieces of meat. In the novel, Deckard is, as his wife calls him, "a cop-hired murderer" (Dick 7), who only pursues his duties with the motivation of purchasing a real animal. In the film, Deckard hunts down androids with the motivation that it's his job. Ironically, the only replicants that Deckard personally retires in the film are Zhora and Pris, making the film a somewhat misogynistic work. Once again the novel contradicts this idea through the character of Luba Luft. Deckard almost doesn't want to retire her because he doesn't think she can harm society, thus contradicting this misogynistic idea. In the film, women are animals; these are the pets, the real animals that Deckard hunts in the novel. In the film, Rachael runs to Deckard for unnecessary protection. She runs to him because he is the one who allows her to discover her true synthetic self, and so she feels a connection to him. In contrast, in the novel, Rachael experiences this realization differently, and instead of clinging to Deckard for her own protection, she seduces him to protect her species. Rachael survives in the film as Deckard's pet, not as a lover, while in the novel she is victorious because she does not get killed by Deckard. In fact, as he eventually retires the androids, she gets a little revenge by killing his real sheep that he bought with the bounty money. This can be a metaphor for the assassination of women's oppression. This relationship between women and animals is also found in the scene of the film with Zhora: after having accomplished her act..