Dystopias in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "Blade Runner"

While Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner are based on the same story, no one would say that they are identical. From the book the influence of Mercerism, Buster Friendly, “dust,” mood organs, and—most obviously—sheep are missing in the film. But to touch a bit further on the “dust,” this brings up another important distinction: namely, that the film has people, lots of people, and the novel does not. But they are both dystopian worlds, in their own right. This essay will explore these divergent dystopias, analyzing the differences between them.

In Dick’s novel, the world has ended due to nuclear war, showering the planet in radioactive “dust” that threatens to eventually kill humanity, prompting them to leave for off-world colonies. This puts the sanctity of life in very obvious focus, since there is not very much of it. In fact, the universal religion states that not owning an animal is immoral. “These are not pets as we think of them today, but instead represent a combination of two themes: that of consumerist America, …[and] the yearning for the closeness to organic life” (Hill).

These ideas are in stark contrast to the dystopia of Blade Runner. Aldous Huxley called Los Angeles (the setting of the film, as opposed to the San Franciscan novel) “a 'ruinous sprawling ossuary' subject to 'deforestation, pollution and other acts of ecological imbecility'” (Clements). Quite the opposite from the novel, where such a waste of life would be heinous. But then again, the world of the movie has not been ravaged by nuclear war.

So which is the truer dystopia? Do Androids Dream certainly presents a vision of the future that showcases a constant, direct, oppressive threat to human life. However, Michael Heilemann compares the city of Blade Runner to Hell, complete with spouts of fire and wretched, aimless masses. He also notes that “Despite their numbers, everyone is lonely” (Heilemann 16). Ironically, the only time the protagonist Deckard engages more than one person at a time in the book is when he is taken to a false police station filled with androids.

Despite these obvious differences, several critics still argue that the world of Blade Runner supports Dick’s vision. Patrick Meaney even goes so far as to say “The film's incredible visuals capture perfectly the run down city atmosphere that Dick described in his novel.” To go a bit more in-depth, both mediums do accurately represent a synthesis of the old and new, as is frequently found in Dick’s works; for example, parking flying cars on top of present-day apartment buildings (Cowie). Xan Brooks calls this style a “post-modern collage,” a description that can certainly be attributed to both versions of the story (Clements).

And so both settings, while overtly different, do support the central themes of Dick’s work. After all, a miserable world is a miserable world. While the post-apocalyptic world in Do Androids Dream is necessary to support various plot points not included in the film, the overall style of the future is preserved in the film. Conversely, Blade Runner’s Los Angeles is necessary to pull off the film noir style, yet uniquely Dickian themes prevail. The city is still sparsely populated by actual, independent human beings, entropy is taking its throne, and kipple is ubiquitous, be it the trash Pris sleeps in or the faceless crowds Decker wades through.

Bibliography
Meaney, P. (2002, June 10). Alienations in a Dystopia: Scott's Blade Runner and Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Retrieved October 9, 2008, from BRmovie.com Web site: http://www.brmovie.com/Analysis/BR-DADoES.htm

Cowie, J. (2008, April 15). Blade Runner vs. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Retrieved October 9, 2008, from Concactenation.org Web site: http://www.concatenation.org/articles/bladerunner_do_androids_dream_of_electric.html

Hill, C.N. Retrieved October 9, 2008, from Philip K. Dick: A comparison between the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and the film Blade Runner. Web site: http://members.aol.com/cnhill/sf/bladerunner.htm

Clements, D. (2003, December 6). FROM DYSTOPIA TO MYOPIA: Metropolis to Blade Runner. Retrieved October 9, 2008, from hem.passagen.se Web site: http://hem.passagen.se/replikant/dystopia_myopia.htm

Heilemann, M. (2001). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner.