Mediated communication, especially in the digital world has many complexities. One example of a complexity includes how the dynamic of a conversation changes based on how that communication is mediated. Another complexity is how a person may think they are communicating with someone they are not depending on how that communication is mediated. The film Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott illustrates these complexities of mediated communication in different scenes throughout the movie. The film also connects with ideas about technology and our culture today.
The first scene in Blade Runner that illustrates a complexity of mediated communication is the scene with Leon and Mr. Holden. Leon is a replicant that has infiltrated Tyrell Corporation (the corporation responsible to the creation of the replicants) and in the scene takes a Voight-Kampff test that is administered by Mr. Holden. The point of the test is to determine whether the person taking the test is a human or a replicant. The complexity of mediated communication is shown in this scene because the dynamic of the conversation is different because Leon knows he is taking a test which mediates the communication between himself and Mr. Holden.
The Voight-Kampff test is mediating the communication between Leon and Mr. Holden because Mr. Holden reveals that the questions that he has to ask are pre-written, meaning that what Mr. Holden is saying is coming from the test. Therefore, it does not matter who administers the test because the conversation would likely be the same regardless. Even though Leon is having a face to face conversation with Mr. Holden he is really communicating with the higher ups at the Tyrell corporation because that is where the questions likely came from. An example of the dynamic of the conversation changing due to the communication being mediated by the test is how the way Leon talks changes when he realized he is taking the test. At first Leon sits down and talks normally with Mr. Holden but he asks multiple times if the test has started. When Mr. Holden tells Leon that the test has started Leon changes the way he communicates and becomes visibly nervous and appears to be on edge. This would not be the case if the test was not mediating the communication.
Another scene where a complexity of mediated communication is illustrated is the scene where Sebastian and Roy are in the elevator outside of Tyrell’s house. Tyrell thinks that Sebastian is alone however, Roy is secretly telling Sebastian what to say to Tyrell through a speaker system from the elevator. The complexity of the communication being mediated by this speaker system is that you might think you are communicating with someone but really it is someone else; Tyrell thought he was communicating with Sebastian through the speaker but really Roy was communicating with Tyrell through Sebastian. In todays mediated world this happens on the internet when people make fake profiles and catfish pretending to be someone they are not.
The messages in Blade Runner including those that illustrate the complexities of mediated communication fit within our cultural and technological norms. In the writing, Lessons from Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman by Dan Silvestre, the concept of truth is linked to how it is expressed. Due to culture, the truth must be presented in a certain way or it is ignored which is true in our current society. Silvestre states that each culture is different and must project their messages in different symbolic forms that might seem trivial to other cultures (Silvestre). In our current culture Ridley Scott and other directors displaying their truths in films such as Blade Runner and other films is the best way to display their truth so that it does not get ignored. Other cultures may not use film in this way because they might feel as though it is the opposite and their truth will be ignored if they put it in entertainment.
In Blade Runner the replicants can be seen as a metaphor for new technology. In the article How TV Trivialized Our Culture and Politics by Sean Illing, it is a point to show Postman’s argument of how the technology of Television negatively affected public communication (Illing). This idea connects with Blade Runner because there are similarities between the replicants in Blade Runner and the television. The television had the potential to positively impact human communication because it is a more dynamic platform than print. The replicants also had the potential to compliment humans and enhance their lives, however both technologies were misused and mistreated. These technologies were misused due to the cultures that they existed in. The replicants were forced into slave labor and banned from Earth while the television also misused by the culture leading to the trivialization of the culture itself.
Works Cited
Illing, Sean. “How TV Trivialized Our Culture and Politics.” Vox, Vox, 18 May 2018, http://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/5/8/15440292/donald-trump-politics-culture-neil-postman-television-media.
Scott, Ridley, director. Blade Runner.
Silvestre, Dan. “Lessons from Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.” Medium, Medium, 11 Sept. 2018, medium.com/@dsilvestre/lessons-from-amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-neil-postman-962221ee622.
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