The Unity of Fictive World and Vision of Reality in the “Blade Runner” Universe

In this study, the relationship between the fictional world created in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner movie and the reality of 2019, in which the movie takes place, and how consistent the predictions for the future are, are evaluated. This narrative, in which cinematography, architecture, and world of thought are intertwined, is one of the pioneering and cult examples of cyber-punk, techno-noir, and future-noir genre cinema. In the text, in which the intellectual infrastructure and architectural and theoretical references of the dystopian universe created in the movie are examined, the city of Los Angeles in 2019, which the movie reflects, is compared with the cosmopolitan city structure of today’s real world. While trying to analyze the intellectual references made in the subtexts of the film, the relations between the leading thinkers of postmodern philosophy and alternative names of architectural theory and this cult work are examined. Architecture has a place far beyond just creating a visual background in the Blade Runner universe. The periodical and spatial features of the buildings are integrated with the role of characters, and architecture turns into a tool that conveys the nature of the character to the spectator. In this sense, real buildings in the city of Los Angeles are included in the film as well as imaginary designs. Both fictional and real places are extremely effective in reinforcing the characters in the movie. The intricate relationship between places and people is also examined in the text. One of the important concepts that the film leads the audience to question is “othering”. This comparison, conveyed through the human replicant, prompts the spectator to question similar dualities and the boundaries /border setters between them. In addition, the nonstop surveillance/control mechanisms that have penetrated into the deepest cells of the city, both its historical references and its reflections in today's socio-political environment, are discussed.

Keywords: Android, blade Runner, surveillance society, control mechanisms, cyber-punk, cybernetic, dystopia, dystopian architecture, do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, extraterrestrial life, future-noir, genetic design, hyperrealism, philip K. Dick, panopticon, replicant, ridley Scott, simulacra, syd Mead, technonoir.