# Blade Runner question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780 "2009-01-17T21:11:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/21 "2009-01-19T15:45:02Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > A scene from the book that should have been in the film has one of the replicants (Roy?) pulling the legs off a (real) spider that Deckard has found and kept in a jar - pretty much all animals on earth have been wiped out so the spider is really something special - it shows the replicants in a much less sympathetic light than the film, where they just kill people. It was Sebastian that found the spider and Pris that pulled off the legs. > [@November](#): > > The irony of the book is that, for all the sentimental importance they attach to animals, the humans lack all sense of empathy with the replicants themselves, animal-obsessed Deckard being the prime example. Actually, Deckard does have empathy for replicants, something which Rachel helped develop in an attempt to get him to give up hunting replicants. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/22 "2009-01-19T16:58:41Z")
> [@November](#): > > In the book, animals have been all but wiped out. Having a real live animal is a huge status symbol for human beings, and so Deckard and his wife really want one. Of course, it’s a lot cheaper and easier to get a synthetic animal -a robot sheep or goat, and none of the neighbours would really be able to tell the difference but then that wouldn’t really be the same, would it? > > The huge difference between replicants and humans is the sense of empathy towards animals. Replicants attach no importance whatsoever to animals and will happily while away an hour or so torturing an animal to death. It’s not because they’re _bad_, it’s just the way they’ve been created. This is why the test for replicants includes a lot of questions about animal cruelty -replicants can try and fake concern, but they simply can’t fake the instant human reaction to hearing about an animal being abused. > > The irony of the book is that, for all the sentimental importance they attach to animals, the humans lack all sense of empathy with the replicants themselves, animal-obsessed Deckard being the prime example. That empathy test always struck me a being a little haphazard. Many humans have no empathy for animals at all and quite cheerfully abuse them for fun or sport. By that test the Runners woud end up wiping out half the world’s population! ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/23 "2009-01-19T17:06:38Z")
None of this ever made sense to me. Why would a replicant " happily while away an hour or so torturing an animal to death"? Why would such a feature have been built into them? Another idiotic flaw in the story is the short life-span of the replicants. Why spend that kind of time and money creating these creatures for such a short time? A replicant must have been enormously expensive to create. I liked the movie a lot, but if I stop to think about whether any of it made sense? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/24 "2009-01-19T17:07:07Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > That empathy test always struck me a being a little haphazard. Many humans have no empathy for animals at all and quite cheerfully abuse them for fun or sport. By that test the Runners woud end up wiping out half the world’s population! I’d thought that as well. If humans naturally winced at the thought of hurting animals, then we’d all be vegans (except for a few lucky people with cows that they lavished with love) and nobody would hunt. The fact that the humans in the universe of the book/movie didn’t want to hurt animals had more to do with their culture and the high value it placed on animals than human empathy. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/25 "2009-01-19T17:07:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > He says there were six, and one fried himself trying to get into the Tyrell Corporation. We saw Batty, Pris, Leon, and Zhora. #5 is crispy now. Where’s #6? He’s detained on a mysterious island. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/26 "2009-01-19T17:17:25Z")
I think a lot of the watching depends on which version you’ve watched. The theatrical version is nowhere near as good as the final cut. It was interesting listening to James Edward Olmos talk about his role on Bladerunner and the origami pieces he made and what impact he felt his role had on the film. I will say that the urgency was just predicated on the fact that they were on Earth and that was forbidden, as opposed to anything else. I do think it’s interesting after hearing some of you talk about the differences between the book (which I haven’t read) when you think about how much value the replicants place on memories since they have a disregard for the empathy discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/27 "2009-01-19T17:20:50Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > That empathy test always struck me a being a little haphazard. Many humans have no empathy for animals at all and quite cheerfully abuse them for fun or sport. By that test the Runners woud end up wiping out half the world’s population! The final question from the novella wasn’t really a question; after running through the entire test and not getting a conclusive answer, the deal-breaker was that Deckard pointed to his leather briefcase and pointed out that it was covered in 100% human baby-hide. No response. At that point, I don’t much care whether the failee was a replicant or not. Retire the fucker. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/28 "2009-01-19T17:31:48Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > That empathy test always struck me a being a little haphazard. Many humans have no empathy for animals at all and quite cheerfully abuse them for fun or sport. By that test the Runners woud end up wiping out half the world’s population! Well, they also ask questions like “tell me about your mother.” Anyway, if a Bladerunner put you through the test and you failed, but you knew you were human, as long as you didn’t run they could probably investigate you further and figure out you’re just a jerk. Also, they seem to keep accountability of replicants, and know when one’s missing, so it would be unusual to expect large numbers of replicants running around. Friends and family and employers could vouch they’ve known you longer than four years. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/29 "2009-01-19T18:46:57Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > They reference this a couple other ways–“Is that a real owl?” “Of course not.” Also most of the pivotal Voight-Kampff questions involved interactions with animals. People didn’t fare too well in the war, either–that’s why Sebastian had that entire hotel to himself. > > There’s another goof in the setup, though. Bryant gives Deckard a briefing and says how many replicants there are, but he gets the count wrong… He says there were six, and one fried himself trying to get into the Tyrell Corporation. We saw Batty, Pris, Leon, and Zhora. #5 is crispy now. Where’s #6? I always found the miscount annoying as well. They finally fixed that bit of dialogue in The Final Cut, released last year (now two got fried instead of one), along with adding in a few extra special effects and massaging a few other bits and pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/30 "2009-01-19T20:12:23Z")
> [@Mojo\_Pin](#): > > Wait seriously? A sheep? It is a big deal in the society to have a care for an animal. IIRC it is a requirement either by law or by religion or both. The thing is, animals have been gone for so long that the people don’t really know about them. They keep them on the roof of the apartment. One neighobor has a HORSE up there. Deckard thinks it is a real horse. He has no idea that a real horse would need a couple of acres of land and not 6 x 8 foot pen on top of an apartment building. One scene from the book that really disturbs me is Deckard ends up at a different police station after doing a replicant. These cops have never heard of the VK Test. In his mind Deckard deicdes that all the cops there must be replicants. ---
**Author:** ![November](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6f9a4e/32.png) [@November](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/November)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/31 "2009-01-19T20:59:19Z")
> [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](#): > > I always found the miscount annoying as well. They finally fixed that bit of dialogue in The Final Cut, released last year (now two got fried instead of one), along with adding in a few extra special effects and massaging a few other bits and pieces. Although I don’t like the Deckard-is-a-replicant idea (nor Ridley Scott’s sudden assertion that that was his idea all along), I actually like the air of mystery that line gives the film. Where _was_ the sixth replicant? It doesn’t correspond to anything from the book that I can remember, but it’s the kind of random, paranoia-mongering detail I can imagine in a Philip K. Dick novel. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/32 "2009-01-19T21:57:38Z")
Another plot hole. If the replicants were so identical to humans that you need special pyschological tests, then they couldn’t pull eggs out of boiling water without being burned. If their skin was that tough, you could tell by a simple DNA test, taking a small sample or even a drop of boiling water. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/33 "2009-01-19T21:59:14Z")
I always just took that to mean that Batty was a bad-ass… 🙂 You could do it, if you wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/34 "2009-01-19T22:02:00Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > I always just took that to mean that Batty was a bad-ass… 🙂 > > You could do it, if you wanted to. It was Pris who pulled the egg from the water 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/35 "2009-01-19T23:15:06Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Another plot hole. If the replicants were so identical to humans that you need special pyschological tests, then they couldn’t pull eggs out of boiling water without being burned. If their skin was that tough, you could tell by a simple DNA test, taking a small sample or even a drop of boiling water. A DNA test seems the simplest solution, but replicants were designed, among other things, to be assassins off-world. You wouldn’t want your assassin replicant to be easily pegged by a DNA test. Anyway, Deckard knew what his replicants looked like. He didn’t have to do a DNA test or anything. You find one, it tries to kill you, you kill it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/36 "2009-01-19T23:21:25Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > A DNA test seems the simplest solution, but replicants were designed, among other things, to be assassins off-world. You wouldn’t want your assassin replicant to be easily pegged by a DNA test. > . But skin that was immune to boiling water would have to have much different DNA. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/37 "2009-01-19T23:30:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But skin that was immune to boiling water would have to have much different DNA. And while you’re waiting for the lab to get back to you with the results, the replicant rips your lungs out. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/38 "2009-01-19T23:32:38Z")
The boiling water thing seems more like pain tolerance. Do we know for sure if their skin is actually immune? I don’t see why their DNA would have to be detectably different. Lots of people have different tolerances to pain, bruising, sun exposure, etc. I’m not sure how to fanwank sticking your hand in liquid nitrogen though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/39 "2009-01-19T23:32:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Another plot hole. If the replicants were so identical to humans that you need special pyschological tests, then they couldn’t pull eggs out of boiling water without being burned. If their skin was that tough, you could tell by a simple DNA test, taking a small sample or even a drop of boiling water. Was it quick? I don’t remember the scene. But anyone can pull an egg from boiling water with a bare hand, the trick is not getting burned. Being that the direction of the heat flow is toward the hand, you might do it really quickly and avoid ruining your hand. Something for mythbusters, not home experiment. Now freezing in liquid nitrogen, a human is going to destroy their hand no matter how fast. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780/40 "2009-01-19T23:51:49Z")
It occurs to me the liquid nitrogen might not have been. There were eyeballs soaking in it that ostensibly someone might want to use, so it was probably some other super cold cryogenic type liquid which again, comes down to pain tolerance rather than massive tissue damage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-question/481780.md?page=3)