Rick Deckard

Rick Deckard portrayed by Harrison Ford in the film Blade Runner

Rick Deckard is the protagonist in Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,and also the 1982 film adaptation Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott. The cinematic version of the character Deckard is played by the actor Harrison Ford.

Overview

In the film adaptation, Deckard is a blade runner, a special member ( or bounty hunter ) of the Los Angeles Police Department whose job is to hunt and retire androids , called replicants , as they have been declared illegal on Earth. At the beginning of the film, a group of replicants hijack a shuttle to Earth, intending to infiltrate their place of manufacture and extend their four-year lifespans. Deckard, formerly the best blade runner in the LAPD, is called out of retirement to hunt them down. He is reluctant to resume work, but is told he has no choice and must use some of "the old blade runner magic" to succeed.

Adaptation

The term "blade runner" is infact never used by the author of the original novel. Deckard is an active bounty hunter working in San Francisco rather than a Los Angeles detective, tasked with hunting down six escaped replicants, called "androids", who hope not to extend their lifespans, instead only to escape slavery on the colonies. Philip K. Dick stated in review his approval of Harrison Ford's performance, claiming that Ford brought to life a "a genuine, real, authentic Deckard."

Harrison Ford is more like Rick Deckard than I could have even imagined...if Harrison Ford had not played that role, Deckard would never become an actual person. Ford radiates this tremendous reality when you see him. And seeing him as a character I created is a stunning and almost supernatural experience to me.

Philip K. Dick

Is Deckard a replicant?

There are lengthy debates among the movie's fandom on whether Deckard is a replicant himself. The Director's Cut of the movie seems to lean towards the idea that Deckard is a replicant, as new footage was added that raises the possibility. Earlier in the film it is established that the Tyrell Corporation has created replicants with implanted memories. Rachel, created by Tyrell with the memories of his niece believed she was human but Deckard confirms this to her by recalling memories she had told no one about. The footage added in the Final Cut shows Deckard has dreams about unicorns. In all versions of the film, Gaff leaves a unicorn origami figure in Deckard's apartment, confirming he knows about the dream for the same reasons he knew about Rachel's memories.

The purpose of this story as I saw it was that in his job of hunting and killing these replicants, Deckard becomes progressively dehumanized. At the same time, the replicants are being perceived as becoming more human. Finally, Deckard must question what he is doing, and really what is the essential difference between him and them? And, to take it one step further, who is he if there is no real difference?

Philip K. Dick

Actor Harrison Ford has stated that when he and director Ridley Scott were discussing the character prior to filming, they both agreed that Deckard was not a replicant. However, in multiple subsequent interviews, director Ridley Scott has come forward stating that Deckard is in fact a replicant. Scott also states that Harrison Ford may have given up the idea of Deckard being human.

In K.W. Jeter's Blade Runner novels, Rick Deckard is rediscovered by the Tyrell Corporation, who want to use him to retire the mysterious "sixth replicant" from the group he last hunted. (These novels use the character of Deckard as shown in the movie, not the original novel.) This mission ends up leading to further adventures involving various conspiracies between the Tyrell Corp., the United Nations, and Replicant Sympathizers.

Internal links

bounty hunter

See also

• Deckard: human or replicant?

External links

• Marj Kibby [Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The University of Newcastle]journal of interdisciplinary gender studies V1 N2 September 1996:139-146 retrieved 10:13 2011-11-02
• Slavoj ŽižekTarrying with the negative: Kant, Hegel, and the critique of ideology published:Duke University Press, 1993 retrieved 10:24 2011-10-02

• Copyright © 1998-2010, DistantCousin.com geneological records : Deckardretrieved 10:41 2011-11-02

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