Bits and Pieces
Sep. 8th, 2002 12:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarrick
This person can exist because I have met her in bits and peices. I have dated dollops of her, I am good friends with fractions of her, I have proposed to portions of her, and even once made a significant subset of her my significant other. She is passionate and romantic but not at the expense of her intellect. She's sexy and wild but never inappropriate: she'll go to the fetish club and the black tie soirée and not be out of place or uncomforable at either - there's even a good chance she'll pull them both off in the same dress. Friday she'll go to the pub and drink a pints and talk about philosophy and comic books. Saturday morning she'll shop for antiques and speak of laquers and varnishes, but Saturday night she'll down drinks that could peel paint and dance like she's kicking someone's ass in boots that make her ten feet tall and while wearing plasitc hair. She knows the bartender that freepours. She has one foot in the 19th century and the other in the 21st. Sunday she'll do the Times crossword waiting for Sunday brunch and spend the afternoon sipping coffee and listening to jazz while she makes art that I am envious of but not competative with. She'd rather have her name mentioned in a textbook than have a baby. She won't want to move in with me but she'll want to get an apartment in the same building. She'll be able to put on a black dress that makes you want to bite your hand like Squiggy and dance in a swishy way that makes you shut your eyes at work on a Wednesday afternoon and smile a private smile and makes the pile of crap on your desk go away just for a minute while you remember how she looked. And when work is out of control and you need to bring some of it home and work late, she'll sneak up behind you and kiss your neck while you are working and put a coffee beside you. She'll call you on your shit but not make you feel like shit while doing it. She'll go walking in the park with you and make fun of dogs. She's a city girl who'd rather go to a night-club than take a walk in the woods as a general rule, but she'll love the ocean and the mountians and visiting places like Duncan and Tofino. She's challenging, but rarely frustrating. She won't leave and argument unfinished and refuses to go to bed mad. When she's tired she curls up on the couch with the cats to read or watch TV and wants you with her.I don't think she is impossible. Just very, very difficult to find.
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no subject
Date: 2002-09-08 01:47 pm (UTC)Plus being followed around by a hispanic psychotic Origami enthusist intent on killing her - it would just be the same olo' stalker jealous ex boyfriend all over again.
Plus - it would kind of suck being in bed together on your 4 year anniversary and she drops dead because of her longevity limitations.
Racheal is cute.. but at least with Pris it's all up front and honest. I'm horny , you're a pleasure model.. and in the morning I will call you a cab. End of story.
Ah, but...
Date: 2002-09-08 01:54 pm (UTC)You'll excuse me - I've seen the move about a thousand times (really).
Re: Ah, but...
Date: 2002-09-08 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
"Do you like our owl?"
Date: 2002-09-08 02:19 pm (UTC)"Of course it is."
Rachel was *beautiful*. Her body language, her sensuality. Not just a pleasure model. Capable. Emotional. Potentially dangerous, but pristine at the same time. Had a background of false memories, yes, but was more human than Pris could ever be.
I am her, and she is me. *smile*
Pris was just a sexy clown.
Re: "Do you like our owl?"
Date: 2002-09-08 02:47 pm (UTC)It's all very subtly done, which is what makes the movie so brilliant. "A.I.", "Total Recall", and "The Sixth Day" adress some of the same issues, but with a sledgehammer. Good examples of the sort of cultural replicative error I mentioned to
Re: "Do you like our owl?"
Date: 2002-09-08 03:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-08 04:56 pm (UTC)But just because they have no incept dates doesn't mean that they are goign to last forever. It very well may break down.
and there is no more JF Sabastian , Mr Chow , or Eldon Tyrel Anymore to fix it.
Besides I always thought Pris was much cuter - She was more fun and interesting and creative (hey she dressed up like a toy) plus she was a lot more athletic and had a greater love of life- Now SHE would be the Nexus 6 for me.
Why have a sniviling whiny self pity stuck up tight ass accountant like Rachel when you can have a fun , talented , creative and amazingly cute pleasure adventurer model like Pris. But who knows - maybe Tyrells Neice memories include being a major slut and sexual adventurer.
Although there are some guys out there into S&M who would be all over Dora.
You realize we have just entered the Ultra Geek level of conversation. Talking about the sexual prowes of Science fiction women.
"Nobody lives forever"
Date: 2002-09-08 06:47 pm (UTC)> Why have a sniviling whiny self pity stuck up tight ass accountant like Rachel when you can have a fun , talented , creative and amazingly cute pleasure adventurer model like Pris. But who knows - maybe Tyrells Neice memories include being a major slut and sexual adventurer.
Must you embarrass our gender so? *shakes head*
no subject
Date: 2002-09-08 07:42 pm (UTC)Well since we are talking about fantasy women who DONT EXIST I doubt they will get offended.
Most viewers see Rachel as the sexy interesting one -but thats pretty shallow if you think about it.
it's Pris who has the most character.
Pris was designed to be a pleasure model - but chooses to dress like a toy (showing a playful side)(and Not become a sex worker like Dora as was her programing ), Pris manipulates Sebastian (a genetic designer genious)into taking Roy to kill Tyrel (Sebastians best friend) , and It's Pris who comes closest to killing Decker - unfortunately she wasn't designed as a combat model but she did pretty good considering.And it's Pris who accepted what she was and made strives to overcome her weaknesses
So as far as 'embarasing our gender' I am honest as to what I would want. The stronger and more interesting of the two. Yes Rachel knew how to Dress and follwed her program of 'elegance' but Pris knew how to live and to try to improve her situation while breaking free of her programming instead of running from it.
Interesting
Date: 2002-09-08 08:40 pm (UTC)I don't see Pris dressing as a toy being anything about her playfulness as much as being about what she was built for. Pris *is* a toy. Her manipulation of Sebastian comes out of her loyalty and childish love for Roy. There are Christian undertones in Tyrell and Sebastian ("It's not every man who gets to meet his maker.") with Tyrell as God and Sebastian as Christ. The replicants are their creations and toys. That's shown in their chess game mirroring the action of the movie. It's also alluded to in Tyrell's talk to Roy about "burning so very, very bright". Roy is the fallen angel, God's favourite, cast out to burn. Pris manipulates Sebastian as a whore in hopes of gaining Roy's redemption. She is Mary Magdolin. And if Sebastian is the Son and Tyrell the Father, who is the Holy Spirit? Deckard's memories?
Pris' fight with Deckard is one of the clues that Deckard is a replicant. She is obviously surprised when Deskard doesn't die after she hits him in the head, and she becomes angry and frustratied when the repeated blows fail to work. Other clues include Rachel saying to Deckard, "Have you ever taken that VK-test of yours?" In the opening titles it says that replicants are used for jobs too dangerous for people, and look who is called in after Leon shoots the other Blade Runner ("Let me tell you about my mother."). One of the more subtle ones is that at some point every replicant is shown with a red reflection in their eyes, including even the owl ("Is it artificial?" "Of course."), and Deckard. Roy challenges Deckard to "Show me what you are made of." The other cop lauds Deckard for having done "a man's job". There is a look of horror on Deckards face when he learns about the implanted memories - is that his doubt about his own past? Leon collects pictures to build a sense of having memories and a past. Deckard has an unusual number of pictures in his apartment. Deckard confronts Rachel by telling her things he cannot know about unless he has seen her memories. In the director's cut we see Deckard's unicorn dream and at the end he finds a unicorn oragami, insinuating that the other cop knows his dreams in the same way.
The fact that Roy, Zhora, Leon and Pris are devating from their programming is why the incept dates exist. They are developing real personalities, right on schedule. It doesn't make them special. Meanwhile the replicants who are given personalities are learning to let them go and accept their artificiality. Like I said before, it is what the movie is really about.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-09 12:14 am (UTC)I also didn't see pris as angry or suprised when Decker did't die - I saw it as Pris toying with her prey but then it was her overconfidence that led to her fall - she turned her back on him.
But what if the Directors cut vs the non-directors cut are actually telling different stories of Decker - In the non-d-c we hear the Sam Spayed Dialoge , the camera focuses on his vioce and we FEEL the Burnout - the retired experienced cop who has lived for a while - We see his fatigue , his lack of strength (having his ass kicked by ALL the Replicants) and we know that he is human - Not strong wenough for a Nexus six.
Where as the DC has that Unicorn scene , not as much focus on the weak deker, and the Dialogue is gone -and when he looks out the window - it seems like its all confusing to him- like it's all new.
So Mr Ridley Scott - wich is it?
Simple Answer
Date: 2002-09-09 09:49 am (UTC)*But* remember that the director's cut was not done after the fact, the Sam Spade narration and happy ending was *added* not removed. The directors cut is what was shown at the trial screenings, (which, incidentally, were done in Texas) and based on the confusion of the test audiences the movie was dumbed down for distribution.
And this is why Artistotle saw (Greek) democracy as the lowest form of government. When everyboody has a say the loudest and stupidest tend to win out.
But don't you think Pris' confidence may have come from her thinking Deckard was less than he was? And what if Deckard's "experience" is implanted, as is implied. He doesn't know. Real memories or not, he would be jaded and tired from the experience. That is definitely not conclusive. But it is interesting that Deckard does get his ass kicked and only manages to kill the women (Rachel kills Leon and Roy expires on his own). Is that because he is less capable, or because he doesn't know his capabilities? Remember that Zhora is trained for a "kick murder squad" and she does kick the crap out of Deckard, but he doesn't die and *then* she runs.
Point being this question is built into movie and very intentionally not answered, and it makes it a much better movie. Insead of the sappy, in-your-face BS in AI (as an example) Blade Runner leaves you to think about it yourself. Unfortunately the marketing morons and the hayseed test audience didn't want to think. Because this lowest-common-denominator approach is so much more refined now, a movie like Blade Runner would *never* come out of Hollywood now. It could only be produced independently or in a "foriegn" country (like Canada - every wondered why Canada is part of the US domestic film distribution network and our own films get distributed as if they were "foreign films" within Canada?).