Warning: Contains major spoilers
Blade Runner 2049 is a
great, ambitious sci-fi movie that is gorgeous and original. There will be tons
of pieces analyzing everything about it, but I just want to focus on how the film
failed to develop its female characters in the way it develops its male ones. The
characters played by Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford and Jared Leto feel fully
thought out and developed, but Ana de Armas, Robin Wright and Sylvia Hoeks aren’t
given that same respect.
This is seen most in the character Joi, an AI hologram
who acts as a wife to Ryan Gosling’s ‘K’. Her character could have been a look
at how AI’s are created to pleasure humans, but develop humanity themselves.
Instead her character is just there to help K, she’s introduced as a 1950s
housewife preparing dinner for him, then goes through a series of outfits to
arouse him; not once does he do the same for her, in fact the movie never
addresses her own sexual interests. At one point, she even calls a prostitute over,
a criminally underused Mackenzie Davis, so that he can have someone to have sex
with. The scene has astonishing CGI that puts Armas’ hologram over Davis’ body,
but it’s just another example of Joi making a sacrifice for K’s pleasure and
doesn’t really fit in with the movie. This is not to say Armas is bad in the
film, she’s a revelation, she gives so much presence and pathos to a character
that the writers’ figured out what they wanted to do with. In the one scene
that she is allowed pleasure, where she goes outside and experiences rain for
the first time. It’s a highlight of the film, but then she freezes because K
has a call from work and is shut down and forgotten till he needs her again.
Near the end of the movie she’s destroyed, yet another sacrifice she makes, but
he doesn’t find a way to bring her back. He just stares longingly at a nude
projection of another version of her, so we can feel bad about his lose.
Every other female character is two dimensional, Davis as
the hooker with a heart of gold. Sylvia Hoeks as the sexy femme fatale. Robin
Wright, giving the role her all, as the hard drinking police captain who tries
to solicit sex from K. The movie even ends up centering on Carla Juri’s
character but she’s never more than a plot point. No female character is more
disgraced than Rachael. Everyone talks about Rutger Hauer’s performance as Roy
Batty, but Rachael is the beating heart of the original Blade Runner. Sean
Young’s astounding performance as Rachael as she discovers she’s a replicant, all
her memories are someone else’s, and will now be hunted for as long as she can
last. Young’s performance is a tightwire act performance that is both robotic
and cold, but also deeply human and emotional. She only has solace in Deckard,
but when she saves his life, he takes advantage of her. Even though he cares
for her, she’s still just a replicant; a beautiful thing that he can own.
Blade Runner 2049 centers around how she gave birth to a
child, which should be impossible, but it’s never about her. She’s long dead.
All mention of her is about how Deckard saw her, how she was beautiful and he
loved her; never mentioning that she went to him for help and he raped and
abused her. She finally appears at the end of the movie; a new model of Rachael
is made and she comes out looking just as young and beautiful as in the
original film. However, it’s just as a manipulation for Deckard and when he
doesn’t go for it they callously kill her. Harrison Ford was paid millions and
was given a deep, complex role. Sean Young got to be CGI’ed to look young again
and shot in the head. Just another Hollywood story.
By: Ben Ritter
