General Thoughts

In 1901, Booker T. Washington published this autobiography. Born into slavery, after emancipation, Mr. Washington developed a philosophy that African-Americans needed to sweep away the ignorance that their subservient position had left them with, and earn the respect of the whites through hard work and excellence. He founded the Tuskegee Institute to teach African-Americans how to study, how to work hard and intelligently (producing better results than the white businesses of the day), and how to have respect for themselves and others.
It is fascinating that he, though cognizant of the racism that often surrounded him, never lost his faith in the basic goodness of the people of all colors that he met. The only problem I am having with this excellent book was the knowledge I could not shake, that Washington's faith was not rewarded, and the white community of the day would not give the African-American community respect and fair treatment.

The first couple of pages are startling for the nonchalant way he relates that he doesn't know the year of his birth, nor the exact location, nor with certainty who his father was. He does, on the other hand, describe the tiny dimensions to the cabin where he lived and what life was like for the slaves.

More Human Than Human

I find the religious allusions and themes contained within Blade Runner to be incredibly intriguing. Even moreso than the actual main character of Deckard. To view this film as a a shadow puppet version that epic struggle between God and the Fallen opens up myriad views of the imagery employed by Ridley Scott.

There are effectively two different type of Replicants displayed. There are the older models such as Leon that do not have any implanted memories, but still yearn for some sense of their identity at this late stage in their life. Although these types, again like Leon, can be extremely violent, in a way its not really their fault as they are basically children and this is what they have been taught to do. The other type is like Roy and Rachael, either they have implanted memories like Rachael or they like Roy, but don't miss them. These are the truly human Replicants.

The analogy between Tyrell and God kid of falls to pieces since he is actually killed by his so=called prodigal son, rather than casting him down (or out of Earth as the case would be).  That is why  I originally described this happening as a shadow play of the real events. But, perhaps that is not correct. A shadow play is a mockery of real life, but the Blade Runner with its super-humans, the replicants, is more like super-reality. I suppose this only makes sense with Tyrell Corp's motto, "More Human Than Human.