Comments on: Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

By: hank

hank — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:53:21 +0000

This is an old post I’m responding to, I know, but I’d just like to say I love the bit where you point out that “Blade Runner” looks like “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” in the same way that an android looks like a human. Before I ever saw “Blade Runner” I had read several of Dick’s books, so when I finally did see the movie, I was actually quite disappointed. I lay the blame on Ridley Scott and Hollywood. It is true that the book and the movie have very similar atmospheres, but the cutting of Wilbur Mercer and Mercerism, Deckard’s wife, the significance of animals, references to kipple, Buster Friendly, plus the increase in violence between the book and the film ended up turning it into something else altogether, in my opinion. (The violence, for me, was probably one of the more disappointing aspects to me — I think that if fight scenes hadn’t taken up so much of the movie, we could have seen something that definitely provides much more to think about. The book really didn’t spend that much time on the fights, if I recall correctly.) If a person really wanted to get into it, I think they could make the case that “Blade Runner” is really a future-noir, while “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a bonafide postmodern-noir that just happens to take place in the future. It isn’t for naught that Dick has been called a “poor-man’s Pynchon.”Also, I must say that the opening scene in “Androids,” with the Penfield Mood Organ is a real riot.

By: Yoder

Yoder — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:48:37 +0000

Claire, I’d never seen this blog of yours until tonight, and I’m really happy with it. Have you had a chance to read “The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch”? I’ve been reading through Dick’s catalogue over the last three or so months now, and I think it (not uniquely, but especially, because all of his novels deal with, more or less, the same themes) really touches on the ideas of perception and humanity, whether the components determine the being, or whether the thing’s conception of its self does.Anyways, I love this page and what you’re doing with it, and I can’t wait for the next write-up.Also: The Heinlein review was fantastic.Yodes

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:26:51 +0000

Very good article, as always. I really enjoyed comparing Blade Runner with AI and The Bi-Centennial Man to get the full perspective of “What is human-what is machine?” Neal Asher’s book Gridlinked also deals with the issue somewhat. We are getting close to AI and some of the robots are beginning to look human. Some serious ethical problems or robot rights will soon arise. Thanks for your reviews- they are always good.Bryan

By: Ricky Grove

Ricky Grove — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:36:58 +0000

Beautiful write up on Androids. I understand your dilemma completely. I think most people who have seen the film are in the same boat. I think Dick answered Marilyn Gwaltnye’s “self” question with his essay “The Android and the Real”: the difference is that androids lack empathy, which is what makes humans real in Dick novels.