Ucann-eyes

Thinking about the frequent focus that Bladerunner placed on eyes, I was brought back to the Sigmund Freud essay The Uncanny that we read. Freud spends a large amount of time dissecting the common references to the eyes in The Sandmen, and I decided I would try and connect his analysis to the importance of eyes in Bladerunner.

To start, we can see the relation between humans and replicants is similar to that of to that of parents and child, as creator and creation. Using Freud's idea of the Castration Complex and the Oedipus Complex, we know that there is a subconscious fear of damage to the eyes, which he theorized to be a stand in for the male member. From there, he explains, the fear of damage to the eyes, and therefore the male member as well, is rooted to the fear of castration at the hands of the father. This leads to the the understand that Nathaniel's father and Coppelius must be halves of the true father, wherein the loving relationship between father and son is separated from the aspect of the father responsible for the castration anxiety in Nathaniel.

Comparing this idea to the paradoxical interaction between Batty and Tyrell. Instead of splitting Tyrell into two separate figures, we see the contrasting behavior. While at first the father-son relationship is clear, with Tyrell showing pride in what Batty has done and become, and Batty as the scared child needing protection from his fate. We also see that Tyrell appeared to show great concern, and had researched and attempted to divine a method of prolonging the life of the replicants, showing that Tyrell views the replicants as more than a disposable product. although he admits that he has been unable to find a means. Batty begins to kiss Tyrell, before killing him, showing both immense love and incredible dread towards his "father".

To understand this, the importance of the eyes on the identity must be understood. By denying Batty prolonged life, Tyrell also denies Batty the possibility to be human. As the eyes are the indicator of someone as human or replicant, and therefore through Freud's understanding of the eyes as a substitute for the male member, we can see that Tyrell denying Batty his prolonged life was analogous to castration. Therefore, we can understand Batty's actions as rooted in the castration complex. This can be further supported in that Batty's means of killing also functioned as a destruction of Tyrell's eyes, which through Freud's ideas would be a revenge driven "eye for an eye" (literally) situation.

Although this is one example, it does illustrate why the eye is a recurring theme in Bladerunner. By creating the replicants with manufactured eyes, the Tyrell corporation had effectively castrated the replicants, and so their rebellion can be understood as both retribution for as well as an attempt at reverting their castration by their creators.