Blade Runner

Sadly, the lessons this movie taught have continued to fall upon deaf ears.  While it leans into a simultaneous fetishisation and demonisation of Western Asian Culture (fetishising the stylised, neon, chic technological urbanisation of Tokyo, while demonising multiculturalism and Asia’s influences upon technological advancement), Blade Runner has a lot to say about society. The film wants viewers to engage with its complex themes around morality, humanity, and the impact of capitalism upon the environment. And in doing so, we follow a protagonist whose goal is to hunt down replicants who have gained free will, only to realise that our hero may in fact be a villain to the replicant cause. Whether you believe Deckard to be a replicant or not (he is), you learn from him and grow with him as he begins to understand the replicants. The next time you watch The Matrix, Ex Machina, Westworld, The Fifth Element, Minority Report, or you play Cyberpunk 2077, Detroit: Become Human, Deus Ex, remember that you have this film to thank for their existence.  “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”