The move Blade Runner seems to have a fascination with eyes. Close-ups on eyes dominate many scenes, while the device to determine whether someone is a replicant or not is focused on examining the eye during questioning. Even the eyes of replicant animals, such as the owl, are given close-up shots. The eyes seem to be the determining factor in who is "real", ie. a human, and who is a replicant. With this thought in mind, the movie seems to explain prejudices in what makes a human a human, and a replicant a replicant.
The humans in the movie have regular eyes. But it is the way in which these eyes are displayed that shows the prejudice towards replicants. In one iconic scene, Deckard's eyes fill the screen while an image of the galaxy is reflected upon them. Hundreds of stars, planets and other heavenly bodies are displayed in them. This scene represents how the movie wants audiences to see how humans perceive life around them: full of beauty, open for exploration, where all avenues are open to them. When Roy and Leon are trying to discover the location of Dr. Tyrell, their creator, they visit the scientist who created their eyes. This further shows that the replicants are considered subhuman by the film, as their eyes are genetically created in a vast production facility, much like a car part. When Roy and Pris are attempting to persuade Sebastian to take them to Dr. Tyrell, Roy places a pair of fake eyes over his own. While this was done as a joke, a way to make Sebastian laugh, the eyes that Roy holds up are entirely unlike his own. The fake eyes are very obviously supposed to be human eyes, while Roy's eyes are distinctly replicant. A replicant's eyes are covered by a silver disc.
Throughout the movie, The replicants are shown almost entirely with silver discs over their eyes. Roy, Rachael, Pris, Leon, and even the owl are all shown with silver discs over their eyes. The character Gaff, who works with the police, is shown with silver eyes as well, although he is never fully explained. These silver discs seem to indicate something about the replicants: the world they see is not their own. These discs reflect light, making the replicant obvious as a non-human. The discs suggest that the replicant will only see a reflection of life rather than life itself, further denoting their status as subhuman. Compare the scene of Deckard's eyes, alight with the cosmos, to any shot of a replicant's silver eyes: whereas a human can see all options and possibilities that life may offer, the audience will only see the silver disc. This suggests that replicants are to be looked down on, as they can never fully experience life, but only a diluted portion of it.
Yet at the end of the movie, something happens to Roy's eyes. When morning Pris, his eyes are still silver. Yet in all shots of his eyes after that, there is no silver disc. As he strips down and hunts Deckard, his eyes are clear. When he saves Deckard from dying and delivers his final soliloquy before dying himself, his eyes are clear. The movie seems to be telling the audience that at his final end, although he is still programmed to die, Roy has in fact become human. To further this, Roy is holding a white dove in his hands that is released when he expires. Although it does not fit in with the "eyes" theory, the release of the white dove would be an analogy for a soul leaving a body. None of the other replicants have this happen, and it only happens after Roy is shown to have human eyes.
Through the use of eyes, the movie seems to be telling the audience that replicants, while looking human, are in fact a pale reflection of what it is to be human. Only Roy seems to become truly human in the end, and this only occurs after the death of Pris. But he still saves Beckard, and tells him all the things that moments that he has witnessed that will be lost to time. Perhaps the movie is insinuating that to be truly human, one must accept the truth all mortals must face: that, at some time or another, it will be "Time to die".
The humans in the movie have regular eyes. But it is the way in which these eyes are displayed that shows the prejudice towards replicants. In one iconic scene, Deckard's eyes fill the screen while an image of the galaxy is reflected upon them. Hundreds of stars, planets and other heavenly bodies are displayed in them. This scene represents how the movie wants audiences to see how humans perceive life around them: full of beauty, open for exploration, where all avenues are open to them. When Roy and Leon are trying to discover the location of Dr. Tyrell, their creator, they visit the scientist who created their eyes. This further shows that the replicants are considered subhuman by the film, as their eyes are genetically created in a vast production facility, much like a car part. When Roy and Pris are attempting to persuade Sebastian to take them to Dr. Tyrell, Roy places a pair of fake eyes over his own. While this was done as a joke, a way to make Sebastian laugh, the eyes that Roy holds up are entirely unlike his own. The fake eyes are very obviously supposed to be human eyes, while Roy's eyes are distinctly replicant. A replicant's eyes are covered by a silver disc.
Throughout the movie, The replicants are shown almost entirely with silver discs over their eyes. Roy, Rachael, Pris, Leon, and even the owl are all shown with silver discs over their eyes. The character Gaff, who works with the police, is shown with silver eyes as well, although he is never fully explained. These silver discs seem to indicate something about the replicants: the world they see is not their own. These discs reflect light, making the replicant obvious as a non-human. The discs suggest that the replicant will only see a reflection of life rather than life itself, further denoting their status as subhuman. Compare the scene of Deckard's eyes, alight with the cosmos, to any shot of a replicant's silver eyes: whereas a human can see all options and possibilities that life may offer, the audience will only see the silver disc. This suggests that replicants are to be looked down on, as they can never fully experience life, but only a diluted portion of it.
Yet at the end of the movie, something happens to Roy's eyes. When morning Pris, his eyes are still silver. Yet in all shots of his eyes after that, there is no silver disc. As he strips down and hunts Deckard, his eyes are clear. When he saves Deckard from dying and delivers his final soliloquy before dying himself, his eyes are clear. The movie seems to be telling the audience that at his final end, although he is still programmed to die, Roy has in fact become human. To further this, Roy is holding a white dove in his hands that is released when he expires. Although it does not fit in with the "eyes" theory, the release of the white dove would be an analogy for a soul leaving a body. None of the other replicants have this happen, and it only happens after Roy is shown to have human eyes.
Through the use of eyes, the movie seems to be telling the audience that replicants, while looking human, are in fact a pale reflection of what it is to be human. Only Roy seems to become truly human in the end, and this only occurs after the death of Pris. But he still saves Beckard, and tells him all the things that moments that he has witnessed that will be lost to time. Perhaps the movie is insinuating that to be truly human, one must accept the truth all mortals must face: that, at some time or another, it will be "Time to die".
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