Spade has the qualities of a very capable detective and does quite well at his job. He takes in everything around him and is constantly thinking. Many times when Spade is talking with someone, especially when he is trying to extract information, he repeats either their response and occasionally some of his own statements.By restating them it gives him more time to process the information he just received and figure out how to get the information he wants. He is very talented at getting what he wants and twisting a situation so it meets his needs.
When Spade gets back home after going out to see Miles's body the police come to question him. Spade doesn't give them many answers, but they give him some. After his outburst at them he calms down and apologizes then begins to ask them questions. "I'll be reasonable Tom," he [Spade] promised. "How did I kill this Thursby? I've forgotten'" (pg 22). The police proceeds to divulge how Miles had been killed. Spade asks his question in a bit of a joking form, but he assumes they will give him the answer he's looking for. Spade sarcastically asks how he killed Thursby since the murderer remains a mystery at present. Yet when he asks this ridiculous he doesn't get a response that would match this question. Both of the police officers give him facts that will eventually help him pull his case together.
Another one of Spade's talents at being a qualified detective is being a good listener without making it look like he's interested in what's being discussed. While Brigid and Cairo are conversing Spade doesn't miss anything. "Spade, propped on an elbow on the sofa, looked at and listened to them impartially . In the comfortable slackness of his body, in the easy stillness of his features, there was no indication of either curiosity or impatience" (pg 68). Spade feigns the appearance of only half listening to what the two were talking about probably in the hopes that they would feel more relaxed and reveal more information. Not only is his face void of any emotion, his body also gives off an air of not paying full attention.
Spade picks up on minute details that most people wouldn't see or be able to piece together. With his ability to take the power in a situation and get more information than he gives out, along with being able to pretend he is uninterested in a conversation while not missing a word of what has been exchanged are only two of the components that make him a worthy detective.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Resolution of Blade Runner
The movie Blade Runner was extremely different from the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I didn't really like the movie Blade Runner. I think I was expecting something that was closer to the ideas in the book, rather than just using some of the same characters and the concept of androids. Most of the time it's dark and raining giving the movie an overall grim feeling. In this movie Deckard isn't married which changes his relationship with Rachael a lot. In the novel Deckard goes back to his wife and finds out about his goat being killed by Rachael. Instead it's implied that he runs away with Rachael. Since I read the book before I saw the movie it's hard for me to trust Rachael. It seems like she may have just been going along with him to avoid being killed. There doesn't seem to be a way to figure out if Rachael actually fell in love with him or is only looking out for herself. In the book she was a very devious character and used him. It's up to the viewer to decide whether they trust her or not though.
Another interesting event that takes place in the final scene is Rachael stepping on the silver unicorn and Deckard goes back over and picks it up. It seemed like a sign or a clue from the director about him being an android or a human. It's still quite unclear whether he's an android or not. The origami unicorn did seem like a prominent sign. Ghaff had been making origami animals throughout film and he also works with the company. Earlier in the movie Deckard had a dream about unicorns. It seems like it was more than just a coincidence of the unicorn paper animal. Maybe it was Ghaff's way of letting Deckard know that he is an android (assuming he is one).
I'm not sure I completely believe it. If he was an android, why wasn't he as strong as the others? He could have been an old android. It still leaves me with another question, how is he still alive and been living for quite a while. Scott, I'm sure, does this on purpose to make his viewers question it, and come up with their own ideas on what he is. I like it when books and movies really make you think and leaves you pondering the ending.
Another interesting event that takes place in the final scene is Rachael stepping on the silver unicorn and Deckard goes back over and picks it up. It seemed like a sign or a clue from the director about him being an android or a human. It's still quite unclear whether he's an android or not. The origami unicorn did seem like a prominent sign. Ghaff had been making origami animals throughout film and he also works with the company. Earlier in the movie Deckard had a dream about unicorns. It seems like it was more than just a coincidence of the unicorn paper animal. Maybe it was Ghaff's way of letting Deckard know that he is an android (assuming he is one).
I'm not sure I completely believe it. If he was an android, why wasn't he as strong as the others? He could have been an old android. It still leaves me with another question, how is he still alive and been living for quite a while. Scott, I'm sure, does this on purpose to make his viewers question it, and come up with their own ideas on what he is. I like it when books and movies really make you think and leaves you pondering the ending.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
An Element of Film
In the movie Blade Runner Ridely Scott uses different ways of filming to enhance the film. During a chase scene between Deckard and Szhora (a Nexus-6 android)in the movie the way this scene was filmed made the viewer feel more like they were a part of the scene. The camera was shaky and jumped back and forth between the two people. Instead of shooting a regular view of Deckard, it would be shot through the crowd, as if Szhora was seeing him. It gave the viewer a sense almost that the camera was also looking for the other person. There were also different views of the extremely crowded street with cars stuck in gridlock and people standing in tight groups making it difficult to maneuver one's way through the street also producing a feeling of panic. When Deckard finally gets close enough to the android to be in shooting range the cameras flip back and forth between them quickly to show the building tension. Then when he does shoot her she moves in slow motion and Deckard in normal time to make it seem more intense. It slows down even more as she begins to crash through the the glass and fake snow, eventually landing on the hard floor of the store showing that she was definitely dead.
Another scene that the filming technique intensifies is Deckard looking at the photo on his television and blowing it up to scrutinize the details in it. Every time he zooms in on the picture the camera also gets closer to his face. There is no music playing at all, the only sound is the clicking each time he enlarges the image. By flashing back and forth it gives a feeling of apprehension. The viewer doesn't really know what Deckard is searching for in this photo, but the way he's looking at it makes it seem extremely important. Camera angles and different shots can change a scene drastically. Filming is only one small part of creating a scene and eventually a movie. Music in my opinion is just as important, a movie wouldn't be the same without the scary music or joyous music to set the mood. There is also lighting, and the actors (can't forget about them) and the setting. A film needs all of these factors for it to be good.
Another scene that the filming technique intensifies is Deckard looking at the photo on his television and blowing it up to scrutinize the details in it. Every time he zooms in on the picture the camera also gets closer to his face. There is no music playing at all, the only sound is the clicking each time he enlarges the image. By flashing back and forth it gives a feeling of apprehension. The viewer doesn't really know what Deckard is searching for in this photo, but the way he's looking at it makes it seem extremely important. Camera angles and different shots can change a scene drastically. Filming is only one small part of creating a scene and eventually a movie. Music in my opinion is just as important, a movie wouldn't be the same without the scary music or joyous music to set the mood. There is also lighting, and the actors (can't forget about them) and the setting. A film needs all of these factors for it to be good.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
A theme from DADOES
There are many different themes in this novel written by Philip K. Dick. One of them is the blurred line between humans and androids. Throughout the story some of the androids seem to take on human-like traits. It is extremely difficult to tell the difference between an android and a human as the androids become more advanced. If a human isn't specifically looking for an android or administering an empathy test, such as the Voigt-Kampff, it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart. As androids become more developed they blend in with society, and eventually they may not be recognizable, which will further blur the line separating humans and androids.
In the beginning of the book Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter, traveled to the Rosen Association to test his Voigt-Kampff machine and met Rachael Rosen, a Nexus-6 android. After Rick administered the test to her he came to the conclusion she was an android; at first Eldon Rosen, head of Rosen Association, denied it explaining that she had only spent four years on Earth which was why some of her answers were non-human. Rick still wasn't sold and decided to ask her one more question. One question was all it took and the tip off by Rachael referring to their owl as an "it" which they were trying to coerce him with. Rick asked Eldon Rosen, “‘Does she know?' Sometimes they didn't; false memories had been tried various times, generally in the mistaken idea that through them, reactions to testing would be altered." (pg 59) Rachael didn't know she was an android, she assumed that she was human because she had no reason to think otherwise. It seemed to come as a shock to her. The fact that they are implanting fake memories in their "brains" is blurring the line of humans and androids. If androids wholeheartedly believe that they are human it will make it easier for them to blend in with the human population. The Rosen Association was beginning to create new and better ways to implant memories that would probably be even more convincing to the android and people around it. With more realistic memories the androids become more humanized making it increasingly difficult for Earth to remain android free. With each new model the Association creates the more humanized the androids become. The goal of the Association is eventually the bounty hunters’ tests won’t be able to pin point the androids anymore. If they are successful in this, Earth’s goal of keeping androids off the planet won’t last long at all.
Later on that morning Rick met Phil Resch, another bounty hunter for a different police agency, after Rick was being removed from Luba Luft's dressing room in the opera house. He also met Phil's boss, Garland, who happened to be an android. While Phil was out of the office retrieving his empathy test equipment Garland pulled out his laser and positioned it at Rick. Garland told Rick that he is an android, but so is Phil. After testing Phil, Rick figures out he isn't an android even though Garland declared he was not human. The androids were getting more cunning, trying to turn the two bounty hunters against each other so it would be easier to eliminate them.
Phil had no idea that he had been working for an android. From a reader’s point of view it was hard to guess who was an android and who wasn’t. I assumed that Garland had been telling the truth about Phil and found it difficult to believe he wasn’t an android since many of them didn’t know themselves. At some point the real Garland had been killed and the android Garland took over without much question. "I can't get over it," Phil Resch said. "It doesn't seem possible. For three years I've been working under the direction of androids. Why didn't I suspect-I mean, enough to do something?" (pg 127) The Nexus 6 androids are more intelligent and are finding it easier to appear human. Garland had figured out how to blend in and not seem awkwardly out of place at his job. It was scary to find out Phil didn’t have the slightest idea about Garland; the Nexus-6’s hid the fact that they were androids well enough that average humans were having more trouble identifying them, but this was a bounty hunter, whos job it was to identify and track down androids. This is an immense problem for planet Earth because they were trying to keep androids illegal, but if they can successfully disguise as humans the bounty hunters’ jobs will become trickery.
Another example of this theme was when Phil retired Luba and Rick having second thoughts about why they had to kill her. He had developed feelings for her, either because of her beauty or his love for the Magic Flute opera and her phenomenal singing voice, better than any human he knew. "She was really a superb singer, he said to himself as he hung up the receiver, his call completed. I don't get it; how can a talent like that be a liability to our society? But it wasn't talent, he told himself; it was she herself." (pg 137) Rick had a hard time swallowing the fact that she had to be retired because of wonderful talent. It is challenging to keep oneself from developing feelings for an android that looks exactly like a human and behave similarly to them, for the most part. It's a basic human characteristic to immediately have some type of feeling when one sees someone of great beauty or talent. The Rosen Association are becoming craftier by creating the androids with incredible talents now, which as Rick had proved, made it harder to kill them and gave them a more human like feel.
Rick tested himself using the Voigt-Kampff to see what his reaction was to the statement of someone suddenly killing an android he had just captured, and then specified its sex as a female. The machine made it clear that he was empathetic towards some female androids, Luba Luft for example. Rick’s other encounter with a female android was with Rachael. His feelings for her were stronger, strong enough that he slept with her. Rick was very confused during that entire section of the book because he thought he had fallen in love with her. An emotion like that definitely blurs the line more. These emotions normally reserved only for humans are now being shared with androids because they have become so human like.
The Rosen Association is working hard to produce an android that is almost identical to humans. Bone marrow tests would be the only way to test whether or not it’s an android. If the Association is able to get to that point, the differences between humans and androids will be almost entirely erased, and the human race, as we now know it, we will be altered forever.
In the beginning of the book Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter, traveled to the Rosen Association to test his Voigt-Kampff machine and met Rachael Rosen, a Nexus-6 android. After Rick administered the test to her he came to the conclusion she was an android; at first Eldon Rosen, head of Rosen Association, denied it explaining that she had only spent four years on Earth which was why some of her answers were non-human. Rick still wasn't sold and decided to ask her one more question. One question was all it took and the tip off by Rachael referring to their owl as an "it" which they were trying to coerce him with. Rick asked Eldon Rosen, “‘Does she know?' Sometimes they didn't; false memories had been tried various times, generally in the mistaken idea that through them, reactions to testing would be altered." (pg 59) Rachael didn't know she was an android, she assumed that she was human because she had no reason to think otherwise. It seemed to come as a shock to her. The fact that they are implanting fake memories in their "brains" is blurring the line of humans and androids. If androids wholeheartedly believe that they are human it will make it easier for them to blend in with the human population. The Rosen Association was beginning to create new and better ways to implant memories that would probably be even more convincing to the android and people around it. With more realistic memories the androids become more humanized making it increasingly difficult for Earth to remain android free. With each new model the Association creates the more humanized the androids become. The goal of the Association is eventually the bounty hunters’ tests won’t be able to pin point the androids anymore. If they are successful in this, Earth’s goal of keeping androids off the planet won’t last long at all.
Later on that morning Rick met Phil Resch, another bounty hunter for a different police agency, after Rick was being removed from Luba Luft's dressing room in the opera house. He also met Phil's boss, Garland, who happened to be an android. While Phil was out of the office retrieving his empathy test equipment Garland pulled out his laser and positioned it at Rick. Garland told Rick that he is an android, but so is Phil. After testing Phil, Rick figures out he isn't an android even though Garland declared he was not human. The androids were getting more cunning, trying to turn the two bounty hunters against each other so it would be easier to eliminate them.
Phil had no idea that he had been working for an android. From a reader’s point of view it was hard to guess who was an android and who wasn’t. I assumed that Garland had been telling the truth about Phil and found it difficult to believe he wasn’t an android since many of them didn’t know themselves. At some point the real Garland had been killed and the android Garland took over without much question. "I can't get over it," Phil Resch said. "It doesn't seem possible. For three years I've been working under the direction of androids. Why didn't I suspect-I mean, enough to do something?" (pg 127) The Nexus 6 androids are more intelligent and are finding it easier to appear human. Garland had figured out how to blend in and not seem awkwardly out of place at his job. It was scary to find out Phil didn’t have the slightest idea about Garland; the Nexus-6’s hid the fact that they were androids well enough that average humans were having more trouble identifying them, but this was a bounty hunter, whos job it was to identify and track down androids. This is an immense problem for planet Earth because they were trying to keep androids illegal, but if they can successfully disguise as humans the bounty hunters’ jobs will become trickery.
Another example of this theme was when Phil retired Luba and Rick having second thoughts about why they had to kill her. He had developed feelings for her, either because of her beauty or his love for the Magic Flute opera and her phenomenal singing voice, better than any human he knew. "She was really a superb singer, he said to himself as he hung up the receiver, his call completed. I don't get it; how can a talent like that be a liability to our society? But it wasn't talent, he told himself; it was she herself." (pg 137) Rick had a hard time swallowing the fact that she had to be retired because of wonderful talent. It is challenging to keep oneself from developing feelings for an android that looks exactly like a human and behave similarly to them, for the most part. It's a basic human characteristic to immediately have some type of feeling when one sees someone of great beauty or talent. The Rosen Association are becoming craftier by creating the androids with incredible talents now, which as Rick had proved, made it harder to kill them and gave them a more human like feel.
Rick tested himself using the Voigt-Kampff to see what his reaction was to the statement of someone suddenly killing an android he had just captured, and then specified its sex as a female. The machine made it clear that he was empathetic towards some female androids, Luba Luft for example. Rick’s other encounter with a female android was with Rachael. His feelings for her were stronger, strong enough that he slept with her. Rick was very confused during that entire section of the book because he thought he had fallen in love with her. An emotion like that definitely blurs the line more. These emotions normally reserved only for humans are now being shared with androids because they have become so human like.
The Rosen Association is working hard to produce an android that is almost identical to humans. Bone marrow tests would be the only way to test whether or not it’s an android. If the Association is able to get to that point, the differences between humans and androids will be almost entirely erased, and the human race, as we now know it, we will be altered forever.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Predictions
Rick and Isidore are going to have to meet in the near future, because PKD can't have two separate stories going on and not have them intersect at some point. They already have in a way since Isidore is friends with Pris who is actually Rachael Rosen. It will be a huge deal when Isidore and Rick finally meet because Rick will see Rachael again. He never ended up calling her back after she had offered her help to catch and retire the androids.
When Rick and Pris finally meet again he will be faced with a problem of whether or not to "retire" Pris and her two friends. He's already beginning to feel empathy towards female androids so it makes sense that the author will throw in a curve ball for Rick.
The empathy that he is feeling towards some androids follows the theme of the line between humans and andys is being blurred even further. He feels the same way about Luba as if she was a normal human female. Resch seems to think that it's normal and okay for Rick to feel this way about female androids and his advice to Rick was to sleep with "it" then "retire it". Rick questions his ability as a bounty hunter. I think he will continue to question this about himself as the book goes on.
When Rick and Pris finally meet again he will be faced with a problem of whether or not to "retire" Pris and her two friends. He's already beginning to feel empathy towards female androids so it makes sense that the author will throw in a curve ball for Rick.
The empathy that he is feeling towards some androids follows the theme of the line between humans and andys is being blurred even further. He feels the same way about Luba as if she was a normal human female. Resch seems to think that it's normal and okay for Rick to feel this way about female androids and his advice to Rick was to sleep with "it" then "retire it". Rick questions his ability as a bounty hunter. I think he will continue to question this about himself as the book goes on.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Chapter1-6
The theme presented in this book seems to be technology v. humans, and if androids should be legal. The constant struggle is to keep Earth android free. Earth kind of shies away from the technology of the androids, but still tries to keep up. For example the use of the mood organ plays a large part in the first chapter at least. Rick and his wife Iran have a fight over why she had set hers to be depressed for the day. Rick couldn't understand why she would ever want to be depressed. She tried to explain herself to him, saying that it made her feel more "human". It wasn't "normal" to be happy all the time, especially in the world they are living in. She still uses the mood organ to feel more regular emotions, but she gets angry at her husband for retiring the androids. Rick doesn't see them as humans but more as robots and has no problem with killing them. His wife is unhappy with it yet spends the money he gets from catching them. Shes a typical hypocritical human.
On Mars and the other planets that they have begun to inhabit the lure is that they will get an android to work as a slave/servant. With more and more advancements in the technology the androids are becoming even more similar to humans, and the strangest part is the newer androids (Nexus 6) don't know that they are androids. I guess they just assume they are human because their creator tells them they are?
It always seems to go back to the question of human v. android.
On Mars and the other planets that they have begun to inhabit the lure is that they will get an android to work as a slave/servant. With more and more advancements in the technology the androids are becoming even more similar to humans, and the strangest part is the newer androids (Nexus 6) don't know that they are androids. I guess they just assume they are human because their creator tells them they are?
It always seems to go back to the question of human v. android.
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