CAPITALISM IN THE FUTURE AND THE PAST

Early on in Bladerunner, protagonist Deckard finds himself in headquarters of Tyrell Corporations, the company that manufactures replicants. The founder says to Deckard, “Commerce is our goal at Tyrell.” This statement very aptly summarizes the focus of capitalism which shows up not only in Bladerunner but also The Graduate as well. In both films, California is constructed through the lens of capitalism and materialism. Both films view capitalism as something undesirable and corrupting. However, despite both taking on this negative portrayal, the two films visually could not be more different. The version of California in Bladerunner is shown, despite all the technology, as a decaying society. The city is dark, the sidewalks are on fire, and trash flies around. The Graduate, on the other hand, portrays Los Angeles as a sunny paradise, tapping into the popular image people have long associated with Southern California. In order to construct their respective characterizations of California as a place of materialism, both films rely on dialogue, while the Bladerunner uses cinematography more heavily and The Graduate uses its narrative and mise-en-scene. Each film has its own cultural and historical specific backgrounds. The Graduate, as I mentioned, uses the popular image of sunny California, to turn people’s expectations on their heads. Even in such a visually beautiful place as Los Angeles dissatisfaction can take hold. Bladerunner preyed on people’s fears in the 1980s of cultural mixing to fully create a dystopia.

The opening scene of the Bladerunner is an establishing shot through Los Angeles set in 2019. The city is dark, and the camera pans forwards in the sky slightly above the buildings. Fire blasts rise into the sky from large tubes evoking an image, not unlike plumes of smoke coming from the power plants. This image connotes the lengths at which humans are willing to go for commercial gain, whether that be for power, or something costing us the destruction of our environment. The darkness shown in the establishing shot is carried out throughout the film in the cinematography. Even during the daytime, characters are shown indoors with a lack of lighting, or they are shown under artificial lighting such as the neon signs in what looks to be Chinatown. The darkness serves to emphasize the image of dystopia while the use of artificial lights shows the superficiality of the world they live in, with this need to consume, but also the synthetic quality of their lives, nothing is completely natural any longer, not even light. In addition, we also learn that animals have been artificially recreated. As Deckard, the protagonist enters the Tyrell headquarters, an owl flies across the room. Rachael enters, and the following conversation occurs.

Rachel: Do you like our owl?

Deckard: Is it artificial?

Rachel: Of course it is.

Deckard: Must be expensive.

Rachel: Very...

It is tragic that the world has been so severely damaged that they have to recreate something as common as an owl artificially. Furthermore, it’s ironic that synthetic reproduction is expensive when previously owls were natural creatures and free to be observed. This paradoxically shows how industry and commerce can destroy but also create. When Deckard asks if the owl is artificial, Rachel’s response implies it’s stupid that he even has to ask. Her reaction reinforces the idea that all natural beauty has been exploited and now can only be achieved through artificial means.

When we are introduced to Deckard, we hear a blimp from above advertising, “A new life awaits you in the Off-World colonies. The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure. New climate, recreational facilities… absolutely free.”  This piece of dialogue is ironic because the Off-World colonies are being marketed almost exactly how California was marketed throughout history. California is known as the Golden State and is popularly characterized by its warm sunny weather. Also, the fact that the blimp promoted the Off-World as having “recreational facilities'' is similar to how California was often depicted as guaranteeing a leisurely lifestyle. In stating that going to the Off-world colonies is “ absolutely free,” the advertisement is under emphasizing the work that it probably takes to actually get there. This resembles the history of California, in which adverts and popular culture made the promise to people that if they came to California they would be met with a wealth of opportunities. However, this wasn’t the full truth. Many people who had made the long trek to California were disappointed when they found waiting for them was not opportunities, but low wage menial work. To advertise the Off-World as “absolutely free” is a comparable ploy because we learn later in the movie, during a conversation between J.F. Sebastian and Pris, that the Off-World isn’t open to everyone. J.F. tells Pris that he has Methuselah syndrome which causes him to prematurely age. She asks, “Is that why you’re still here?” J.F. responds that he couldn’t pass the tests needed to go. This implies that only the fittest is allowed to go to the Off-World and reap the benefits and that Earth is relegated to sub-standard status in comparison. This is not unlike California which was marketed widely, but only a few could reap the benefits. In her text “Suburban Eden” Kirse Granat May points out that, “from its earliest days, California was not a dreamland but a battleground often marked by exploitation and tragedy, plagued by racial conflict and social strife.” (10) The fact that humans have already expended all the life and resources worth having on Earth and that they are moving on to extraterrestrial conquests is an alarming indicator of the rate of consumption which fuels capitalism.

There are many scenes of Deckard flying through Los Angeles, and as he weaves through the city, bright advertisements are on display on the sides of the buildings. One ad that stands out, in particular, is an electronic billboard for Coca Cola. It’s quite comical because the film  has established this unfamiliar futuristic world, but the thing that remains the same is that people still drink Coca Cola. Coca Cola is the ultimate sign of American capitalism. Preying on people’s weakness for sugar and reeling them in with chemicals for the sake of profit. But more than that Coca Cola doesn’t just sell drinks they sell an idea. The company has used marketing tactic to create a culture around the drink by inserting themselves into politics. It is the drink of America; it’s become so ingrained in American culture that it would make sense that it shows up in a movie taking place 40 years in the future.  

The whole business of replicants is a large critique of capitalism. Tyrell bluntly states that “Commerce is our goal here at Tyrell.” The replicants are a commodity, they are slaves. They aren’t a technology to make the world better because, as we have seen, the world is already in ruins. Captain Bryant refers to replicants as “skin-jobs” to try to distance himself from them. When Byrant gives Deckard information about the rebel replicants he presents them in a slideshow with their model types and pictures, in a way that resembles online shopping which further dehumanizes them. It is here that we learn that replicants don’t serve just one purpose. In addition to manual labor, replicants like Pris were created to do things such as sex work. The role of capitalism is that there is a free market and if there is demand than companies will go to ruthless ends to supply. During his conversation with Deckard, Tyrell explains that replicants do have emotions but that they are emotionally inexperienced. Tyrell theorizes, “If we gift them a past, we create a cushion or pillow for their emotions, and consequently we can control them better.” As Tyrell stated, commerce is their goal, and nothing is too extreme even if that means emotionally abusing replicants, who Tyrell admits are sentient beings, to exploit them for sex, labor, and warfare.

Bladerunner paints Los Angeles as a place of cultural hybridity. In her text “Back to the Future,” Kaja Silverman states that the world of Bladerunner seems “to be the product of a veritable ethnic and racial meltdown.” As Silverman points out, “residents communicate in ‘cityspeak’ a language which represents a composite of Japanese, Spanish, and German.” This shows the high level of globalization that the world has reached. The way they communicate is through a combination of languages spoken on three different continents. The reason globalization occurs is that countries can interact in the international market, which is another indicator of the influence of capitalism. In particular, there seems to be a large Asian presence. We see multiple shots that seem to resemble Chinatown. There are also Asian characters such as the noodle vendor and Chew, the genetic engineer. The historical context of the time when Bladerunner was being made, was that in the 1980s there was a massive inflow of Asian immigrants into the United States. This was partially due to the Refugee Act, which allowed many Asians to gain permanent residents in the United States. However, this high amount of immigration caused some angst and anti-Asian-sentiment. People were alarmed by the influence that Asia was gaining and they were worried about a kind of reverse colonization. In particular,  Asia began getting the upper-hand in the auto industry, making it hard for the U.S. to compete. This lead to people attacking Japanese people on the streets. By having a significant Asian presence in the film, Bladerunner has captured this cultural angst about the permeation of Asian culture in America.

The Graduate has its own elements of dystopia because despite being set in sunny Los Angeles, the main character Ben feels that his individuality is under siege and that he needs to conform to the expectations of society. He feels a sense of helplessness in changing the course he’s headed in, an unfulfilling job, and monotony of suburbia. At the beginning of the film, Ben is resistant to go downstairs to a party that was thrown for him. He can’t seem to get through to his father about his worries. Mr. Braddock asks what’s wrong, and the following conversation takes place.

Mr. Braddock: What is it?

Ben: I’m just –

Mr. Braddock: –worried?

Ben: Well…

Mr. Braddock: About what?

Ben: I guess– my future 

Mr. Braddock: What about it?

Ben: I want it to be–

Mr. Bradock: To be what?

Ben: Different 

In this conversation, Ben’s father seems to be jumping down Ben’s throat. He is not allowing Ben to formulate and voice his own thoughts, and in this way, he’s not letting Ben define himself and his desires. When Ben says that he wants his future to be different, he says “different” much quieter than the other words as if he doesn’t want his father to hear him. What Ben means by different is he sees the path he’s going down if similar to that of his parents, and he longs for something else. This is not immediately clear in the moment, but as we continue to watch the movie Ben’t dissatisfaction with the suburban life  his parents live becomes clear.

As Ben wades through the crowd of people at the party, the camera holds a tight frame on his face as people around him move and ask him questions. The closeness to his face parallels the claustrophobia Ben feels internally as he tries to escape the room and dodge people’s questions. One of the women asks him what he’s going to do with his life, the exact question he was trying to avoid. A family friend, Mr. Mcguire, walks Ben outside and says, “I just want to say one word to you, just one word… plastics… there’s a great future in plastics.” This is slightly satirical because Mr. Mcquire makes a big deal of walking Ben outside and getting him alone, building up the suspense. The audience expects him to say something serious and meaningful, but all he ends up doing is talking about “plastics.” Robert Beuka states in his article. “Suburban Malaise, Masculinity, and Oedipal Drive in The Graduate” that Mr. Mcguire’s statement “offers up an apt metaphor for the very lifestyle Ben fears he may be on the verge of entering.” Something plastic connotes something superficial. Ben’s parents seem to be caught up in shallow materialism. The way they show love for Ben is by buying him things, such as the car he gets for graduation and by showing him approval in gloating to all their friends about his accomplishments. In terms of really understanding him, they fail to listen to Ben, as shown in the scene I previously described. Ben is afraid to end up like his parents in seeing that material gain and career advancement are the only purposes of life.

The one scene that clearly solidifies Ben’s parents’ materialist attitude is the Scuba Suit scene. It is Ben’s twenty-first birthday, and his parents have bought him scuba gear, which he no doubt didn’t ask for. Mr. Braddock is forcing Ben to give a “practical demonstration” of the suit in front of all their neighbors and friends. Ben resists, not wanting to come out of the house. 

The fact that his father is forcing him to do this on his birthday further emphasizes disregard for Ben’s feelings. Mr. Braddock jokes to his friends, “it better work or I’m out over two-hundred bucks.” This statement is significant because it shows Mr. Braddock’s fixation on money. Since the movie was made in the 1960s, if you calculate for inflation, two-hundred dollars in today’s money is over a thousand dollars, which is quite expensive for a gift somebody didn’t ask for and will probably never use again. So it seems that the gift wasn’t really a gift but a ploy to show off his wealth. As Ben steps out of the house the camera switches to his first-person point of view. The audience identifies with Ben and his isolation. All sound is blocked out but his breathing. He looks at his parents and the party of people they are cheering him on. Once he gets into the pool he tries to come up to the surface but his father grabs the mask and pushed him down multiple times. To the guests of the party might’ve seen playful, but because the camera shows Ben’s first-person point of view, we see that it is quite forceful. It seems that Mr. Braddock cares more about the demonstration than his son’s wellbeing, showing the toxic effects of materialism.

In terms of the historical context, Ben’s generation is the Baby Boomer generation, the generation of kids born after World War II. After World War II there was a large economic boom and it was known as the golden age for capitalism. People like Ben’s parents, who lived through war saw lots of opportunities and economic prosperity. Their goals were to settle down and provide for their families, to be comfortable. Ben’s generation, kids born into suburbia, chafed under this expectation, they wanted more out of life, to do something that actually made them happy, not just puts food on the table. Ben voices his dissatisfaction to Elaine, saying, “I’ve had this feeling - ever since I’ve graduated - this - kind of compulsion that I have to be rude all the time. Do you know what I mean?” She agrees with him most likely having the same frustrations.

Despite Ben’s attempts at rejecting suburban life, it is ironic how much time he spends by the pool enjoying the benefits of his parents’ lifestyle. Beuka says that the extensive use of the pool, “suggests the depths–often depths of despair–that lurk beneath the shining surface of suburban life.” Perhaps it is because he is only delaying the future he has lying ahead of him, knowing there is no way to avoid it. But this also shows how capitalism and materialism have some allure. Although superficial and portrayed as detrimental to human relationships, luxury isn’t always a bad thing.

Mrs. Robinson, as a character, is the embodiment of everything Ben wants to avoid. She lives in a grand house with a spiraling staircase. Her husband goes golfing with his friends. It seems like a life of luxury, where there is want for nothing. However, under the surface, everything is not as it seems. Mrs. Robinson confides in Ben that she and Mr. Robinson no longer sleep in the same room. She also admits that she got married because she was pregnant with Elaine. It can be inferred that she was forced to give up her studies and autonomy because she became pregnant. Although Ben can’t experience exactly what Mrs. Robinson has, she has been relegated to suburbia, which is Ben’s greatest fear. Later on in the movie, Elaine makes a statement which shows that she also is worried about becoming like her mother. Elaine has just gotten married but sees Ben calling for her above. She makes a move towards him, and Mrs. Robinson grabs her arm and says, “It’s too late!” Elaine replies, “Not for me.” This interaction solidifies Ben and Elaine’s generation’s firm resistance to the confinement of suburban life and the crass materialism that comes with it. However, it is ironic because of what happens in the next scene. Ben and Elaine have just escaped her wedding and have boarded a bus. As they get on and sit down they wear smiles of victory. There is an extended shot on their faces as Ben and Elaine’s expressions turn from joy to concern. They have realized that they might have just embarked on the path they wished to escape, the path to suburbia. The final shot is the bus driving down a suburban road. Beuka comments that “this final shot emphasizes Ben’s powerlessness: Despite his conscious transgressions against it, the close of the film finds him in the same position he was in the beginning–being carried along into the confining, emasculating landscape of the suburbs.”

As I stated earlier, both films create different versions of California in order to show the unscrupulous elements of capitalism. In both films, materialism seems to get in the way of personal relationships. In The Graduate, Ben’s parents have a blatant disregard for his feelings. They equate meeting his material needs and wants as love. In Bladerunner, the voracious need to consume leads to the destruction of Earth and the creation of a new kind of slave, found in replicants. The us vs. them mentality about replicants is not unlike the historical attitude white people had about African slaves. This mentality creates an inability for humans to see the humanity of replicants. Deckard is able to overcome this obstacle eventually, acknowledging the humanness in Rachel. It is interesting the way these films are juxtaposed. The Graduate set in the 1960s seems to warn that material gain doesn’t always produce the satisfaction that is expected and that maybe it isn’t something we should strive for. Bladerunner set in 2019, is kind of like an imagining of the world in which the message of The Graduate goes unheeded.