Fan Culture and Blade Runner Essay

With the advent of new media technologies audiences’ sense of authorship and authenticity are changing. The growing trend of fan edits and fan fiction on the Internet can be viewed as a postmodern practice, as audience involvement in meaning creation constitutes one element of the postmodern. This paper will examine the film Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) in the context of postmodernism and fan culture. It will outline how Blade Runner and fan cultures are postmodern relating to audiences as active participants in meaning creation and the production of alternative meanings. It will examine various audience interpretations and creations diverging from the original text, thus challenging the “authentic” film and intended reception. 

Henry Jenkins discusses fan cultures as “participatory cultures” and says it is “anything but fringe or underground today. Fan fiction can be accessed in astonishing quantities and diversities by anyone who knows how to Google” (Jenkins, 2006). This culture includes such practices as fan edits, fan fiction, blogging and internet forums. Any practice that involves negotiating or creating meanings surrounding cultural products. This paper will return to the concept of fan culture in relation to the film Blade Runner after an introduction to postmodernism and how Blade Runner can be viewed as a postmodern film.

Any discussion of postmodernism is complicated due to diverging definitions by theorists, as well as the difficulty in separating the postmodern from the modern. It is further complicated in the context of film, because cinema itself was outlined by Walter Benjamin to be a modern technology. Sturken and Cartwright point out that, “The distinctions between modern art styles and postmodern styles reveal overlapping strategies and interests” (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009). However, this paper will attempt to identify some elements of postmodernism which can be applied to the film Blade Runner and fan cultures. To explain postmodernism one must first consider the modern, as “post” suggests it precedes something. This paper will primarily implement the definitions of modern and postmodern as outlined by Sturken and Cartwright in Practices of Looking. They write that the period of modernity began around the nineteenth century and continues to present day, thus making the theory of postmodernism, which became prominent in the 1970s, problematic as the two are now occurring simultaneously.  A defining aspect of modernism is a trust in metanarratives, which are frameworks that aim to comprehensively explain all aspects of society and the world (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009).  One example is the belief that science is a means to achieve social progress and move closer to achieving “the truth,” as well as faith in notions of religion, law, education, capitalism and politics (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009).

Sturken and Cartwright note, “The postmodern is characterized by the questioning of the supposed universality of structural knowledge, as well as a skepticism about the modern belief in the universality of progress” (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009). While Pooke and Newall in Art History describe the postmodern as often having a particular stance in relation to the modern. They write, “If we understand one form of modernism as being concerned with what aesthetic practice should be, then the postmodern can be interpreted as a more or less conscious reaction to this” (Pooke and Newall, 2007, 169). In terms of fan culture, the appropriation of existing texts for individual purposes, such as fan edits and fan fiction, give existing texts new meaning. These practices operate as postmodern texts because they challenge the notion of singular truths and master narratives. They enable audiences to find and create their own truths within popular narratives. The postmodern is a response to conditions of modernism and the late stages of capitalism, it emphasizes one’s own involvement in low or popular culture, and rejects notions that there is one truth to encourage finding truth on an individual basis, which is demonstrated within fan culture practices. These aspects demonstrate the postmodern skepticism towards metanarratives and linear truths, as well as its oppositional stance towards modernism (Sturken and Cartwright, 2007). The postmodern is not just a change in art styles, but a change in ideologies. Sturken and Cartwright make clear that we do not live in a postmodern world, but a world where the modern and postmodern are in constant tension. This tension is also observable in Blade Runner, as Verun Begley points out in Blade Runner and the Postmodern: A Reconsideration, the film can be read in terms of modernity or postmodernity (Begley, 2004). 

Linda Hutcheon describes postmodernism as emerging out of uniformity and mass culture, as well as to interrogate the notion of consensus. She explains that the narratives and systems in our society that allowed us to think we could “unproblematically define public agreement, have now been questioned by the acknowledgement of differences- through theory and artistic practice” (Hutcheon, 1987). Hutcheon concludes that postmodern art questions all that is viewed as natural, eternal or universal and therefore viewed as unchangeable. This is demonstrated through practices of fan culture, as cultural productions do not meet all fans needs and beliefs and therefore consensus, so fans appropriate these texts and interpret them in new and different ways. Multiple versions of a text inevitably result in multiple meanings. 

Frederick Jameson identifies pastiche as the key element of postmodern style. Pastiche is the technique of borrowing, quoting or plagiarizing previous styles with no reference to their historical context. In the case of film, this can include genre mixing, which is apparent in Blade Runner as the film mixes film noir with science fiction. Sturken and Cartwright add that, “One of the key strategies of pastiche is a questioning of the original” (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009). This questioning of the original is prevalent in fan culture practices which can be viewed as a form of pastiche, a notion that will be further explored within this paper.  

Blade Runner is one of the films most frequently interpreted as postmodern, as well as being the first film to release a Director’s Cut. In addition, the film now has four versions released by the studio, which makes this film an interesting example for exploration relating to postmodernism and multiple meanings. The film takes place in 2019, a blade runner named Deckard is called out of retirement to track down and kill four escaped replicants. Replicants are man-made robots indistinguishable from humans by their appearance, used as slave labour on “Off-world” communities. The world is in a state of destruction, so people have begun to move to these “Off-world” locations, which are simulated representations of earth. Both the replicants and the Off-world locations (although never depicted in the film) can be viewed as simulacra, or empty copies, which is a feature Sturken and Cartwright outline as postmodern. 

Visual clues throughout the film suggest the blade runner may be a replicant himself, which is presented in differing degrees depending on which version of the film you watch. In the Director’s Cut, this is depicted visually as the main character has a dream about a unicorn and another blade runner who leaves origami at the locations of replicants deaths, leaves a unicorn on the character’s front step. The film (as well as the director in interviews) does not specify whether the blade runner is a replicant, but leaves it up the viewer to interpret and decide for themselves (Begley, 2004). Using Thelma and Louise as an example, Jenkins describes that gaps, irresolutions, excesses, contradictions, unmotivated actions, and moral ambiguities all demand viewer participation. They require the viewer to make judgements or speculations. (Jenkins, 2000). So the ambiguity in Blade Runner as to whether or not Deckard is a replicant further situates this as a postmodern film, as this aspect requires audience speculation. It is not spelt out for the viewer, but left up to them to decide. It is not surprising that this ambiguity is taken up as the primary theme and given greater significance in the two fan edits that will be discussed in this paper. The ambiguities surrounding this issue give the fan editors an area to explore with the available material from the film. 

Varun Begley in his article on postmodernism in Blade Runner outlines the problems of postmodern theory, as the film could be read as either modern or postmodern, demonstrating the ambiguity of the terms. If modernism is viewed as having established conventions, the postmodern then is meant to break these conventions. Blade Runner, however, follows a typically modern style of editing and linear narrative, so the postmodern aspects are demonstrated more through the plot of the film, certain visuals and ambiguities rather than breaking any established conventions. Begley also discusses the problem of defining postmodern aesthetics, since it is the nature of postmodernism to reject established conventions.  

Begley also notes the film has several versions, while the studio insisted on a happy ending, the director’s cut omits this ending.  Begley describes the Director’s Cut as a postmodern reading of the original studio release by rejecting the convention of the Hollywood “happy ending” for an ending that was more ambiguous and open to interpretation (Begley, 2004). The trend in Hollywood to rerelease existing films as “Director’s Cuts” can be seen as representing the postmodern notion of multiplicity of meanings as this results in more than one version of the same film for the viewer to choose from. Although Begley only touches on the two versions, the film actually has several more releases. There is the Studio Release; The Director’s Cut, which was rushed and Ridley Scott had very little input in creating; The International version , which had additional scenes of violence; and more recently The Final Cut, released in 2007, in which Scott had much more influence (Hunt, 2007). 

Begley cites a few aesthetics within the film that could be considered postmodern. The film implements pastiche through its use of characters borrowed from a variety of different genres and time frames, all living together in a futuristic dystopian setting; they range from a character resembling a 1940s Hollywood star to a mad scientist, which also demonstrates the genre mixing of science fiction with film noir. The setting of Blade Runner is a postindustrial society, which can be viewed as an interpretation of what comes after modernism. The world appears to be in a state of destruction, which further positions this film as postmodern as it is rejecting the notion that science will lead to social progress. Begley describes the setting as a city of pastiche. It is fragmented, in a state of destruction and rebuilt out of the remnants of times past. It recycles societies architectural signifiers and turns them into something new, void of historical specificity (Begley, 2004). 

Perhaps the most common element in quintessential “postmodern” films, are these apocalyptic settings. Sturken and Cartwright write that the Holocaust and nuclear bombing of Japan showed how scientific ideas could be turned against humankind, which reflects the postmodern skepticism toward scientific progress. This aspect of postmodernism is commonly demonstrated within films known as cyberpunk, with apocalyptic representations of the world to demonstrate where modern beliefs about the value of science in achieving progress may take us (Sturken and Cartwright, 2007). Film critic Lawrence Person defines cyberpunk as representing “dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, a ubiquitous data-sphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body” (Person, 1998). Keith Booker writes, “The loss of faith in historical metanarratives during the postmodern era has been accompanied by a weakening of the utopian imagination, and in particular by a loss of faith in the possibility that utopian dreams might actually be realized” (Booker, 2007). This aspect of cyberpunk films is prevalent in Blade Runner.

In 1966 Roland Barthes first announced the death of the author. Pooke and Newall explain, “Barthes believed that the creator of the text (or work of art) should not have the monopoly over its interpretation and that other readings were equally tenable” (Pooke and Newall, 2007, 169). Jenkins notes in Reception Theory and Audience Research that this declaration of the death of the author came prematurely, as “texts play central roles in shaping their reception, even if they do not totally control their meanings” (Jenkins, 2000). However, fan cultures do challenge the author’s intention. In modern art the artists intention was key, while in postmodern art the audience is given a greater role in the interpretation of meaning. Jenkins discusses in relation to textual poaching that fan cultures challenge “authorial authority” (Jenkins, 1992) so fans in this practice while not replacing the author often broaden the scope and offer new interpretations to their work. In the case of film, this practice can be seen as challenging the director as auteur. It raises the question, if the directors intention doesn’t matter can he be viewed as an auteur? However, the director’s work still stands on its own as a cultural product, fan cultures do not replace that work, but supplement it with additional versions and interpretations. 

Blade Runner is based on the science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, the fact the film is based on a novel, that someone else wrote the screenplay, and that there are now four versions of the film available (excluding the fan edits), raise questions about the director Ridley Scott as the auteur of the film. This is further problematized by the extended scope of the film through fan edits, fan fiction and other fan internet activities (Blade Runner- The Final Cut, 2009). Being based off a novel, the film in some respects supports the postmodern notion that “everything has been done before” (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009). The fan edits take this to a whole new level by turning a cultural product into a new text. 

The Blade Runner- The Final Cut, 5-disc collectors edition contains 48 minutes of deleted and alternate footage. The discussion boards on fanedited.com call it “a fan editors dream.” Fanedited.com contains two fan edited versions of the film, Blade Runner- 2008 Extended Edition and Blade Runner- Electric Unicorn Cut. Both of these edits are similar in that they insert a number of deleted scenes from “The Final Cut” that suit their individual interests. The title “Electric Unicorn Cut” plays off the title of the book from which the movie was made. The “2008 Extended Edition” begins with a quote by Rachel saying, “You know what I think? That we were made for each other.” In the films description the creator writes he inserted this to make clear that Deckard is a replicant from the films beginning. Near the films end he also inserted a line by Gaff, “Are you sure you are a man? It’s hard to tell who’s who around here.” Both of the fan edits attempted to make this aspect of the film less ambiguous, inserting any additional material which suggested Deckard was a replicant. Interestingly, neither drastically change the story outside of this aspect, no characters or lengthy scenes were cut, but rather each version made the film longer by adding various material from the 5-disc set. The fan edited versions represent individual preferences over relatively small details in the overall reception of the film. Both editors expressed that they were fans of the film, so more drastic changes may take place in circumstances where an individual did not enjoy the original film (fanedited.com). 

On YouTube there is a trend to make music videos out of clips from favorite films, television shows, or actors. For Blade Runner there is one made to the song “Paranoid Android” by Radiohead. Again what was interesting (like the fan edits) this video very closely demonstrated the plot of the film, following the timeline and plot of the film but cutting it down to seven minutes. It has a similar narrative continuity as the film, rather than appearing as a series of random clips. Jenkins writes of fan created music videos in Textual Poachers, “If MTV is a postmodern art of pastiche that isolates images from their original context(s) and unmoors them from their previous associations, fan video is an art of quotation that anchors its images to a referent, drawn from the fans’ meta-textual understanding of the series characters and their universe” (Jenkins, 1992). Jenkins in this segment is discussing television programs, but the same can be applied to films to a certain extent. These videos raise a great deal of associations for fans, as they remember the episodes and segments the clips were taken from. Jenkins writes that it “takes the fan back to the original series and invite them to reconsider its narrative development” (Jenkins, 1992). In the case of this particular YouTube video the fan has selected a number of scenes they felt gave an overall picture of the film. What they chose to include and omit has the potential to emphasize specific elements of the film and diminish others. 

Sturken and Cartwright write that postmodern texts speak to subjects that are in the know about codes and conventions and who are media and image savvy. (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009). This notion can be applied to fan fiction and fan music videos (as discussed by Jenkins) as these stories and videos will appeal to individuals who are knowledgeable about the text from which the images or characters are borrowed. Rather than being empty copies, as many postmodern works are described, the clips in these videos raise many meanings in quick succession as they are edited to music, they raise all the meanings from the film or particular television show they are borrowed from. Although removing these elements from their original contexts, these images take on new meanings (Jenkins, 1992).

Henry Jenkins writes in Textual Poachers that fan cultures muddle boundaries, “treating popular texts as if they merited the same degree of attention and appreciation as canonical texts” and continues, “Fans speak of artists where others can see only commercial hacks, of transcendent meanings where others find only banalities, of quality and innovation where others see only formula and convention” (Jenkins, 1992). This demonstrates a postmodern tendency outlined by Sturken and Cartwright, that the postmodern blurs the boundaries between high and low culture (Sturken and Cartwright, 2009). As fans gain appreciation for the favorite texts they elevate them to the status of high art. 

Jenkins continues to write that fans do not interpret texts in the same way as academics. They are “unimpressed” by institutional authority or expertise and assert their right to form their own interpretations and claim mass culture for their own use by reworking them to form their own cultural canons (Jenkins, 1992). This form of textual poaching can be viewed as pastiche. As, similar to the definition outlined by Sturken and Cartwright, fans quote, plagiarize and borrow from existing works. In addition, fans challenge media producers attempts to constrain the creation and circulation of meanings. This relates to the postmodern rejection of metanarratives and singular truths. As fans construct their own meanings out of cultural productions, multiplicity of meanings develops and no film can demonstrate a singular meaning to all spectators. 

Blade Runner as a film and the fan productions surrounding it to a greater extent, can be viewed as postmodern.  As the practices of fan cultures continue to rise and become more accessible to large audience by aid of the Internet, academic writing on the issue is gaining in prominence. While the modern and postmodern continue to exist in tension, productions by fans may be the most quintessentially postmodern artistic practice to date. It produces not only multiple meanings in one text, but multiple versions of texts as interpreted and preferred by individuals. No longer are we confined to one text to accept or reject, but we can search out a version that best meet our individual interests or make our own and contribute to the fan culture.

References

Begley, Varun. “Blade Runner and the Postmodern: A Reconsideration.” Literature Film Quarterly. 32:3, 2004: p186-192.

Blade Runner- The Final Cut. Retrieved April 2, 2009. http://bladerunnerthemovie.warnerbros.com/

Booker, Keith. Postmodern Hollywood: what’s new in film and why it makes us feel so strange. Westport: Praeger, 2007. 

FanEdit: Home of the Fan Edits. Retrieved April 2, 2009. http://www.fanedited.com/

Hunt, Bill. “Blade Runner: The Final Cut- All Versions.” The Digital Bits. December 12, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2009. 

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviewshd/bladerunnerfinalallver01.html

Hutcheon, Linda. “Beginning to Theorize Postmodernism.” Textual Practice. 1:1, 1987: p10-44.

Jenkins, Henry. Fans, bloggers and gamers: Exploring participatory culture. New York: NYU Press, 2006.

Jenkins, Henry. Textual Poachers; Television Fans and Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge, 1992.

Jenkins, Henry. “Reception Theory and Audience Research: The Mystery of the Vampire’s Kiss.” Reinventing Film Studies. eds. Christine Gledhill and Linda Williams. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000: p165-182.

Person, Lawrence. “Notes toward a postcyberpunk manifesto.” Nova Express. 16, 1998.

Pooke, Grant and Diana Newall. Art History: The Basics. New York: Routledge, 2007. 

Sturken, Marita and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.