The origami dragon brought it up

[tisana]

I just had a discussion with my boss about the significance of the unicorn motif in the Blade Runner movie vs. the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?".

He couldn't remember the origami unicorn at all, or the dreams of unicorns that Deckard has.
Now I can't remember if it's only in the director's cut.

Anyone?

Also: yay geeky boss.

Comments

[woodwardiocom]

The unicorn dream isn't in the first two cuts. The origami unicorn is in all the versions, but means something different in the different versions, and so can be overlooked.

[the_xtina]

I seem to recall that the dreams of the unicorn were inserted in the director's cut, not the origami unicorn itself.  I could be misremembering, though.

[pir]

Also in the Final Cut.

[perspicuity]

what they said. you'd have to have seen the right version, and/or perhaps KNOW more about the movie than as presented.

the now very cheap box set of ALL versions of the (official release candidates) story; including the "final cut" (esp *marvelous* on blu-ray)... no voice-overs either ;)

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[tranari]

I clearly need to re-watch whichever version it is I saw. There were no voiceovers and I have no idea what the unicorn theme was about. I couldn't manage to get into the book. Hell, I'm confused by the people who claim that Deckard is a replicant. I thought it was a great movie, but there's clearly a lot I haven't managed to get with just one viewing.

[tisana]

The unicorn is tied in to whether Deckard is a replicant; the cop who tells him, "It's too bad she won't live, but then again...who does?"--Gaff--at the end leaves origami things throughout. In the director's cut, apparently, Deckard has a dream about a unicorn; Gaff leaves him an origami unicorn at the end, before letting him escape with the girl.

One theory is how would Gaff know the significance of unicorns to Deckard unless he had access to the memory implant for Deckard--which would make Deckard a replicant. Another is that it's symbolic, and some yearnings are universal--Ridley Scott deliberately left it ambiguous.

[tranari]

Ah. I think I choose to go with the universal symbol interpretation or to just go with a "some things are unknowable" viewpoint. I have trouble with the replicant idea because he seems too well integrated into his environment and too many people would have to be in on the scam for it to work, in my opinion. I know that's some of the point, but I find it more compelling for him to be human and be able to feel the need to bridge the gap to loving Rachael. But I think that's the geek-romantic in me who's watched too much Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.