What BLADE RUNNER 2049 Is Really About

This is STILL one of my favourite movies. I watched it in cinema all alone and when I walked out of the mall it was raining. There's something surreal about that feeling that I remembered to this day.

Something I find interesting that I've seen nobody discuss was what a Sapper is. In classic military conflict a sapper is one that tunnels under walls of a castle or a trench and places explosives [or something else like piers of wood and a fire to destroy them] to 'tear down the wall'. Bautistas character is meant to knock down the wall that other characters in the film talk about. He is the first significant step for K to in other words become human. As if the idea of something metaphysical like a miracle is necessary to take steps to humanity. I.E. something that is so out of line of what you KNOW to be or be possible made manifest directly in your vision, keeping with the themes of eyes in the first film mainly, and lesser so in 2047. But 2047 also deals with touch, what you feel. And feeling anything might be enough to make you human.

Bladerunner: Do robots dream about electric sheep? Bladerunner 2049: No. They dream about electric Ana De Armas.

Worked as a prison guard for the better part of 8 years. I can say with 100% certainty that some people have a LOT less empathy than the replicants presented in these movies.

It's good to see a creator skip the all too common trend of bombarding the viewer with background music. Listening to a voice alone is more impactful when the spoken word takes center stage with no distractions. Audiobooks speak to this as we keep up with multi-layered narratives unfolding over hours and hours. Those of us who enjoy excellent long form studies like this will stick around (probably more than once if we're passionate about the topic) and we don't need a synthwave beat to keep us engaged.

2049 is so badass. Ryan Gosling killed it.

Good to see this movie still getting attention!

One of the better analysis videos of 2049, thank you for the effort and perfect delivery!

That scene of the giant hologram Joi calling him Joe broke the internet. Because it's not just about whether Joi or K is real. This isn't just about can synthetic humans be special. This scene makes the viewer question if they, or anyone is really special. Remember, this scene takes place right after Joi is destroyed and tries to say "I love you". Just like K, the viewer thinks she and K are different .But the scene with the hologram destroys that illusion the second she calls him Joe. Because the cold truth is, waaaay deep down, every married couple wonders where's the line where they can be replaced. An illiness? Old age? A job layoff (every guy I knew in a relationship before the Great Recession wasn't after it)? So what's the point of anything? I guess you have to ultimately find your own reason to feel special. K does this at the end. When Deckard asks why K did all this, he doesn't answer. He lived his life his way proving that, while not unique, he could still act like someone who was. And that's what this is all about. It's your actions define you. Was K just another replicant that could be replaced and maybe that replacement does the same thing he did. Hard to say. But the point is he made the choice to sacrifice himself to do the right thing.

I can barely put into words how highly I regard this film and its philosophy on life. Not many movies present such deep questions and even fewer have the balls to attempt to answer them. I'm thinking films like Barry Lyndon and Grand Budapest Hotel. Stories that reflect on what a life is, what's important, and why it's important. I'm sure if you asked 20 people they'd all have a unique list of what films do that for them, but BR2049 is probably the top of it for me.

Found myself tearing up at several points along the way... and, ultimately understanding it better than I had after watching the three shorts and feature three times each. Thank you!

With Joi ( literally designed to be a 'jerk off instruction' AI), K continually gave her free will, and had no intention of controlling her. He treated her as if she was real, and her programming adapted. I thought that their relationship was sweet, and that in a way, he was able to help her break her programming, just as he was able to break his own programming. When she sacrificed herself, she demonstrated selflessness, as a key aspect of sentient consciousness. When he sees the ad for Joi after his Joi has 'died', he does not see his Joi in her, because his version of her was unique to him. He is clearly grieving for his loss and cared about her. To them, their love and affection for each other was real, even if they were both technically artificial life forms. This point is also driven home by Deckard, when he asserts "I know what is real!"

Joi is a test of K's humanity, of the viewer's humanity. If you are heartbroken by her demise, you bear grace, you are humane. If her plight makes you a better person, then she is worthy, she is important, and regardless of whether she functions upon programming, she makes people better by evoking love and empathy. To me, this is incredibly human.

"Remember, her eyes were green." That just changed my life dude.

Thank you for this. I saw another commenter stating they work in a prison and someone else commenting if we can expect humans in captivity to ach human. I also work in a prison, and while I'm free to leave at certain times I'm as much a human in captivity and just as free to change myself as we were yesterday. In order to change we must destroy who we were and the illusion of our present. That's why this analysis moved me too, because it helps me accept my reality.

Yes, I've always thought, "Is Decker a replicant?" was the wrong question. The deep question that resonates is pondering whether or not there's any actual difference between human and replicant.

That is a great analysis. Made me think about it in a new way. Thank you for putting this together!

Great insights. I appreciate your work on these long form vids.

A most excellent analysis. Thorough and accurate. Superb presentation.

Great take, I agree with the majority of your observations, I disagree that K was using Joi as a distraction like Instagram, I see it as a yearning and reaching for a human life, a striving for humanity. And the relationship in the beginning may have been like you say, but I see growth in both, as you said when she risks mortality by being disconnected so they can't make her talk, and at the end when she is destroyed she also in a sense sacrifices herself. I think the evolution of the 2 "artificial" life forms show us the melancholy/ sadness of life and death.