quarantine 'em

Okay, I'm going to say this: the thing I love most about the new Blade Runner is the new Voight-Kampff test.

A big part of that is that it is a highly inventive, surprising, unpleasant spin on an otherwise familiar film element. An element which was essentially contractually obligated to return. But that's not the only part of it

(There's a lot of Blade Runner 2049 which was essentially contractually obligated to return, and it's to the film's enormous credit how many of those obligations don't jab you in the ribs with their obviousness.)

The other part of it is that this is what we do with new technology, all the time: we invent things with a particular use in mind, and then they get REPURPOSED.

Blade Runner: the Voight-Kampff test ascertains that an apparent human is not secretly a replicant Blade Runner 2049: the Voight-Kampff test ascertains that an apparent replicant is not secretly a human

The two tests start from diametrically opposing premises. One assumes, at the outset, that you're human, and is exceedingly polite - dainty, even - in its proceedings. The other assumes you're a replicant, and yells at you until you flinch. Flinching means you lose.

IT'S A METAPHOR! Clearly. Part of the bigger metaphor of the whole franchise. But again, that's one part of it.

The other part is: do you think Voight or Kampff had that purpose in mind when they developed their clever test? When they agreed to let the police use that technology to weed out the rare, hazardous, malfunctioning automaton?