At the beginning of his work Ways of Seeing, John Berger delves into the juxtaposition between cultural presences and representations of men and women. A man's presence serves as an embodiment of skill, power, and influence on the society around them while, more importantly, a woman's representation is one of perception of self and what can be done to her; being such, her presence is distinctly related only to herself, completely ignoring what the world around her encompasses. Applied to the realm of Blade Runner, the first women shown on screen are not even afforded the dignity of a tangible, mortal body: they are relegated to being mere voices, present only to convey information to men who might need it. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay They are simply inorganic, computerized objects that act as subservient to the men of society. This reflects, fundamentally, the juxtaposition offered by Berger between the dominance that men hold in cultural presence and the subjugation and malleability inherent in women. Furthering this concept are store displays throughout the space, dotted with a multitude of mannequins. Distinctly, they are mannequins of female figures. Although this particular case is more partisan towards the representational aspect of Berger's analysis, the key concept of women serving as objects for the dominant, male members of their culture still remains true. Both of these problems, even more so the dummies, illustrate Berger's observation of “relief”; It could be simplified by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women look at each other while being looked at. This determines not only most relationships between men and women, but also women's relationship with themselves. The female detector itself is male: the detected female. Thus it transforms into an object – and above all into an object of vision: a spectacle. The mannequins, in this particular case, illustrate the representation of a woman who acts as an aesthetic beacon for men to look at and admire. Further expounding on the idea of detection, Berger notes that a woman's personal worth is represented by her representation of mannerisms, her point of view, society's point of view, and most importantly, men's point of view. So women are little more than objects, women as men see them. In terms of dominance within the film, Rachel and Pris are the only women to be considered as such; however, they can only be considered dominant with respect to the length of time spent on screen. This is antiparallel regarding their influence on the plot or other characters. To further illustrate this injustice, both Rachel and Pris are portrayed as nothing more than versions of each other from the very beginning of Blade Runner. Scott gives them the same introduction; a long shot out of the darkness as they walk into the camera followed by a medium shot. However this similarity is, of course, offset by the costume design. The mannerisms offered by these two reflect their cultural presence as objects meant to please men and their cultural position as figures of authority and power. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom EssaySo, all women in Blade Runner are objects, as they were shaped and created by the ideals of Tyrell and Sebastian. This act of creation gets to the heart of the matter; mothers. At the center of the position of women in the text is.
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