Might fuck around and write a dissertation on Blade Runner 2049.

Lmao jk. I don’t have time for that. But I do have thoughts...

Ok, so anyone who’s seen the movie knows it’s a study in nihilism. Our “hero” really isn’t a hero. His life is empty and meaningless, and just when he thinks it might not be, the rug is pulled out beneath him. He is not special. He is not important.

I’ve always loved this film - it’s beautifully filmed and just the right amount of depressing for my taste. But there was something else that drew me to it - the parallels between K’s existence and my own.

K is a perfect metaphor for the Millenial experience. /1

He is constantly dehumanized. He is looked down on by his “elders,” despite his stellar job performance (and we’ll talk about his job in a minute). His life is a terrible job, a tiny crappy apartment, and cheap food. His only intimate contact is with a program he bought. /2

And he’s expected to be grateful for what he has. To keep his head down and do his job. To fall in line and not complain.

His job is literally preying on his own kind. In order to survive, he must remove the others like him. If he doesn’t, he’s removed. /3

They don’t even give him health care!! The movie opens with him taking down a replicant twice his size. His boss sees the damage he’s taken and says, “I’m not paying for that.”

K: “I’ll glue it.”

Gaaaaah. /4

He then is given the sliver of hope that he might be different. He might be special. His life might actually have purpose or meaning. This is a lie spoon fed to us - American Exceptionalism. It’s even worse among Evangelical circles. /5

And then we’re scorned for not being special enough.

The brilliance and sucker punch of this film is that K is not special. He’s not the miracle that’s been hoped for. He’s just a cog in the machine, figuratively and literally. /6

Millenials were taught to dream big, to chase the American Dream, but the goal posts are constantly moving further from our reach. Eventually we realize it’s a fool’s errand and something we’ll never achieve. That we aren’t special. That no one gives 2 shits if we live or die. /7

I realize that this parallel could be drawn to any marginalized community. There are obvious colonial/racist themes running through this movie full of white people.

It’s just bleak as fuck to see something played out that is so relatable and so harsh. /end?