7/7/09

The treatment of the evolved animals in Gun, with Occasional Music vaguely reminds me of the treatment of the Replicants in Blade Runner. The evolved animals are clearly in a class beneath humans. They work menial jobs and are treated entirely different than humans. When Metcalf calls to report Dulcie, the ewe’s, murder the receptionist as the Office says “That’s not a murder.” Meaning that killing an evolved animal isn’t that big a deal. Although there is a much clearer physical difference between humans and evolved animals than humans and Replicants the two seem like similar situations. Replicants were created by humans to be slave labor. They are treated as sub-human despite the fact that their intelligence equals humans’. Replicants are really only different from humans because of semantics and an expiration date. Although evolved animals are not genetically similar to humans it seems to me like they fill a similar role. Evolved animals were created by humans; they have memories, experiences, and are as intelligent as humans. They dress, behave, react, and speak in a manner similar to humans, so why are they considered as sub-human? Traditionally animals have been considered worth less than humans because they are not as intelligent as humans or at least not intelligent by human standards. But evolved animals are intelligent, it seems like they are as intelligent as humans and in the same way. So why are they still treated as if they are considerably less than humans? I think that answer to that is similar to the reason Replicants are treated as less than human. If humanity recognizes that evolved animals are equal to humanity then they have to start treating them better, which would mess up the social system in place. It would also mean admitting that humans are not as special and unique as they like to think themselves.

-Samantha Pepper