Theology of Blade Runner (original) - A Question of Empathy

Blade Runner is a movie that explores the idea of what it means to be human be juxtaposing the world of human being and androids. The one who best exemplifies this theme is the android named Roy who is the only character that has a profound character arch in the movie - he starts of as the typical empathyless android killing machine and ends up becoming a Christ figure of sorts.

The Blade Runner world is run by Terrell Corp the moto of which is to be "more human than human." Terrell corp creates androids to work as slave labor in off world colonies. Androids are similar to human beings in every possible way except their ability for empathy. Empathy is the ability to feel the feelings of the other person. To be human is to have empathy. To be androids is to be powerful. In order to limit their power, the androids are given a 4 year life span. From time to time, a contingent of Androids attempt to rebel against Terrell Corp's 4 year life span limitation. Blade Runner 2019 (original) is setup in on of those rebellions. 

The group of 4 rogues Androids is led by Roy - the most powerful of all Androids. His singular goal is to meet the owner of Terrell Corp and convince him to extend life span beyond 4 years. Blade Runners are elite bounty hunters who "retire" these rogues androids. Deckard, the protagonist of Blade Runner 2019 is assigned the task of retiring the 4 rogues androids. Roy the leader of the rogue androids is the antagonist. He kills many human beings in this pursuit of his immortality. The climax of the story plot is the change of character in Roy.
Roy kills his way into meeting his maker, the Terrell crop owner, his maker, requesting extended life. He is denied it. Then Roy kills his maker. Roy does not stop. He continues killing. In the course of the killing rampage Roy finally realizes that he cannot escape his mortality. At this point two powerful symbolic events happen. 

1. Roy's bio-mechanical body starts falling apart even as he is fighting Deckard, the Blade Runner, who is attempting to retire him. As Roy's mechanical hand start malfunctioning he pulls up a nail from a wooden plank and and pierces his palms with it in order to get it to work properly. This nail pierced hands is deep symbolism which will be explored later.
2. Roy realizes that he will die. He has to accept death. He picks up a dove, the symbol of peace, thus making peace with his impending death. This marks the move towards accepting death and the possibility of his becoming more human than human.

Two events happen when Roy is winning the battle against Deckard. He has broken Deckard's fingers. Deckard is hanging by the skin of his teeth so to speak. At that point something significant occurs - Roy sees in Deckard a feeling that he himself feels - this is empathy. Roy sees that Deckard is as afraid of death as he himself is. Upon seeing himself in Deckard, Roy, moved by his empathy, has pity on his enemy and saves him from falling to his death. 
In fact Roy saves Deckard by lifting him up from the ledge with his nail pierced hand.Here is where Roy is transformed from the killing-machine into the Christ-like figure, saving Deckard with his nail pierced hands. How did this transformation come about?

There is a paradox to Roy's transformation - only after Roy has made his peace with his impending death he is able to have empathy for Deckard. As long as he is holding on to his self-preservation as his ultimate goal, he cannot have empathy for others. It is at the moment of his death, developing empathy, as a Christ-like figure that Roy truly is "more human than human." The Dove departs from him, as though his soul parting him. 

Jesus talks about this paradox in the Gospels multiple times saying whoever looses his life will find it. Like Roy, it is in giving up our fiercest instinct for self-preservation that we find within our selves space to have empathy. The philosopher Hediegger says that when we have deep anxiety about our death we will use people as tools in our life project in order to distract us from our fear of death. In fact, Roy does this with Deckard - as Roy realizes his body was falling part he starts playing a cat and mouse game with Deckard in order to distract himself from his own fear of death. It is only when Roy picks up the dove and makes pace with death is he finally able to have empathy for Deckard and save his life.

A mind compulsively intent on self-preservation cannot look at the world from the other person’s point of view. Only when one steps away from ones addiction to self-preservation can one’s mind be freed to see the world from the other person’s point of view. Then one will stop seeing others as “tools” in one’s own project of self-preservation, making way to have empathy for the other. 

The philosopher John Sullins says that the highest form of empathy is Agape (the Greek word for self-giving love) - to give of oneself for the other. In fact Jesus says that the highest form of life is to give up ones life for one's friend. It is in this form of highest empathy that one becomes "more human than human." This is the agape empathy that Christ displays on the Cross. It is this agape empathy that Christ expects his disciples to follow him in. It is this agape empathy that His disciples as myself often do a horrible job at (which is perhaps a story for another post). In as much as we do not live by this agape empathy we become less Christ-like and thus less human than human. In as much as we can setup out of our compulsive self-preservative mindset we are freed to have empathy for others, making us Christ-like, thus becoming more human than human.