Munoz: Blade Runner and the Voice Over

         Blade Runner (1982) film gives a typical happily ever after ending which the producer thought it was going to help with the sales and considering that Hollywood at that time was targeting audiences that wanted that happy ending where the hero or protagonist always wins and in this case Deckard and Rachel survive and run away to live the last minutes they have, though Rachel in the film is considered to be special from all the other androids and that she has no four years of life limitation. But the ending isn’t the only thing there is also a voice over as to narrate Deckard’s thoughts on certain moments that are pretty clear making the voice overs be redundant and unnecessary. The only thing that the audience learns from the voice-overs is who are the androids considering that the audience “doesn’t” realize that the people being chased are because they are the androids. The same reason that the voice over is unnecessary the director and the actors hated the idea of putting the voice over because it took away the mystery and the flexibility to let the audience guess and portray by the characters actions and facial characteristics showing what they were thinking without a narration. I believe that there is an audience for everything and that some could like the voice over considering it ties and asserts what people may or not be confused about. So for some people they may agree that voice overs especially at the end was helpful when making it clear that Deckard has finally realized that androids do have emotions, could even say empathy towards Rick Deckard’s life and finally that they also live have a life and what Roy wants to show with the Dove that they have also a soul. The voice over did conveyed the thematic message of the film though it had no effectiveness regarding that we already knew from what the characters said throughout the movie in search for the androids and then the speech of Roy when fighting Deckard explaining how they just wanted to live a free and fearless life and then peacefully dyeing making Deckard reflect and without the voice over we see how he goes back for Rachel to escape with her which could easily ended with the closing elevator door. Therefore not showing them leaving to this green magical place and without them telling you that Rachel was different this wasn’t the point of the Novel taking away the real thematic message.