The Strange Obsession

What is the "strange obsession" that Tyrell tells Deckard about? Tyrell says that they began to recognize a strang obsession in replicants and then tells Deckard that the replicants have only a short amount of time to store up emotions that humans take for granted. Then Tyrell goes on to say that providing replicants with a pillow they can cushion their emotions. Deckard then says, "Memories, your talkin' about memories".

What is the stange obsession Tyrell recognized?

obsession with photos?

memories. they're probably wondering where they came from, what their purpose is, and why they are off-world and not on earth. since, im assuming, this is before they have memory implants, all they know is the day they start living, and nothing before that. i think i'd start windering those questions too if i just suddenly dropped onto this planet.

a strange obsession with asking about their history is my guess.

I'd go with THX1138, its the eternal question of 'why am I here?' and 'what should I be doing with myself?'.
These are questions most people ask and possibly act upon but, in Blade Runner, those asking the questions are Nexus-6 replicants who are designed to slave for mankind, not wandering around addressing existential matters. Tyrell is a control freak playing god who doesn't take the responsibility seriously enough and pays the price. He was the real villain of the film.

I also got to thinking that their obsession could be trying to find their parents....particularly their mother. It was the "mother" question that set Leon off. Perhaps the replicants found out that their was a need for female donor DNA to be used with the Tyrell manufactured DNA to make them. This would have spawned their questions about their very own existance. If this is the case...Tyrell noted this and then gave Rachel a cushion. That cushion was memories perhaps centered around her mother (actually Tyrell's sister). From there Tyrell gave Rachel more memories of his niece to Rachel, and gave her the picture she then gave to Deckard.

Another point...if female donor DNA was needed to produce a replicant, was the donor DNA for Rachel actually Tyrell's sister? This would really fortify the notion of giving Rachel the cushion of memories.

mike81859

for some reason i thought it was the collecting of photographs...even other peoples to get a glimpse into their memories...I don't think all of leon's photos were of them...and deckard's were obviously not since many were antique...

Good point ridleynoir. With the photo collecting comes the notion of manufacturing their own memories.

mike81859