"It's too bad she won't live, but then again who does?&

Hi guys, I've just created a username, and it's great to be able to talk about the best film ever made with people who love it just as much as I do. Here's some thought's I had on Gaff's line: "It's to bad she won't live, but then again who does?" and how it can be interpreted.

1. Deckard is a rep. He is not 'alive'. So 'Who does?' refers to Deckard.
2. Who really lives a fulfilling life in this horrible dystopian world anyway?
3. We're all going to die some time, so who cares if she dies?
4. What does it man to 'live'? Is it any different for the reps than humans? So 'who does' can be taken literally.

Please post back with comments.

Welcome to the forum - I see you've been busy.

Another ambiguous line - BR's full of 'em

Well, Gaff starts by saying "It's too bad she won't live." - if he'd said no more, Deckard would be left with the impression that Rachel was due to be retired. But then Gaff says "But then again, who does?" - this totally changes the meaning of his first sentence. I suppose it could be interpreted as "Rachel isn't truly alive. But then again, who is?".

Or "Rachel's future is uncertain, as all our futures are."

The two sentences are repeated when Deckard contemplates the meaning of the foil unicorn at the end of the movie, so I guess it is asking the question about the human/replicant status of Deckard.

In an early script Gaff says "You've done a man's job sir, but are you a man?" - this would have had a bigger impact if Ridley had left it in.

That and batty's speech are my favorite sequences of dialouge.

Possibility:- deckard and all the rep department people are special rep models themselves.

Well, in DADOES there was a an 'alternative' police force supposedly created by Reps for the Reps...

Yep, I have been busy. I've been into BR for ages so this forum is great.

Leaving the line "Are you a man?" would sound a bit dodgy in my opinion, and it would make it too obvious what he means. Leaving it as a more ambiguous lines is better because a. it sounds cooler, and b. it can be interpreted differently.

I agree that this scene probably has some of the best dialogue in the film.

If you take the conspiracy a bit too far, and say that lots of normal people are reps as well, including Blade Runners, then what's the point of having Blade Runners anyway?

I think the line about who really lives is in reference to the current world situation. They have had some kind of nuclear war or something and the whole planet is a mess. They don't even have any real animals left! Everybody is trying to get off the planet so that they can get to something better. What kind of life can you live when the place you are supposed to be living it in is destroyed? Deckard himself didn't have much of a life - all we saw him do was work and drink. Usually you will go to a movie and see some "hero" figure and walk out thinking about how you wish you could have his/her life. I don't think anybody would say they wanted Deckard's life. I sure wouldn't.

Very true - thanks for bringing us back to the context of the whole movie - you're absolutely right; what sort of a life does anybody live on a planet that's suffering from the after-effects of a nuclear war? Only the very rich will lead a relatively 'comfortable' life in their luxury apartments built at the very top of the highest buildings...

It seems to me that Gaff's statement is meant to assure Deckard that
he's not going to retire Rachel. And if Deckard truly is a replicant, Gaff's
not going to pursue either of them. He's going to leave it up to fate. Tyrell's dead, the renegade replicants are dead, the job's finished. He knows Deckard is going to split with the chick, what the hell does he care? He was brown nosing for a promotion, right? Let Deckard go, less paperwork to deal with. Let someone else go after him.

He may just be saying that everyone's got such a shitty life at the moment, it's even more cruel to take it away from them.

id have to agree mostly w Deckard BR26354 since Gaffs line has what i call its accurate meaning which pertains to Deckard and in a broader sence to anyone living in tht dystopian metropolis. i think the reason most virgin BR veiwers become bewilderred and or confused is due in part by the ambiguity of some lines found in the movie, i might be wront but its a possibility.

I think the line about who really lives is in reference to the current world situation. They have had some kind of nuclear war or something and the whole planet is a mess. They don't even have any real animals left! Everybody is trying to get off the planet so that they can get to something better. What kind of life can you live when the place you are supposed to be living it in is destroyed? Deckard himself didn't have much of a life - all we saw him do was work and drink. Usually you will go to a movie and see some "hero" figure and walk out thinking about how you wish you could have his/her life. I don't think anybody would say they wanted Deckard's life. I sure wouldn't.

Mmm.. im with ya` Rose !