The scene of Zhora’s retirement is a deeply moving and rich scene that is meant to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. As the chase begins, no music plays in the background. Instead, the cacophony of the cluttered and dense city acts as the background noise. As Deckard navigates through the people and the traffic of Los Angeles to find Zhora, his focus is emphasized as he disregards all of the stimuli around him that will not help him find his target. Finally, Deckard is able to locate Zhora and finds his clear shot. As he shoots Zhora in the shoulder, she barrels through a glass window of a shop, running past mannequins and the neon lights that remind the viewer of the flashy consumerism that is pervasive in society. Zhora, unlike the androids in Dick’s novel, shows her survival instinct as she attempts to escape, even after being shot. Deckard must shoot her several times before he can finally retire her. As he finally does, the scene becomes slow motion, allowing the viewer to watch in full detail as Zhora stumbles through an artificial snowscape and finally out onto the wet cement. Slow, melancholy music replaces the sounds of the city, and there is an overall sense that something tragic has happened in this moment. As Zhora staggers through the several rows of mannequins that stare blankly ahead, the viewer is forced to recognize the stark difference between an inanimate object and whatever Zhora is.
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What I appreciated most about the blog post is the juxtaposition you mentioned at the end between Zhora and the mannequins that surrounded her as she lay dying. If her humanity was not clear prior to this symbolic moment, it was certainly elucidated then. Additionally, I found it interesting how there was a moment in which Zhora could have killed Decker. Zhora had Decker in a panic-inducing choke hold at the beginning of this scene, but instead of killing him, ran away. The intent behind this is unclear, as I do not know if she would have been able to execute this action, but it certainly looked possible. I would also like to comment on what you said about the methodical and calculated way in which Decker searched for Zhora. Like an animal hunting its prey, he was completely fixated and cold (dare I say unempathetic) to all of the citizens around him. Decker in this scene is portrayed as robotic through his ruthless and eerily automated actions, while Zhora seems strikingly human. Her suffering makes the audience connect with her even more deeply as she slowly smashes through what seems like countless glass walls. As a side note, I also cannot help but notice the seemingly racist undertones that exist in this scene and much of the movie, as the white protagonists jostle, mistreat, disregard, and objectify the people of differing ethnicity (mainly of Asian descent).
Daniel, I agree with your analysis of Zhora’s retirement, and recognized a few more points. First, it is important to take note of Zhora’s appearance in a clear trench coat. The choice to leave nearly all of her body exposed, perhaps reflects her, along with other Replicant’s, vulnerability to being destroyed by humans who fear the Replicant’s evolution. As she is shot, her expression seems to portray immense pain, as a human’s expression likely would. The blood surrounding her body draws another parallel between Humans and Replicants. These details in combination with the surrounding of mannequins seems to push the viewers into questioning how similar the Replicants actually are from the Humans, and as you suggested, how different the Replicants are from inanimate objects. Furthermore, Zhora barrels through numerous sheets of glass, possibility displaying her attempts to shatter the boundary separating Humans and Replicants. This scene, along with the entire movie and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, leaves me with an uneasy feeling. It seems, no matter how close to equivalency another “thing” gets to Humans, we will always find a way to dismiss it from being in the same category as us. I understand psychologically that it is easier and more efficient to group what we see into categories that do not challenge what we believe we know to be true. However, that does not make discriminating others who do not perfectly resemble us okay. Maybe, we should consider what other beings we segregate from the Human group and why.