Now the PC Police Are Going After ‘Blade Runner’

“Blade Runner: 2049” is the highly anticipated sequel to the classic 1982 science fiction film. It hits theaters today — and it’s already the latest victim of knee-jerk online hatred.

The movie has earned nearly universal acclaim from critics (94 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes), and it’s expected to have a big opening weekend.

None of this matters to Feminist Frequency, though, a YouTube channel that somehow sports over a quarter of a million subscribers. The group feels the new “Blade Runner” is likely to be racist and sexist filth, much like the first film.

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“‘Blade Runner: 2049’ is finally going to give us some answers to those burning questions that have plagued our collective psyche for years. Questions like: Shouldn’t there be more Latin-X people in the Los Angeles of the future? Are we just going to pretend like Deckard’s assault of Rachel was A-OK because there was a romantic saxophone wailing in the background?” said Anita Sarkeesian, who is behind the channel and the Feminist Frequency website, at the beginning of the video.

The rhetorical questions she asks show a lack of understanding about the nuances and layers of art.

First of all, art and creative work should not present a checkmark list for the representation of various races and cultures. The original “Blade Runner” focuses only on a select few characters in its story (most of them replicants), so to criticize it for underrepresentation is strange.

To criticize the new film for the same thing is also strange, considering Sarkeesian has only seen trailers and not the entire film.

Artists cannot be expected to have checklists sitting by their scripts; their job is to stay honest to their stories.

Her second rhetorical question involves the assault by Deckard (a character played by Harrison Ford in both movies) on a replicant named Rachel. There is indeed a controversial scene in the original film where Rachel clearly does not want Deckard to kiss her, but he’s insistent and they end up kissing and running away together in the end.

It’s an uncomfortable scene, but it’s meant to be that way. “Blade Runner” is a complex film that delves into the idea of what it means to be human. Replicants in the film’s future universe are nearly identical to humans, but they have none of the rights; it’s a scene that makes us question their standing in the world and in relationships with humans.

Sarkeesian’s question about the scene, and her assumed outrage, is also based on a growing notion that audience members must agree with everything a character does or says in a fictional story. This seems to be a serious issue with many of the extremely politically correct today — but the truth is that the most challenging art presents us with rounded and flawed characters who represent both the worst and best of humanity.

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If anything, Deckard is a reluctant hero in the first film. Some would even call him an anti-hero (something Sarkeesian admits in the video later, which makes her original question even more confusing). He is anything but the best representation of human beings.

Sarkeesian’s later criticisms involves a focus in the first film on the plight of “white men” — and how it leaves women and minorities on the “margins.”

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She acknowledges there is a plethora of cultural diversity in the film, but complains that no minority characters are given significant enough parts. (Ford’s Deckard and Rutger Hauer’s Roy are kind of the main characters — and the only storylines with the major arcs in the film.)

She then worries that the new film will focus too much on Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto’s new characters and Ford’s returning Deckard. She’s probably right, considering those are the three main characters of the entire film …

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Wanting more diversity in film is a noble goal, as Hollywood needs it. Even as stars preach about inclusion and diversity, the industry itself is quite non-inclusive.

However, when a film is criticized for not going out of its way to feature a minority character, the PC-ness has gone too far. Not everyone is going to be represented if a movie focuses only on a few characters. Artists cannot be expected to have checklists sitting by their scripts; their job is to stay honest to their stories.

And for the record, actress Robin Wright has a top role in “Blade Runner: 2049,” as a character named Lieutenant Joshi. Actress Ana de Armas also has a big role — and it’s being kept largely under wraps for fear of spoilers.

The film has plenty more diversity, as well as an official prequel film. posted online by Warner Bros., that focuses entirely on a black main character and a female sidekick — but these are pesky details. The politically correct don’t like those.