Why Is 'Blade Runner' the Title of 'Blade Runner'? (vulture.com)

Why is Blade Runner called Blade Runner? Though the viewer is told in the opening text of Ridley Scott's 1982 original that "special Blade Runner units" hunt renegade replicants -- and though the term "Blade Runner" is applied to Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard a few times in the film -- we're never given an explanation of where the proper noun comes from. The novel upon which Blade Runner was based, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, offers no clues either.
Readers share a report: Our story begins with a mysterious writer by the name of Alan E. Nourse. According to the Des Moines Register, he was born in that city in 1928 to Bell Telephone Company engineer Benjamin Nourse and a woman named Grace Ogg. Young Alan moved to Long Island with his family at age 15, attended Rutgers, served for a couple of years in the Navy as a hospital corpsman, and was awarded a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955 before moving to Washington state to practice medicine. Whatever Nourse's skills as a doctor may have been, they were outweighed in the scales of history by his other passion: writing about the medical profession and fantastical worlds of the future. Before he was even done with medical school, he was publishing sci-fi on the side: first came short pieces in anthology magazines like Astounding Science Fiction and Galaxy Science Fiction, then he started publishing novels with titles like Trouble on Titan (1954), Rocket to Limbo (1957), and Scavengers in Space (1959). In 1963, he retired from medicine to focus on his writing, but wrote about learning the healing arts in a 1965 nonfiction book called Intern, published under the intimidating pseudonym "Dr. X." Sci-fi author-editor Robert Silverberg, who knew Nourse, tells me the latter book "brought him much repute and fortune," but in general, he just "wrote a lot of very good science fiction that no one seemed to notice." That changed on October 28, 1974. Sort of. On that day, publishing house David McKay released a Nourse novel that combined the author's two areas of expertise into a single magnum opus: The Bladerunner. It follows the adventures of a young man known as Billy Gimp and his partner in crime, Doc, as they navigate a health-care dystopia. It's the near future, and eugenics has become a guiding American philosophy. Universal health care has been enacted, but in order to cull the herd of the weak, the "Health Control laws" -- enforced by the office of a draconian "Secretary of Health Control" -- dictate that anyone who wants medical care must undergo sterilization first. As a result, a system of black-market health care has emerged in which suppliers obtain medical equipment, doctors use it to illegally heal those who don't want to be sterilized, and there are people who covertly transport the equipment to the doctors. Since that equipment often includes scalpels and other instruments of incision, the transporters are known as "bladerunners." Et voila, the origin of a term that went on to change sci-fi.

Comments

Obligatory Star Trek

[DontBeAMoran]

Damnit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a transporter!

No! Damnit Jim, not that kind of transporter!

Detailed Explanation at StackExchange

[ytene]

Here:- https://scifi.stackexchange.co...

Re:Detailed Explanation at StackExchange

[argStyopa]

Why not just link what stack links to? The ACTUAL explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Quote:
Blade Runner (a movie) is a science fiction novella by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs, first published in 1979.[1]
The novella began as a story treatment for a proposed film adaptation of Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner. (Some sources describe Burroughs' work as a closet screenplay.) A later edition published in the 1980s changed the formatting of the title to Blade Runner, a movie.
Burroughs' treatment is set in early 21st century and involves mutated viruses and "a medical-care apocalypse". The term "blade runner" referred to a smuggler of medical supplies, e.g. scalpels.
No film was ever made; the title Blade Runner was later bought for use in Ridley Scott's 1982 science fiction film, Blade Runner.[1] The plot of that film was based on Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and not the Nourse, Burroughs source material, although the film does incorporate the term "blade runner" into dialogue.

Re:Detailed Explanation at StackExchange

[losfromla]

I don't get why this would be the trait of a Democrap. Isn't it the Repugnicans that are all about enriching the already wealthy and thus would be against giving something away that could alternatively be sold?

Alan Nourse, Man of Mystery?

[Geoffrey.landis]

I'm baffled that Alan Nourse is refered to as "a mysterious writer by the name of Alan E. Nourse"-- mysterious? Nourse?

There's nothing mysterious about Alan Nourse, who is pretty well documented. He was a quite popular writer mostly of juveniles (*) back in the 50s and 60s.

The only mysterious thing was how his name was pronounced: "nurse." Which was apparently amusing, since he interned with a doctor whose family name was "doctor", leading to paging over the intercom of "Paging Doctor Doctor, Doctor Nurse."

--

  footnote: a classification that no longer exists. "Juveniles" has now become either "young adult" or "middle grade".

Re:I can't even remember now...

[MightyYar]

That is actually a screenplay version of the earlier novel. In any event, "blade runner" refers to smugglers of medical supplies (like, scalpels). I have to admit, it is a cool name.

Re:Money grab

[Captain Splendid]

Meh. It's not great, but it is waaayy better than Prometheus.

Nourse, "mysterious"?

[whitroth]

Is the author of the article A. Idiot? What's "mysterious" about Nourse? Don't think I ever met him at a con, but... oh, right, maybe what's "mysterious" is that the author doesn't actually know diddly-squat about SF, and hasn't actually read anything that doesn't tie to a movie or tv show.

Re:Proper Noun?

[Tale Surovi]

Blade runner is a noun and a verb.

No. Both are nouns.

Re:They're in charge of running blades

[rickb928]

And backups.

Based on old saying?

[magusxxx]

I always thought it was an updated term for 'walking on a razor's edge.' - Someone who is precariously balanced between safety and danger. And between being human or a replicant.

Re:Based on old saying?

[ScooterComputer]

I also had always inferred a similar concept with the title. It might not have been THE reason, but, to me, IMHO, it bespeaks a certain "tell" of the morality of the story. Excepting for the discussion the nonsense of Ridley Scott saying Deckard was a replicant, the role of a "blade runner" was effectively that of a stone-cold killer operating under the color of law. Even in the opening crawl that moral quandary is pretty directly alluded to: "This was not called execution. It was called retirement."

I always took "blade runner" to have a dual-meaning whereby those cops were effectively running on the fine edge of what society could accept as legal, and was legal; they're out there "retiring" replicants, with extreme prejudice, and it is "OK" only because no one really has stopped to think about why ethically it shouldn't be. And I think that is reflected in Deckard's story... he's reached the end of it, he's seen the moral failure in the act of what amounts to murdering replicants who are showing very "human" responses and emotions. Therein reveals a further hidden irony: "blade runners" aren't merely appropriately named because of the dangerousness of their actions, or the razor-thin morality of their actions, but also perhaps for how far out on the edge of human tolerance for suffering they must run. Deckard is clearly spent--physically, emotionally, morally--and by the end of the movie is clearly able to see how psychotic he had become. And breaks. Which obviously leads to the sequel.

Re:I can't even remember now...

[Geoffrey.landis]

No, Blade Runner does not occur in the original book. I think Ridley Scott or whoever titled the movie got it from a completely unrelated book and used it just because they liked the name. Ok, found it. Author of unrelated book is William S. Burroughs.

Uh, why are you repeating information that is in the summary, instead of just scrolling up to read it (or better yet, actually reading TFA)?

Summarizing the summary: The title came from the book The Bladerunner by Alan Nourse, as adapted into an unproduced screenplay by William S. Burroughs.

And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

The author was actually Alan E. Nourse, and Burroughs wrote a film adaptation from it.

And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

Setting: Dystopia with eugenics gone wrong: If you want to get medical treatment (from the official sources) you have to get sterilized, too. So there's an underground of illegal doctors, surgeons, etc. (A "Blade runner" is a courier for a supplier of loaner surgical kits.)

Along comes a really nasty flu - with essentially 100% lethaltity if you don't get an immunization. Oops! Complications ensue.

(This is becoming topical again, with the government taking control of medical care and both parties using it for social policy implementation. Though the original Eugenics craze went away when the NAZIs ran it into the ground, some of its ideas are resurfacing.)

Re:And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[fahrbot-bot]

If you want to get medical treatment (from the official sources) you have to get sterilized, too.

I think that's also in the recent Republican ACA repeal and replace plans.

Re:And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[MoaDweeb]

Really? I live in a civilised country that has State funded health care and there is nothing in the line of compulsory state directed policy of this nature.

Our Government set up a programme for voluntary sterlisation for benficaries however the take up rate has been very, very low. 10's of people over a number of years in a country with a pop of 5M+.

You really need to get out more.

Re:And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[tobiah]

Setting: Dystopia with eugenics gone wrong:

Still waiting for a "eugenics gone right" story..

Re: And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[netizen_james]

Someone isn't being above board here see http://www.snopes.com/politics... There is no such requirement, for 'public health reporting' or otherwise.

Re: And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[dmr001]

In my primary care practice in the US, we’ve been asking about firearms since I started (in the Clinton administration). Not by government mandate or guideline, but suggestions from specialty societies, like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. We sit around in meetings and discuss this sort of stuff a couple of times a month and it gets added to the (ever lengthening) questionnaire.

This, in turn, is based on . Here’s your top 10 for 2014:

• 1. Diseases of heart (heart disease)
• 2. Malignant neoplasms (cancer)
• 3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
• 4. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
• 5. Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)
• 6. Alzheimer’s disease
• 7. Diabetes mellitus (diabetes)
• 8. Influenza and pneumonia
• 9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis (kidney disease)
• 10. Intentional self-harm (suicide)

Out of 199,972 injury deaths during the last reporting year (62.6 per 100k population), 51,966 went by poisoning, 33,736 by motor vehicle accident, and 33,594 by firearms, most of that accidental. (Out of 15.872 homicides, 11,008 were by firearms, so two thirds of firearms deaths are accidents.)

So, we ask if you have a gun, and if you do, we ask if you have it properly locked up so no one accidentally shoots themselves (like your kids), just like we ask about seatbelt and carseats and smoke detectors. If it’s toward the top of the list of preventable deaths, we try to ask you about it to see if we have an opportunity to prevent you from dying—simple as that.

Re: And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

[2014 numbers]... 33,594 [deaths] by firearms, most of that accidental. (Out of 15.872 homicides, 11,008 were by firearms, so two thirds of firearms deaths are accidents.)

the 2013 numbers on wikipedia have almost ALL the non-homicide deaths due to suicide, a small fraction due to accident:

These deaths consisted of 11,208 homicides, 21,175 suicides, 505 deaths due to accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm, and 281 deaths due to firearms use with "undetermined intent". Of the 2,596,993 total deaths in the US in 2013, 1.3% were related to firearms.

Little secret about "deaths by gun accidents": MOST of them are suicides.

Police usually report a suicide as an accident, both to save the feelings of the family members and to help them avoid difficulty collecting on any life insurance. (Suicide voids a life insurance policy, so the family may both lose a loved one and be impoverished if the police or coroner's report mentions the "s" word in the cause-of-death slot.)

Re:And Nourse's _Blade Runer_ was excellent.

[tbannist]

We have government run health care in the United States. Its called the VA and a review of the headlines of the operation of the VA over the last decade or so shows why Americans are suspicious about government run healthcare.

Reviewing headlines about anything is a terrible way to learn anything of substance.

You can also see how many Canadians seek treatment abroad. That bastion of the alt-right, the Huffington Post claims 50,000 Canadians crossed the border to seek treatment in the U.S. even though they had to pay for it themselves. They claim patients are waiting up to 20 weeks for medically necessary procedures.

Actually, that number comes from the Fraser institute, and I'm not sure if it's trustworthy because I've caught them telling lies to further their right-wing political goals before. The Chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare has inidcated that she believes there are a lot of flaws in teh way the Fraser Institute reached it numbers. Additionally, the number may be misleading because it's measured from the time from when you see your regular doctor, so it includes the time between being sent for a referral, having the meeting with the specialist, and then the time to schedule the surgery afterwards. Many people would likely imagine that it means you're waiting 20 weeks from when you're told you need an operation to when it occurs. Also, medically necessary does not include emergency life-saving treatment where you need to have the operation now (or the wait time figure would be much, much lower). Medically necessary generally means lower priority treatment that has been prescribed by a doctor. It tends to be things like knee surgery.

The article quotes a Canadian doctor who says, "Everyone has access to free medical care that is ‘good enough.’ If you want to pay for better health care, you can’t,” he said. “That’s why those who can afford to, tend to go down to the U.S. for care if they have anything serious happen to them. You can have the greatest doctors in the world, but if the bureaucrats that run the system are making them treat patients with one hand tied behind their back, are they going to be delivering the best possible care?”
I don't call that working, especially when what's 'good enough' is a subjective term.

And yet it delivers better results than the American system and is less expensive. The Canadians who travel to the U.S. for treatment are people who don't want to wait a few weeks and can afford to pay so they don't have to wait. If you've got the money, that's an option.

Plus don't fool yourself. Politicians and insiders probably get better treatment by default, even if people with just more money don't. But of course they can find somewhere where the government doesn't hobble the system to get their health care. Only the middle class gets screwed.

That has happened, of course, and it helped bring down the longest running conservative government in Canada (in Alberta). It's illegal and when it's revealed heads roll. Even with insiders occasionally getting better treatment, the middle class doesn't get screwed nearly as badly as it does in the U.S. Medical bankruptcies are unheard of in Canada. There are very few cases where lifesaving medical treatment is not available in Canada, and usually if it's not available the provincial health care system will send the patient to where it is available at no additional cost to the patient.

On the other hand, the American system is objectively terrible, it rations health care based on who can afford to pay the most, and who can prevent their health insurance company from denying them coverage. The Canadian system may not be the best in the world, but it does better than the American system on every measure except one: the American system does a better job of caring for multi-millionaire patients who don't need health insurance.

Y

Re:Proper Noun?

[mr_mischief]

You and https://slashdot.org/~Tale+Sur... may both be right from different points of view. It seems you may have intended a different context from the actual context of the person to whom you replied.

"Bladerunner" is a noun.
"Blade runner" is a noun phrase.

However, the grandparent post to yours was saying that "blade" is a noun and "runner" is a verb. Tale Surovi quoted that and said "No. Both are nouns.".

Both "blade" and "runner" are in fact nouns. The root "run" would commonly be a verb (although it can be a noun in "going for a run"). The form "runner", being defined as "one who runs" is a noun.

I know this is "THE INTERNET" and people don't like to take the time to be thorough. However, if you're taking enough time to be pedantic in the comments try to take enough time to read two whole comments consisting of a total of four short lines of text before correcting someone who is already correct.

HTH. HAND.

Re:I can't even remember now...

[fahrbot-bot]

In any event, "blade runner" refers to smugglers of medical supplies (like, scalpels). I have to admit, it is a cool name.

Or, now, people who smuggle servers (computers, not waiters).

Re:I can't even remember now...

[Obfuscant]

(computers, not waiters).

Hey, when I tell a waiter that "this knife is dirty, I want another", I sure as heck expect him to be snappy in getting me a clean one. That makes him a blade runner, too.

Re:Who's on first?

[Obfuscant]

"No, he's the doctor. Doctor Nourse."

No, me doctor, you Mr. Bertenshaw.

Hollywood titles

[Anonymous Coward]

The work that goes into a title is huge. They engineer it like an OCD tweeker re-arranges toothpicks, or a rocket scientist tests his system for failure.

They have to be poetic. They have to have no less than 3 meanings relevant to different takes on the plot. It has to work in with key-phrases in the dialog, and imaging. They have to sell, and appeal to the right demographic. There are copyright and marketing issues.

A blade runner runs on the edge of a blade. Madness and genius. The razors edge. What is that blade? Life and death? Madness and genius? Love and hate?
The blade cuts. Who is cut? The victim. The runner. Who is the real runner?
Is the runner running along as in to run a race, or as in to carry something? In this case both. What are the running after? What are they bringing as they run?

There is probably more legal wrangling over the title of a movie, than the legal wrangling it takes to get congress to pass a new law. Seriously, and in terms of person hours.

-EngrStudent

Wait, this is a question?

[Derec01]

I had always assumed (I suppose without justification) that this was a direct reference to all of the sci-fi/horror (e.g. the Thing) in which the humans run a blade across their hand or body to show that they have flesh and bleed, and are thus truly human and not a robot.

This was probably a reasonable tactic for early replicants that may have used more artificial components or a blood-like substance that was less like blood. Later replicants were "more human than human", but the name would stick for the group that was meant to ferret out replicants amongst the human population.

I always liked that origin as it implied some very interesting, untold replicant horror stories.

Re:I can't even remember now...

[arglebargle_xiv]

"this knife is dirty, I want another"

I will not buy this record, it is scratched. Do you want to come back to my place, bouncy bouncy?

Re: Does fear matter more than human life?

[oobayly]

And guess what, your doctor is very likely to ask you about your alcohol intake too. According to a medical friend of mine they also tend to double what the patient says