ABSTRACT
In Blade Runner, Roy, Pris, Leon, and Zhora are aware of their being-toward-death; indeed, because they are aware of their four-year lifespan, they likely have a heightened sense of their own finitude. The essential focus of Blade Runner 2049 is not mortality and being-toward-death, but rather natality, being-from-birth. Human being is characterized by being-from-birth as well as being-toward-death. Just as humans are the only beings who know that they will die and who have anxiety about a time when they will no longer be, humans are also the only beings who know that they were born and who are aware that there was a time before they were. The analysis of natality seems to suggest that a certain sort of being-in-relation is an essential part of being human. Our understanding of our world is something we take up from others with whom we are in relation before we have the opportunity to make that meaning our own.
