Deckard is a tough protagonist to love because he does not want to be part of the Blade Runner story. Police Captain Bryant forces Deckard back into the job when Leon shoots Holden, Rick’s replacement. Gaff arrests Deckard to drag him out of retirement. With four Nexus 6 units returning to Earth, the police need help. “I need you, Deck,” Bryant says. “This is a bad one, the worst yet. I need the old Blade Runner; I need your magic.”
But Deckard refuses, “I was quit when I come in here, Bryant, I’m twice as quit now.” And Bryant threatens Deckard back into doing the job. So, what makes Deckard tick? Despite his great skill at the job, he obviously does not want to be a Blade Runner. It seems like Deckard intends to finish the job to quit again. So if Deckard doesn’t want to be a Blade Runner, what does he want? Let’s guess using the 16 desires!
I think Deckard’s primary motivation is eating. He’s waiting for an opening at the sushi bar when we meet him.
Deckard: Give me four.
Sushi Master: Futatsu de jubun desuyo! [Japanese: “Two are really enough”]
Deckard: No, four: two, two, four!
Then, while Deckard is munching, Gaff brings another cop to arrest him. Rick pretends he can’t understand Gaff’s pidgin mash of languages and asks the sushi Master to translate for him.
Sushi Master: He say you Blade Runner.
Deckard: Tell him I’m eating.
Deckard loves eating. He’s ordering sushi when we meet him and finishing noodles as Gaff flies him to see Bryant. It’s Deckard’s question about food where Rachel fails the Voight-Kampff test. “You’re watching a stage play. A banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters. The entrée consists of boiled dog.” Where Rachel breaks down from this question, I think Deckard would like to try a taste.
Rachel stops by Deckard’s home to prove she is human. She knows something went wrong with the test, but she can’t believe she is a replicant. He tells her to go away and ask Tyrell, but Tyrell wouldn’t take her meeting. Realizing he’s got to break the news to her, Deckard says, “You want a drink? Huh? No?”
He invites Rachel in and tells her what he knows about her implanted memories, but when he sees the information crush her, he offers her a drink again, “Okay, bad joke. I made a bad joke. You’re not a replicant. Go home, okay? No, really, I’m sorry. Go home — Want a drink? I’ll get you a drink. I’ll get a glass.”
Rachel leaves, and Deckard drinks alone.
Deckard visits a fishmonger to check the genetic code on the scale he finds in Leon’s hotel bathroom. When he threatens to check Taffi Lewis’ licenses, Taffi gives him drinks on the house. Deckard is ecstatic and calls Rachel to invite her down to take advantage of the offer. She refuses, so Deckard offers to go somewhere else. He knows plenty of great places!
Then, alone again and rejected, Deckard drinks a Mezcal Margarita with maguey agave worms. He pulls a worm out of his mouth, not liking the bitter flavor.
Deckard wants to eat, and he drinks a lot too. This leads to Deckard’s second motivation: tranquility.
After Deckard retires Zhora, and Rachel retires Leon, Deckard takes her back to his apartment and asks how she is doing.
Deckard: Shakes? Me too.
Rachel: What?
Deckard: I get ’em bad. It’s part of the business.
Rachel: I’m not in the business. I am the business.
Deckard drinks a lot. He might be an alcoholic, but it could also be how he manages the stress of hunting replicants. He knows this is an incredibly tough job that makes him shake uncontrollably, and he has the tools to deal with it. This might be one of his reasons for retirement.
It might seem counterintuitive that someone who wants tranquility would take the most stressful job they could manage. Still, Steven Reiss started his research on desires by trying to explain happy Intensive Care Unit nurses. Why would anyone want a position where the stress was off the chart, patients constantly died, and you had to deal with the most challenging events of people’s lives? But the nurses loved their jobs, and it baffled Reiss, leading to all his future desire and motivation research. I think Deckard falls into this category. If you want tranquility, you develop tools to find it anywhere.
Deckard is cool-headed and has the tools and techniques to stay that way. When Rachel leaves Deckard and drinks alone, he wraps a blanket around his shoulders too. Being comfortable is incredibly important for tranquility.
After Deckard retires Zhora, he sprints to a street bar to get another drink. He knows the shakes are coming, and I think drinking combines his top two desires; eating and tranquility.
After Rachel saves him from Leon, Deckard peels off his shirt and dunks his face in warm water to clean his wounds and calm his nerves. Rachel asks him, “What if I go north? Disappear. Would you come after me? Hunt me?” Deckard says, “No. No, I wouldn’t. I owe you one. But somebody would.” Rachel asks him more questions; her incept date, longevity, those things. He doesn’t have many answers as he puts his shirt back on, doesn’t button it, grabs his drink, and then takes a nap. Does it get more tranquil than this?
I think Independence is Deckard’s third desire.
Bryant: You could learn from this guy, Gaff. He’s a goddamn one man slaughter house. That’s what he is. Four more to go. Come on, Gaff, let’s go.
Deckard works alone, and everyone in the Police department knows it. When Rachel ambushes him in the elevator to his apartment, he drops his keys on the way to his door.
Rachael: I wanted to see you — So I waited. Let me help.
Deckard: What do I need help for?
Deckard can do it alone. He does not need help. He hunts superhuman strength replicants who look and act like normal humans and Deckard has never retired a human by mistake.
Deckard is fiercely independent. Bryant’s threat, “If you’re not cop, you’re little people!” hits him hard. He knows the police can harass and arrest him because Gaff did just that. It might be counterintuitive that someone who wants independence would willingly go back to work doing something he does not want to do, but independent people are in it for the long haul. If doing a task now gives more independence and freedom later, they can make that sacrifice.
Deckard agrees with Leon’s statement, “Painful to live in fear, isn’t it? Nothing is worse than having an itch you can never scratch.” Roy’s statement, “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.” hits right at Deckard’s desire to be independent. Roy even recognizes in Deckard the desire, even when he is powerless, to spit on people who are more powerful than him because he can.
So here are my guesses for Rick Deckard’s desires in Blade Runner:
- Eating (Food, thinking about food and planning meals)
- Tranquility (Preparation, Comfort, Calm)
- Independence (Freedom, Self Reliance, Determination)
But just wanting something does not mean you get it. Deckard may not like help, but two replicants save his life. Rachel shoots Leon before he gouges out Deckard’s eyes, and Roy catches Deckard before he falls off the Bradbury Building. So he owes his life to two replicants while his job is to hunt and kill replicants. No wonder Deckard hates his job! It almost killed him multiple times. He may be the best Blade Runner in Los Angeles with tricks to handle the stress that comes with the job, but he’d much rather leave forever where he can eat, relax, and be free.
Daniel N. Blair 