Reproductive Futurism and the Politics of the Sequel

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When Blade Runner 2049 arrived in theaters, I can vividly remember its polarized response amongst film critics and media studies scholars.  Had the film’s politics – via its rehashing of Film Noir and Sci-Fi Dystopia genre conventions – fallen behind with regard to issues of gender, race, and Orientalism?  Those participating in the debate largely fell into two camps:  the film was dangerously regressive or that the film was in fact a fittingly horrifying illustration of a dystopia that America seemed to be heading towards after the 2016 election of Donald Trump.  What I appreciate about Kathleen Loock’s video is her thoughtful consideration of this polarizing issue through the lens of temporality and sequels and the boxes that narrative reproduction and continuation construct around female characters.  It is well articulated and constructed and does a fantastic job of beginning to untangle some of these questions in a detailed, thoughtful, and grounded reading.  Finally, it is also one of the great examples of Videographic Criticism that matches the aesthetic poetry of its chosen subject.