They\u2019re special. They have a destiny. They\u2019re going to through some tough times across their narrative arcs. Ultimately, however, you know they\u2019re going to succeed and prosper. Because they\u2019re \u2018chosen\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
This trope is a fairly common one across film, reoccurring in the fantasy genre (Harry Potter, Frodo, Jon Snow), as well as science fiction. Perhaps the most recent example of this figure can be found in Denis Villeneuve\u2019s adaptation of Frank Herbert\u2019s classic Dune<\/em>, where Paul Atreides is destined to become the messianic leader of the Fremen peoples. While trials and tribulations will plague his journey to solidify his position, the chosen one trope guarantees his overall safety, as well as the continuation of his legend following his death. Another instantly recognisable example is exemplified in Star Wars<\/em>\u2019 Luke Skywalker, who defeats the dark side and inspires a generation of new jedi following his sacrificial death. One of the most on-the-nose science fiction chosen ones is embodied The Matrix<\/em>\u2019s Neo, who saves humanity from the machines and experiences an obligatory sacrificial demise. Are you a fan of anagrams? No? Any guesses at what anagram \u2018Neo\u2019 makes? \u2018One\u2019. Mind blown, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a trope many of us know and love. It provides narrative security and safety. If your favourite character is stabbed by a supernatural blade or paralysed by a spider, you know he\u2019ll be saved. If he gets stabbed to death by a dissenting faction of Night\u2019s Watch members, you know he\u2019ll turn out alright, even if he dies in the end. Enter Blade Runner 2049<\/em>. After some expository intertitles, we open on our central character K as he carries out a routine blade runner job on older replicant Sapper Morton. After Morton refuses to comply and K is forced to use aggressive measures, Morton\u2019s taunts reveal that the blade runner is also a replicant, and that K has \u2018never seen a miracle\u2019. This miracle is ultimately revealed to be the replicant\/human hybrid child of Rick Deckard and deceased replicant Rachel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The repetition of Sapper\u2019s line as an increasingly disillusioned K stares into the void is perhaps unnecessary, but these words lead K \u2013 and the audience \u2013 on an apparent journey of discovery. After leaving Sapper\u2019s home, K finds evidence of Rachel\u2019s remains under a tree and later notices a date matching the one inscribed on a toy horse in his memory. His holographic partner, Joi, frequently stands in as an avatar for conventional audience expectation. She encourages the links between the dates, convincing K that he\u2019s \u2018special\u2019, \u2018born, not made\u2019, that he has a soul, and therefore real humanity, because of the nature of his birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n K becomes convinced too as he gathers further \u2018evidence\u2019, finding a child\u2019s sock and, ultimately, the wooden horse from his dreams, confirming his beliefs. The following exchanges between himself and Deckard are deliberately cryptic; the aged blade runner never confirms nor denies that K is his lost son, and the audience remain none the wiser. It\u2019s only after K has lost Joi and been beaten close to death that it is revealed that K is not the chosen one at all. Both he \u2013 and the audience \u2013 have been tricked into believing a lie. Yet K (in an opposite fashion to chosen one figures like Neo) becomes a more well-rounded hero once he realises what he never was, refusing to kill Deckard as he was ordered and \u2013 like sacrificial replicant Roy Batty before him \u2013 ultimately saves his life. K gains humanity through building a path of his own choosing, gaining a soul through newfound autonomy, even if this leads to his death. Unlike the chosen one, he won\u2019t be remembered in legends and mythology, yet his memories and sacrifice will not be lost, like tears in rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s a couple of links to other pieces I’ve written about this stone cold classic below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n