Voight-Kampff

Or how the tidying process reinforces our humanity...

One of the benefits of tidying is that various things come to the surface - memories usually, but often also tangible things connected to them. We opened a box while preparing for the party which revealed, amongst others, a video tape of a recording I had made off the TV about twenty years ago.

It was a film I had not seen for close to ten years, maybe more. The recording had been made in the mid eighties, off ITV, complete with advertisements for cars that look ancient and everything else that was being sold in the 80s.

I hadn't realised that there had been a whole discussion of the "is Decker a replicant?" issue. At some point, I caught wind of it, but I don't think I had seen the film since hearing about it, which made last night's viewing all the more interesting. The film stands up very well today. It was odd seeing it again now, knowing too that along with everyone else who is most definitely dying soon for whatever reason, I am too. That is for another day's discussion, though.

Tidying brings to the front the tangible reminders of our past existence. The role of the black and white photographs on Decker's piano is played for me by more than 30 cubic feet of packing boxes still waiting to be removed from their party-time hiding places and sorted. Do I need them? I don't know.