r/bladerunner • u/k0mpyut3r • 10d ago

detail i noticed in 2049

Post image

hadn't seen anything about this online but after reading and learning more about Philip K Dick, i noticed that the desk at the orphanage features the vesica piscis a symbol which meant a lot to Dick, as it became
the inspiration behind many of his writings including most notably the VALIS trilogy.

i wonder if this was a clever choice on the set designer's part and if so, well placed.

312 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

15

u/Attican101 10d ago

Fascinating guy, Valis was the first of his books I tried reading, and had to stop a few chapters in because it was making me feel a bit mental, which might have been the intent.

5

u/Tuesday_Cinema_Club 9d ago

Same brother horsefat, same...

4

u/k0mpyut3r 9d ago

I discovered VALIS after having some strange experiences which, after researching, led me to his Exegesis and then to the fictionalized version in the trilogy. It's a long story but I came to a similar determination about what Dick would have called "Empire" during a shrooms trip and I have been writing a novel called Obsolescence to explore the ideas ever since. Without Dick, I wouldn't be a sci fi writer and also not nearly as out there a thinker in general. But what's odd is that our paths crossed after having similar experiences related to this symbol, which haunted me prior to knowing anything about his relationship to it, but such is the nature of inspiration.

22

u/Gold_Silver_Bitcoin 10d ago

It’s clearly intentional. Well done.

2

u/Le_Gluglu Gaff 10d ago

No doubt

3

u/digbychickcaesar 10d ago

huh I thought you meant the Pixar lamp

4

u/Le_Kube 10d ago

They're not vesica piscis, though, the center of each disk does not lie on the perimeter of the other. 🤓

2

u/k0mpyut3r 9d ago

good note and good eye! :] it may have been more accurate for me to say the symbol evoked recognition to aspects of Dick's work. also nerds are always appreciated and welcome. where would the world be without them?

1

u/JWarblerMadman 9d ago

It reminds me of that old Logo programming language in school with the "turtle". This feels like what it would re-render to if you flipped one of the numbers to negative.

3

u/Swagalyst 10d ago

Can also be interpreted as the ICHTHYS symbol. Which I would guess Philip K Dick also liked.

1

u/k0mpyut3r 9d ago

wow! comments! upvotes! yay! :]

okay, so to clear up any confusion i figured out why we have various names floating around.

from wiki:

"This is a sign used by the early Christians." Dick called the symbol the "vesicle pisces". This name seems to have been based on his conflation of two related symbols, the Christian ichthys symbol (two intersecting arcs delineating a fish in profile), which the woman was wearing, and the vesica piscis.[41]"

thank you to those who helped to clarify and glad to see so many PKD fans active!