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Arts and Entertainment

People Are Dumping On San Diego Thanks To 'Blade Runner 2049'

By  Tim Loc
Published Oct 11, 2017 12:00 AM
blade_sd.jpg
(Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/Sony Pictures)
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One spoiler ahead for Blade Runner 2049. It's not an essential plot point, but still.

There’s much to be said about Blade Runner 2049, from its achingly gorgeous images, to how it stacks up with the original, to its hazy relationship with Japanese culture, and to its depiction of women.

One wellspring for discourse comes from the movie's portrayal of San Diego. In case you're not in-the-know, the world of Blade Runner is a bleak one. As first seen in the 1982 movie, Los Angeles has turned into a windswept city that's choked with litter and dominated by starkly utilitarian structures.

Blade Runner 2049 expands on this world, taking us out to both Las Vegas and San Diego. It's no surprise that both these cities have, like L.A., turned into something less-than-desirable. San Diego's fate, however, was particularly ignominious. For one thing, it's now a landfill. Second, the city is a "district" of Los Angeles, as noted by the San Diego Union Tribune (which we presume is no longer around in this fictional 2049). Also, it's swarming with roving gangs of pirates. And there's this factory where...oh, just go see the movie.

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The portrayal of San Diego tickled some people (probably Angelenos), many of whom took to Twitter to pile it on:

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Not surprisingly, some San Diegans took umbrage with the portrayal of their city:

And did this guy pull out his phone during the movie to take a picture of the screen?

We assume these people are either being sarcastic or have yet to see the movie:

And this guy has the right take: the end is coming for us no matter what, so we may as well embrace it: