Lou Tambone

“She decries the boiling alive of a lobster as “depraved.” In our world, such base depravity is commonplace and considered culturally acceptable by all but a minority. Androids, thus, presents an interesting, if tragic observation. The near annihilation of animal life has finally gotten people to value animals for who they are – not as gratification for taste buds, or as fashion items, decorations, or entertainment – but as living, feeling creatures with their own intrinsic worth. Schweitzer predicted “The time will come when public opinion will no longer tolerate amusements based on the mistreatment and killing of animals. The time will come, but when? When will we reach the point that hunting, the pleasure in killing animals for sport, will be regarded as a mental aberration?”
― Lou Tambone, The Cyberpunk Nexus: Exploring the Blade Runner Universe

“In all this, Androids reveals the potential for transcendence despite suffering. Society will likely not grow, but individuals can, and individuals make up society. Rick chooses to become a promoter of life rather than a destroyer. It’s a decision – to suffer and yet remain empathetic – that every human being can make. This, of course, implies that there’s something morally and psychologically wrong with those who are not empathetic, and the story points a finger at the reader as if to say that we are as underdeveloped as the androids. We, who are emblematic of the modern world, are the real chickenheads and degenerates. We, who may not have had the trials of these characters, and who haven’t even come to extend our circle of compassion to our fellow human beings, let alone the animals, are the destroyers, as we continue to make excuses for our tribalism, racism, exploitation, destruction, and war.”
― Lou Tambone, The Cyberpunk Nexus: Exploring the Blade Runner Universe