Of course they can envy humans. We have limited lifespans as well but we have more control over it. Even if a replicant eats well and exercises they still expire automatically at a near arbitrary date.

@illnagas said:

Of course they can envy humans.

You're right, they can indeed envy humans. I was trying to say, they shouldn't envy humans, and I still could be wrong, maybe they not only can but also should envy humans. Just want to ensure we arguing the same argument.

We have limited lifespans as well

Which is essentially why I suggested replicants shouldn't envy humans. Not all humans live to a ripe old age. At least replicants who keep their noses clean can expect to live to its retirement date without disease, or competing in Darwin award-winning activities.

but we have more control over it.

That's a most debatable point. Do we really have more control? We don't know when we're going to expire. I know so many people who had all kinds of plans until a loved one died unexpectedly. With respect to choices, we can't go where and see what replicants can, so our choices are more limited within the time we have. They have restrictions on where they can go or not. So do we.

We have been afforded an illusion of control, but just enough to quell most inquiring minds from seeking truer answers to the nagging questions out there.

Even if a replicant eats well and exercises they still expire automatically at a near arbitrary date.

Yes. And, is not knowing when we're going to expire enviable? I'm not sure. Not a few well-known business successes have said they live ever mindful that life is not infinite, and they feel that motivates them to do more, take more action, than those who think they have forever. Both humans and replicants have a finite amount of time in which to be and to do; they know their date, we don't. I'm not sure either should envy the other. There are some people who obsess over their mortality, agonize over what is true about what happens after death and decide to contront it on their terms, choosing suicide rather than waiting and trying to live with the excruciating inevitability of that single moment when they just cease to exist; for them, the not knowing is more painful. And, here we see replicants agonizing over knowing.

Perhaps the movie used the replicants as a sort of bizarro mirror in which we humans see some form of reverse reflection of ourselves and take pause to contemplate.

And, perhaps, this conversation is a product of the movie's aims!