The City
Film being a visual medium, it is easier to use the movie Blade Runner to highlight the dystopic atmosphere and feel of the story. While the setting differs from the novel to the screen, the film does a better job giving off the heavy feel that can be expected from a dystopia. As depicted in the banner above, Blade Runner's Los Angeles is dark, artificially lit, sprawling, and coated in industry. Advertising litters every flat surface and the influence of large corporations is seen everywhere. The streets are clogged with foot traffic and garbage, while smoke and mist swirl in every alley and street. The dusky brown sky rains heavily through the duration of the film's runtime. Flames belch from smokestacks a light the sky in orange burst amidst the neon signs. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, and defined by feelings of unease, tension, and confusion. Many instances in both the film and novel are filled with strange, dreamlike scenes in which the characters and audience are unsure of past, present, and future events. For example, androids are often implanted with false memories to make them believe that they are humans with vibrant pasts. This makes them harder to track and identify. In a scene in the novel Rick Deckard experiences a period of doubt during which he questions his own humanity and the possibility that he is an android with false memories. As a reader, I wasn't even sure what was true.
Culture
Generally unseen in the film, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? introduces and explains more of the culture of Los Angeles. Nearly all religious activities have ceased and been replaced by a single, widely accepted cult known as Mercerism. The practice of Mercerism involves a device called an Empathy Box. Practitioners activate the box and link their consciousnesses to the worshipped figure Wilbur Mercer as he endlessly climbs a mountain while being pelted with stones. While connected to the Empathy Box the user is also connected to everyone else who is using the device. Because of this the entire population that is using an Empathy Box at any given time is experiencing and sharing the pain of Wilbur Mercer, but also the thoughts and feelings of every other user. Individuals are recommended to use the box often and with their family members so that the population can be in tune with each other and themselves, constantly empathizing with the struggles and triumphs of others. For example, if an individual is feeling happy over an accomplishment or purchase, they are morally obligated to hook up to the Empathy Box to both share the positive feeling with others, and keep them humble by sharing another's pain. Wilbur Mercer is the figurehead or concept worshipped by a dystopian society, though he is not the cause of the dystopia, merely a product of it. A popular radio and television show is vying for viewers and audiences with Mercerism. Buster Friendly and his Friendly Friends is run by a number of android hosts who use the show as a way for androids to experience some of the unity and community that humans following Mercerism feel through the Empathy Box. Another device that is common to the population of Los Angeles is the Pensfield Mood Organ, a machine that simulates any kind of emotion, mindset, or feeling in a person upon dialling the correct code number. If a person so chose, they could live their whole life in a simulated bliss and satisfaction without ever leaving the couch. The use of the Mood Organ aids in the dehumanized aspect of a dystopic society.