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Cyberpunk n
1. A genre of fast-paced science fiction involving futuristic computer-based societies.
2. A programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism [syn: hacker , cyber-terrorist ]
3. A writer of science fiction set in a lawless subculture of an oppressive society dominated by computer technology |
So much for the dictionary definition, what does that mean in real terms...?
Environmental catastrophe, rogue mega-corporations, social chaos, and technology out of control, all feature in large scale. Everything is bleak, gritty, garish, noir -ish, but in a world of fast high-tech. Cyberpunk is fast, fast, fast .
Cyberpunk is a sub-genre of Science Fiction, launched in 1982 by William Gibson's epoch-making novel "Neuromancer" (though its roots go back through Vernor Vinge's "True Names" to John Brunner's 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider"). Cyberpunk has its own unique mythology. Instead of space ships, aliens, and the galactic federation, there is the Net and virtual reality. Instead of smuggling or gunrunning there is hacking and data-trafficking. Instead of aliens, there are cybernetically, bionically and biotechnically enhanced humans. Instead of rival empires there are rival mega-corps. It makes for a world that is frighteningly like our present one. And that is the whole idea.
Technological advancement has continued to progress at an exponential rate. Things are changing so rapidly there is incredible disorientation. It's like a wave. You can either go with it or be pulled under. Even the lowest, grottiest, grungiest characters have access to this tech. The cyberpunk world is usually a very gritty world of seedy disreputable characters. These often disenfranchised low-lives struggle to make a living by whatever way they can in the bleak noir future.
Cyberpunk, essentially, is a form of speculative fiction that deals with a high-technology future. Cyberpunk is almost never happy, and rarely fair. The concept of a "dark future" is a warning of what might be awaiting us, just around the next corner...
Suggested reading:
- Neuromancer , by William Gibson (The book that started it all.)
- Count Zero , by William Gibson
- Snow Crash , by Neil Stephenson
- Mirrorshades , a cyberpunk anthology , edited by Bruce Sterling
Suggested movies:
- Blade Runner (To many people the definitive cyberpunk movie.)
- The Matrix (Attitude, music, guns, computers. Enough said.)
- Hackers (Not so hard-hitting but still has several aspects of the genre.)
- The Minority Report (Great example of tech and 'mood' coming together.)
- Johnny Mnemonic (Has good examples of netrunning.)
- Max Headroom (Not the most serious of movies but the concept is still there.)
- Brazil (Paranoia at its highest.)
- Aliens (High tech weapons, grunts with attitudes and a Corp willing to kill his teammates for an exclusive deal. How much more cyberpunk can you get?)
- Blade (Perhaps not the vampires, but the attitude is all 'punk.)
- Akira (The prototypical anime classic.)
- Ghost in the Shell (Perhaps the finest of the Cyberpunk type anime.)
- Bubblegum Crisis (Anime - Rock and Roll meets babes in power armour.)
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