For this week, our class explored the subject of cyberpunk. This particular topic really interested me because of the prerequisite I had with cyberpunk. Having watched a lot of anime and movies using cyberpunk, I enjoyed the in-class movies’ “Blade Runner” and “Ghost in the Shell”. I also had read the book “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson. Based off these media, I have found a lot of tropes from them and also from the cyberpunk genre as a whole.
First off, a key factor that goes with the cyberpunk genre is the use of advanced technology. In all three stories, I saw this being used primarily towards the plot. In “Snow Crash” particularly, Hiro and many characters dive into the ‘Metaverse’. This is a virtual reality world where people use various avatars to interact with each other. Because of this, many people are programmers or hackers in this world, like Hiro himself. In one scene, he took down a businessman who was bragging that he shouldn’t be wielding a sword. At the end, he finds out Hiro is one of the best users of sword fighting, which was pretty badass! For the use of advanced technology from the other two: in “Blade Runner” there flying cars exist and in “Ghost in the Shell” people could physically hack into a persons’ mind by plugging into the back of their head.
Next, I would like to talk about the setting used in most cyberpunk mediums. In general, I see that the atmosphere is usually dark. In “Snow Crash”, Hiro is affiliated with the ‘Mafia’, and many characters commit crimes such as Y.T. breaking out of jail. I envisioned in my head that there are a lot of underground scenes going on throughout this world, along with division of the social classes. In “Blade Runner” I saw that there was an obvious divide within social classes, seeing that there were a lot of ghettos even though very advanced technology existed. And in “Ghost in the Shell” there is a lot of violence going on, and the lifestyle of many people seemed militaristic. I say that because usually people are in uniform attire.
Overall, I would definitely love to go further in depth within this genre. A lot of concepts are open-ended, and very psychological. Seeing the world-building as well, I could say this is a possible scenario in the future!
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