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I’m so tired of this stupid“what ~true~ Cyberpunk is about discourse”, because Cyberpunk is about NOTHING. It’s a goddamn genre. No genre has an inherent message, unless you think all Fantasy must push anti-war Catholic values or all Sci-Fi is about idyllic space communism.
Cyberpunk as a genre can be defined in just four words: “high tech, low life”. That’s all it takes. It must be set in a stupidly technologically-advanced world that failed to ease the social stratification and where the poor and downtrodden were not uplifted by the technology.
That’s it. That’s all it takes. Neon, hacking, cyber implants, megacorps, runners - all of it is just window dressing.
Megacorps pop up so often as villains for the same reason evil empires are always villains in fantasy: we already hate them in the real world and they make easy-
Megacorps pop up so often as villains for the same reason evil empires are always villains in fantasy: we already hate them in the real world and they make easy-
unproblematic punching bags for our heroic underdogs.
The actual themes of individual Cyberpunk works are rarely just “capitalism bad” and can talk about all kinds of different topics, such as:
What measure is a human in an age of cyborgs and androids
The actual themes of individual Cyberpunk works are rarely just “capitalism bad” and can talk about all kinds of different topics, such as:
What measure is a human in an age of cyborgs and androids
Is synthetically extending your life worth it
How do you survive in a world where everything is commodified, bought and sold.
Is it worth it to leave behind the real world to live in virtual bliss.
In an age of total surveillance, how do you stay true to yourself.
How do you survive in a world where everything is commodified, bought and sold.
Is it worth it to leave behind the real world to live in virtual bliss.
In an age of total surveillance, how do you stay true to yourself.
Progress VS Tradition.
Who are the heroes in the society that’s rotten from inside out?
And that’s barely scratching the surface.
Please stop projecting your adolescent commie fantasies on a massive swath of fiction and demand it fit to your standards and your standards only.
Who are the heroes in the society that’s rotten from inside out?
And that’s barely scratching the surface.
Please stop projecting your adolescent commie fantasies on a massive swath of fiction and demand it fit to your standards and your standards only.
