Cyberpunk

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A place for discussion of all things cyberpunk (not primarily Cyberpunk 2077)

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Wintermute@lemmy.villa-straylight.social

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What's your favorite Cyberpunk work (lemmy.villa-straylight.social)

submitted 2 years ago by Wintermute@lemmy.villa-straylight.social to c/cyberpunk@lemmy.villa-straylight.social

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Be it book, film or any other medium, share your favorite works of the genre (and why it's your favorite!)

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[–] Wintermute@lemmy.villa-straylight.social 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Oh! I’ve read about Snow Crash but it looks too much like Ready Player One (the movie AFAIK and i know its the other way around probably) and the whole idea of the metaverse its not much up my alley but i will definitely give it a read too then!!

I touched on this in my own top-level reply. You're not exactly wrong, but comparing Snow Crash to RP1 is frankly an insult to Snow Crash. If nothing else, I think Snow Crash is worth reading as one of the defining works of the genre, even if I don't think it holds up as well as Neuromancer. RP1 on the other hand, I regret reading (I haven't watched the movie). I would gladly take those hours of my life back if I could.

I find that usually the way I picture cyberpunk media like books, that don’t come with images as more modern tech. I’m sure that what William Gibson had in mind while writing Neuromancer was far more retro futuristic that what i imagined while reading it, which was more akin to BR2049.

Yeah, it's funny. In a lot of ways Cyberpunk as a genre is dead because it basically just describes the current world with more neon and VR. Back when Gibson was writing Neuromancer, it wasn't retro futurism he had in mind, it was just the future! A lot of the charm of Cyberpunk comes from the ways in which the 80s vision of the future differs from reality while still striking close to home.

[–] Jilanico@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I think Snow Crash is worth reading as one of the defining works of the genre, even if I don't think it holds up as well as Neuromancer.

I agree with this take 👍 I didn't enjoy Snow Crash, but it was undeniably influential and in many ways prescient. I loved Neuromancer.

[–] salieri@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

RP1 on the other hand, I regret reading (I haven’t watched the movie). I would gladly take those hours of my life back if I could. Your hate towards RP1 tells me i can trust your opinion xd. I might give it a read after count zero then maybe.

Back when Gibson was writing Neuromancer, it wasn’t retro futurism he had in mind, it was just the future! A lot of the charm of Cyberpunk comes from the ways in which the 80s vision of the future differs from reality while still striking close to home. I agree but i wouldn't call it dead, its just updated with a new aesthetic. Ideally good cyberpunk still should touch on the ideas of un checked capitalism and neo liberalism with a splash of neon, now it just updates the tech to the current era's perception of future technology.

Though i have to agree with you that we are basically already living in a cyberpunk dystopia just without the neon and the body mods. We have the unchecked capitalism having set its roots in government and corrupting most things it touches along with massive cognitive dissonance from a good part of the population that gets fed info by outlets, which are all controlled by the same people, controlling them to do what they want. But we are all content as long as there is a modicum of food on the table and we get our soma (in the way of modern, designed to keep you addicted, entertainment in its different forms and stuff).