Cyberpunk

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What is Cyberpunk?

Cyberpunk is a science-fiction sub-genre dealing with the integration of society and technology in dystopian settings. Often referred to as “low-life and high tech,” Cyberpunk stories deal with outsiders (punks) who fight against the oppressors in society (usually mega corporations that control everything) via technological means (cyber). If the punks aren’t actively fighting against a megacorp, they’re still dealing with living in a world completely dependent on high technology.

Cyberpunk characteristics include:

Dystopian city setting where mega-corporations rule
Full integration of technology into society, featuring cybernetic implants
Outsider protagonists (punks) who often are very familiar with the technology around them
Hard boiled detective and film noir vibes and influence
Themes dabbling in trans-humanism, existentialism, and what it means to be human.

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What would you say is the defining cyberpunk work of each decade? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 10 months ago by Hammerjack to c/cyberpunk

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In my mind, the "Big Three" cyberpunk novels are Neuromancer, Snow Crash, and Altered Carbon. If someone is new to the genre and asks what they need to read, these are the three I recommend. But I realized the other day that each book also comes from a different decade.
1980s: Neuromancer
1990s: Snow Crash
2000s: Altered Carbon

This got me thinking about what defining cyberpunk work I would pick for the 2010s. And... I'm not sure. I think the best-selling book from the 2010s that would be considered cyberpunk is probably Ready Player One. I don't think the book aged well, but it sold like crazy at the time. On Amazon, it has almost 150k reviews.

But ignoring books, what would be the defining cyberpunk movie from each decade?
1980s: Blade Runner
1990s: Ghost in the Shell? The Matrix?
2000s: ???
2010s: ???

What do you think? What would you say defined cyberpunk in the 2010s?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

For novels

1960s: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep 1970s: A Scanner Darkly

I’d argue that without PKD we wouldn’t have Neuromancer or Snow Crash.

I’m also having a hard time with the 2010s though. I wouldn’t nominate Ready Player One because it was just so awful.