One of the more daunting aspects of this blog was developing some kind of metric to attempt to outline what could be considered a work that is part of the "cyberpunk" genre. In reality, its still in flux, but it'll be the metric I use going forward.
Digging a bit deeper into how cyberpunk can measured, I've listed my criteria below. I’ll work on the three main
categories in an attempt to delineate the metrics:
1) Cyberpunk Atmosphere & Aesthetics
2) Genre and Storyline
3) Cyberpunk Work Worldbuilding
These are broken down into subsections, of course… starting with Cyberpunk Atmosphere category. (“The Feel”), per Mike Poundsmith (designer of the original paper & pen Cyberpunk 2020 RPG - see the above video) about
Cyberpunk World.
Atmosphere: Does the world portray a cyberpunk future?
- Does the work provide a world immersed in a
cyberpunk atmosphere? Are there parts of
the work that reflect a run down, gritty environment, if not the entire work? Is there a dystopian theme in the work? As part of the “atmosphere”, I figure the
“rebellious” part of “punk” would apply here – generally towards corporations,
sometimes governments, sometimes both.
The proverbial “crapsack” world (per TV Tropes).
- Dystopian aspects: Not a totalitarian
dystopia (e.g. al la “1984”), but with a regression of the larger government,
predatory corporations have taken over governmental aspects that are either
profitable or somehow benefit in some other way. Please bear in mind the genre would only have aspects of a dystopia. If the end baseline is focused on the dystopian setting, then it is likely to be considered a dystopian work, not a cyberpunk work.
Aesthetics: Attire, attitude, social interaction and attitude,
among other things. I’d say that this is
part of what makes a cyberpunk work fit the genre – if the characters don’t
reflect a hard-nosed, gritty world, it may simply be just another science
fiction story.
- Grittiness: A key component of cyberpunk is a
“hard-nosed, grittiness” struggle at the street level. There may be (on occasion) interaction with
the “corporate” world (e.g. clean, sleek, modern buildings with beautiful
employees in snappy attire), but the bulk of the work would be at the lower end
of the socio-economic scale. Its a classic element of some modern works that aren't cyberpunk (one of the best examples of this is the Aliens motion pictures), but overall, is the world "lived-in" and not "Future-clean" in the majority of the work (a la "Star Trek")?
- Kudzu technology: I'll have to find the reference for this term, but basically it's the pervasiveness of advanced technology (modern to our 2020-2030 eyes, but old to the cyberpunk work) in the world. Each work has its own view, but an extrapolation would how we use smart phones, Internet connectivity, or even the use of plastics now, as opposed to the world of say 80 to 100 years ago. Such tech is commonplace for us, but to the world that just came out of WW2, they would be almost magic. Therefore, does the work have common place tech in 2090 - 2100 that would be amazing to a current purveyor of the work?
- Media Pervasiveness: The media and memetics will certainly play a huge part of the future (heck, just look at big media and social media now). As such, how does the speed of communications, dissemination of messages, manipulation of information, and impact of the media have on the work's world? It may not play a huge factor in some works, but in others it will be key.
- Media Pervasiveness: The media and memetics will certainly play a huge part of the future (heck, just look at big media and social media now). As such, how does the speed of communications, dissemination of messages, manipulation of information, and impact of the media have on the work's world? It may not play a huge factor in some works, but in others it will be key.
Tech
Application: Is the technology
appropriate to a cyberpunk narrative? I'm breaking this category down into specific areas:
- Space travel: Is space travel limited to the
Earth solar system? (Note: If the space
travel extends into interstellar travel, it isn't Cyberpunk. This is kind of a "hard line" - if it has interstellar travel, I'm seeing it as in the Space Opera genre or at least Interstellar Travel/Exploration genres. Frankly, that's kind of hopeful fiction... and not cyberpunk). However, within the cyberpunk world, there is
space travel, anywhere from the Earth’s orbital habitats, all the way to the
extremes of the solar system.
- Augmented Personal Technology: Bionics and/or
genetics… or both. Part of the cyberpunk
existence is the ability to “upgrade” yourself, or maybe others. Upgrading might not be easy or cheap, but it
can be done at the right price.
- Artificial Intelligence / Cybernetics / Robotics: An artificial lifeforms of some sort – within
cyberpunk the artificial intelligence is from earth (e.g. not “aliens from another
system/ galaxy/ universe). Nothing wrong
with the aforementioned sources, but “first contact” stories are usually not
part of the cyberpunk genre. Humans generally create artificial life forms... though they can also lose control of the same life forms...
Storyline: Is the main storyline intertwined with a futuristic
narrative that, were the technology removed, it would not work in the current
day? In other words, the technology is
an integral part of the storyline? (If
not, that speaks to the lack of a good science fiction storyline to the work). The story may be good, but at its essence, it
isn’t a story that depends on science fiction, and that would in turn lead it
from the cyberpunk genre.
“ZeeRust”:
The definition borrowed from TV Tropes, and relating to “…a quaint sort of
datedness”. Basically, are there parts
of the work that seem dated? It can be
minor (e.g. as in Blade Runner’s opening with a future date & location of
“Los Angeles, 2019”… which will take place in a few months, as of this
writing), or eye-askance descriptions (e.g. Johnny Mnemonic memory capacity of
80 gigabytes… which in the work's world is
fatal, but… is less memory than some medium-to-high end iPhones). Some situations are unavoidable, and ZeeRust
wouldn't necessarily affect a cyberpunk’s work and/or categorization. It just tend to leave one with an
eye-squinting wince.
Analysis: If something is important, it needs to be measured (yeah, a lot of general references to this concept)... But really, at the end of the day, is work in question part of the cyberpunk genre? My own guide is outlined below:
Not Cyberpunk – the work in question / reviewed may or
may not be good a good work of fiction, but it isn’t cyberpunk.
Soft Cyberpunk – The work in question has some
cyberpunk attributes, but I wouldn't really consider it part of the Cyberpunk
genre. I'll specifically detail why, but at the end of the day, I'm saying the work has some cyberpunk "aspects"... but it isn't a true cyberpunk work.
Hard Cyberpunk – The work in question is a cyberpunk
work… while it may not meet every criteria outlined for the cyberpunk genre,
its is no doubt part of the larger cyberpunk world. When you watch / read / play (or whatever) this work, you'll likely say, "yeah, that was cyberpunk".
Genre-Defining Cyberpunk – Only a few works are really
worthy of being titled as “Genre-Defining”.
These movies/anime/books are some of the first examples used when
describing cyberpunk, and thus, can be considered as defining the genre of
cyberpunk. To let the proverbial "cat out of the bag" on some future entries, think of cyberpunk classics such as Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, and Neuromancer.
Moving forward, I'll tweak this outline to include somethings and focus on others. Nothing is written in ... stone, but still, things can always be improved, including the above metrics.
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