Cyberpunk in popular culture – from origins to our days

Today, when people hear the word «cyberpunk», they immediately imagine the future where every person can hack any computer or has an opportunity to modify their own body beyond recognition. And many people associate it with the notorious announcement of the video game «Cyberpunk 2077». Only a few remember what the «classic» cyberpunk is. So in order to find out what cyberpunk is and what is not we need to learn first: what is this genre about?

Cyberpunk is a mix of noir and dystopia where a low level of social life stands out against the progressive development of technologies. The core of the genre is a dark world with giant metropolises. Neon signs are in contrast with grey tones. The level of poverty among citizens is growing and the human culture is slowly declining. And all of these happen against progressing technologies. That’s a pretty melancholic vision for the future.

Origins

Initially, the word «cyberpunk» emerged as a title of one of the stories made by Bruce Bethke, a science fiction writer. The novel had nothing similar to the «cyberpunk» genre but the word was remembered by many people. The Canadian writer, William Ford Gibson has become the father of the genre. In 1984, he published his novel «Neuromancer», which subsequently made a huge impact on all types of art.

Along with Gibson, Bruce Sterling was noticed later who also was considered to be a writer of the canonical cyberpunk after the release of his novel «Schismatrix» in 1985. But Neal Town Stephenson was the person who changed the idea of the genre. His novels «Snow Crash» and «The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer» appeared to be more realistic and true than the novels written by his predecessors. That’s how the new subgenre — postcyberpunk appeared

Postcyberpunk saved the concept of the developed civilization but the genre started moving away from the melancholic vision for the future to more realistic views. It made the new movement a bit more actual and an image of the future described by writers seemed to be visionary sometimes.

Cyberpunk in art

More and more science fiction writers began making their impact on the development of the genre: Rudy Rucker, Jeff Noon, George Alec Effinger. The list of important movies includes «Blade Runner», which was released back in 1982. The picture perfectly demonstrated the atmosphere of the dark future and the movie secured the image of canonical stylization of the cyberpunk world. There were the following movies after that: «RoboCop», «New Rose Hotel», «The Thirteenth Floor», «Johnny Mnemonic». But a special success was achieved by the trilogy of the movie «The Matrix», which became an iconic film not just among fans of the genre.

Besides the Western countries, the East also demonstrated its interest. For example, anime «Akira» and «Ghost in the Shell» released in Japan, they became popular both in their homeland and all over the world. The following projects were also interesting but less popular: «Serial Experiments Lain», «The Animatrix», «Ergo Proxy», «Psycho-Pass»

Aside from books and movies, video games made their impact on the development of cyberpunk. The gaming industry tried to make detailed dystopian worlds, so players felt the idea of cyberpunk fully. «System Shock», «Syndicate», «Deus Ex», «Dystopia», and «Remember Me» achieved the biggest success among numerous options.

The announcement of the video game «Cyberpunk 2077» by the Polish studio CD Project RED definitely became a bright event. The game will release in December this year and the project has become so popular that it is interesting even for those who are far from the world of video games.

Our days

Starting from the 90s, the «cyberpunk» genre began losing its popularity slowly. Classic cyberpunk’s vision for the future seemed to be irrelevant. People’s opinions changed every decade, so it made a significant impact on the genre.

The main elements were taken from cyberpunk, transforming them into new subgenres. The ideas about the impact of genetic engineering on humanity, the use of nanotechnology, or even the positive impact technologies make on human life have become very popular.

But after all, despite the loss of the past glory, cyberpunk is still known by every person. It has become some kind of symbol of the future where fantasy can become reality.