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.
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I came across this meme and it's just so oddly reductive it doesn't even make sense. Can tech noir not have philosophical elements? Is cyberpunk really nothing more than high-brow tech noir? So weird.
So let's fix this meme. What two elements would you combine to create a definition for cyberpunk?
Yeah, this feels closer to what I'd expect.
I'd switch "dehumanizing technology" to a dehumanizing system. It isn't just the technology that dehumanizes, it's the society around it: stuff like replicants being engineered not to have kids in Blade Runner; or the company's willingness to use clones in Moon; or WY's desire to get someone infected/impregnated in most Alien movies.
The technology enables corporations to be horrible (and it partially defines the aesthetic of the setting), but it's the economic system that actually does the horrible stuff.