I’ve been trying to come up with cyberpunk recommendations for this community to help keep it active. But my assumption is that anyone subscribed here already has basic knowledge of the cyberpunk genre. That is, I don’t think we need any “what is cyberpunk?” posts.
But I spend (way too much) time wondering what cyberpunk works I can just assume everyone here already knows about. For example, there are quite a few cyberpunk works that are well-known enough outside of cyberpunk circles that I don’t think I need to recommend them. Those would include:
But then there are what I would consider the “second-tier” cyberpunk works that might not have reached pop-culture status but are still classics to those with knowledge of cyberpunk. Those would include:
- Hardware
- Strange Days
- Johnny Mnemonic
- Hardwired
- Cyber City Oedo 808
- I’m not sure where to draw the line here… Hackers? Dredd? Bubblegum Crisis? Serial Experiments Lain?
I also want to make sure my recommendations are truly cyberpunk and not just cyberpunk-adjacent. For example, as good as they may be, I don’t personally consider Upgrade or Ex Machina to be cyberpunk. And that brings me back to if something is truly cyberpunk then it probably falls into that second-tier list that maybe everyone already knows about. It’s hard to draw the line between “this is unknown” and “this is a cult classic for those in the know”.
Anyway, I’m going to continue over-thinking this and doing my best to come up with interesting yet not-widely-known cyberpunk works. I just wanted this post to run through all the cyberpunk works I won’t be recommending because I assume you’re already aware of them (even if you haven’t watched/read them).
People have been arguing about the definition of “Cyberpunk” pretty much from the moment the term was coined. I think, for the vast majority of people, it seems they focus on the aesthetic more than anything else: neon lights, megatowers, rain, tech, crime, etc.
Personally, I like to see some hints of the “punk” half of the phrase shining through. Rebels and misfits, either by choice or by circumstance, using technology to fight oppressive systems enabled by technology. Neuromancer remains the measuring stick that I’ve always used, but I’m not going to turn my nose up on a good story if it’s only “cyberpunk adjacent”.
High tech, low life, as Bruce Sterling put it (apocryphally). And, that works well enough most of the time.
So, given the above, as an example, no, I wouldn’t call The Fifth Element cyberpunk. It has lots of aesthetic similarities, but very little “punk”: the heroes are working with the governments to preserve the status quo after all, but I still love it, as it’s a damn great film.
I think what makes The Fifth Element and (the movie version of) I Robot good examples of grey-areas is that they do have bits of cyberpunk within them, but aren’t in the genre with both feet … the first half of Fifth Element includes street crime, lazy police, a grubby megacity, running from the cops, an evil corporation, a government/military of questionable competence, and signs of civil unrest (in the form of a garbage strike which is never expanded upon). Meanwhile I Robot tickles the theme of emancipation, an evil corporation, body modification, and using technology to fight the overuse of technology.
I’m old by internet standards, and I remember Usenet arguments over defining genres, that’s why I said it depends where you want to put the lines ;-)
I totally agree with you. Cyberpunk as a genre has a very vague definition so it’s hard to definitively say “this is cyberpunk”. But the closer I can get to that ideal, the more people in /c/cyberpunk will probably be interested if they hadn’t heard of it before.
I’m not a cyberpunk purist but I am trying to find that common ground where most people here would agree is cyberpunk and therefore might be a good recommendation. It’s an odd distinction, but I guess that’s why I keep spending time thinking about it.