Cyberpunk’s irrelevancy today is shown through The Matrix, Neuromancer and other cyberpunk based movies, short-stories, novels, etc. The Matrix and Neuromancer are shown to be very unrealistic to what our society will become. The Matrix portrays that humans will literally become batteries for robots. From a metaphoric stand, it would make sense and even in reality it would too as we are becoming dependent on robots. The point is that the cyberpunk genre is turning cliché and it is being over exaggerated. The skyscraper sized buildings, overtaking mega-corporations and invaluable implants that characters have, are just not practical in our world. There also is an understanding that cyberpunk is focusing on the negative side of society, but it is going to a point where there is no originality; just the same old “High tech. Low life.”
Through the many hardships characters face in the cyberpunk genre, we can see that cyberpunk is becoming more and more unrealistic. If we take Neuromancer for an example, we can explore the factors that make a typical cyberpunk setting linking to modern day. We see implants, advanced chemicals and medicine and the dependency on technology. All these things are related to today’s day and age in some way, but they are too prevalent in cyberpunk making it less fitting for a prediction on the future. Cyberpunk focuses on the negative aspects of these “advancements”. The people are all using these items for personal gain which makes them dangerous to others. If we take the advanced chemicals for an example, the people in cyberpunk novels will use it, in general, for making advancements in their so called “life”, by most likely, harming others. This is not prevalent in our society to the extent that around 90% of the population would do it. That goes to show that the characters in cyberpunk are very exaggerated, making them irrelevant to our society.
Cyberpunk has been around for over 40 years and is becoming outdated. The same themes and topics being repeated again and again. We can see this through the comparison of the games Deus Ex and Disjunction. Deus Ex was made in 2000 and Disjunction in 2021. This difference can help us see whether the cyberpunk genre has changed or not. Deus Ex revolved around a dystopian society in future Earth. Disjunction is the same thing. In the 21 years that have passed, the cyberpunk genre has not even changed in the slightest. This is not the only example. If we take William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984) and The Matrix (1999), there is slight difference in the genre. This is because both worlds are based on a big corporation/group that are trying to take over the world for personal gain. Because of the unchanging storylines, there is no real way of saying that Cyberpunk has changed. This makes it irrelevant to today as many people want new plots and storylines. To keep Cyberpunk relevant for today, there has to be a new “future” that we all see. Just like in the 1980’s when William Gibson saw a future filled with mega-corporations, today we need to think of some future where we have learned to harness the power of our solar system. This is possible but would take a very long time, so it is still within our reach.
Another area where Cyberpunk becomes irrelevant is from complexity. Speaking from a student’s perspective, Cyberpunk is very confusing to read. Shown in William Gibson’s Cyberpunk, it became really difficult to understand what was happening as there were many characters, many little complications and many locations and “worlds”. This is what Cyberpunk is all about but it would be pleasing to know where the characters are and what is happening in the story. Not only William Gibson’s Cyberpunk, but Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is also confusing. This makes cyberpunk irrelevant for a student as it is complex and needs deeper understanding, which to be honest, most of us do not think about when reading casually. Please note that all of this is from a personal perspective, and you may have a different understanding to me.
All in all, Cyberpunk has a lot of potential for improvement in relevancy in the modern era. It is becoming outdated so the futuristic and technological aspect which makes cyberpunk different is removed. Also, there have been many years which have passed since Cyberpunk was created and these days, people like new things which brings up the factor of lack of originality and creativity in new topics and plots. On top of that, Cyberpunk is confusing to read, making readers loose interest as they cannot understand what is going on. Cyberpunk needs many improvements so that it can become relevant in today’s society.
Sources:
https://www.neondystopia.com/what-is-cyberpunk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex
https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/disjunction#:~:text=Summary%3A%20Disjunction%20is%20a%20cyberpunk,fate%20of%20their%20city%20forever.
William Gibson’s Neuromancer
Lilly and Lana Wachowski’s, The Matrix