Neon Lights and Robot Fights: The Cyberpunk Genre

What is Cyberpunk

    Cyberpunk is a sub-genre of science fiction which notably holds both visual aesthetics and the "high tech, low life" motto as key pillars. The genre came about most prominently from the New Wave Science Fiction movement of the 1960s and '70s, with the eras drug culture and sex revolution making formative impacts the way science fiction would evolve going forward. This was a stark turn from the utopian themes most popular in science fiction from the 1940s and 50s. Cyberpunk began to make a name for itself in the form of published books in the late 70s, and gained a lot of popularity as a genre in the early 80s and onwards due to Japanese manga and anime, eventually picking up enough steam to lay claim to plenty of hit movies and video games here in the US.

Content Conventions

    The cyberpunk genre can be characterized by a plot centering a futuristic world equipped with an oppressive advanced technology, and a huge degradation in quality of life because of it. The genre is typically based in a dystopic society, although, instead of bleak or sterile, this world manifests itself in bright lights and bold, cool colors as technology has become the dominant part of what's seen in the real world. Sometimes, the story even takes place completely within an online world or one in which peoples minds have been fused with technology. The "punk" protagonists of this genre are typically anti-heroes, hackers, criminals, social pariahs and the like, who are placed in a crummy situation by society in which they have little to no free will. As smart as the protagonist may be, cyberpunk films draw on the cynicism and existential dread of a future where even they don't quite beat the system. A cyberpunk world is often one in which corruption runs so deep that even those who may see it haven't the power to ameliorate anything. 

Production Conventions 

    There are many technical elements that define the cyberpunk genre. For instance, rousing scores and overwhelmingly digital music can be found in most. The intense scores serve to reflect the current societies state of crisis and empowers the audience to feel a sense of rebellion, while the digital beepy boopy music is a testament to technologies domineering role in every aspect of life. Colors like blue, purple, and green, can be seen in almost every cyberpunk style film, as they nod to computer screens and code. The cool colors taint entire films, be it in costume and set design or, most popularly, in lighting. In general, the lighting in these films can be quite harsh, and shot composition tends to value vibrancy and high contrast.

Marketing

    Cyberpunk's target audience is males of ages around 18 to 29 years. This is due to the association of science and technology with men, as well as the genres tendency to center around male protagonists who are shown to adhere to typical standards of masculinity and cool-guy-ness. In order to appeal to an audience, a cyberpunk film's thumbnails and posters will usually play on those vivid, glowy aforementioned colors and distinct characters. Often one or more characters will appear in advertisement content wearing a dramatic expression and suited up in sleek tech-wear. Characters are commonly depicted with the ambiguous and avant-garde stylistic choices associated with futuristic media. 

Example: Ghost in the Shell

It seems almost impossible to talk about the cyberpunk genre without bringing up Ghost in the Shell (the anime of course). This film exemplifies elements of cyberpunk for various reasons. In terms of aesthetics, we have cybernetic humans, cool tones, neon lights, the whole works. In terms of content, the story follows a cyborg federal agent hunting down a human who criminally hacks into the minds of human-cyborg hybrids and alters them, leading her into an eventual internal conflict about her own identity and humanity in spite of her technical make-up. Check and check. Although this films protagonist, the feds, and antagonist, the hacker, are a subverted version of what has become typical of this genre in media, many avid fans of cyberpunk content maintain that this is truly one of the most cyberpunk pieces of work that cyberpunk has to offer.

Example: Blade Runner

Another classic of the cyberpunk world is 1982s Blade Runner. One of the earliest films of the genre, this movie helped to set in motion some of the conventions we see today. It leads by example in putting forth a world of urban dystopia, where the environment and society are crumbling in contrast to the development of extremely advanced technology. One of the films major components is it's "replicant" characters, who are bioengineered super-human like characters, which the main character is tasked with hunting down.

More Cyberpunk Films