Opinion

No matter how you put it, 2020 was the year of capital Cs. Rewind just a bit, and everyone in the video game community was looking forward to the long-overdue release of Cyberpunk 2077. Hell, “looking forward” is an understatement.

This year there’s been a lot of hype around the cyberpunk genre, mainly because of the highly anticipated release of CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077. With all the time in the world thanks to the pandemic lockdown, I thought it was a good time to jump into one of the cyberpunk’s earliest and most beloved novels, Neuromancer by William Gibson. 

So The Matrix 4 is confirmed. But what will it look like? There are so many questions! Have no fear! We’ll be reviewing how The Matrix Revolutions ended with Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and The Oracle (Mary Alice) in the very last scene. Afterwards, we’ll share some hopes and predictions as to where this story may go into The Matrix 4.

It is a fundamental premise that, even in the grittiest of cyberpunk futures, there’s always a way of keeping poor people alive and docile. Preventing starvation effectively wards off riots, bloodshed and people shouting ‘Eat the Rich’ as more than just a tongue-in-cheek, anarchist catchphrase. Flavored protein paste is the answer.

It’s no secret that huge chasms in equity exist at all levels of society, especially in the USA. If scientific research and academic theory is the way forward in all areas of progress, then what do these disparities tell us?

With a small-living future looming closer and closer, it’s kind of terrifying how, in some ways, the living standards of the cyberpunk world are actually better than ours. After all, the core appeal of the genre is “high-tech, low-life.”

I started this article with an open mind about Gab.com. I didn’t set out to find the worst of humanity, It was just… unavoidable. I had never directly experienced the people of Gab and knew nothing about the Dissenter browser beyond it being a really cool idea. I really really wanted to be able to say something positive about either. That’s impossible.  There really are no redeeming features.

Cyberpunk involves many elements we wouldn’t necessarily want to experience in real life. As audiences, we cheer when we see Neo in The Matrix wearing his trench coat and gunning down agents. As genre enthusiasts, we look skeptically at Star Trek and wonder if maybe the future will have a little more misery and oppression than that.

Modern mass media has created an idealized image of what a hero must look like: usually male, white, skinny but buff, pearly white teeth, full head of hair. The list goes on, crafting such a high and unrealistic criteria of perfection in order for anyone to feel good about themselves. 

I was introduced to Akira relatively late.  It was the same way with Blade Runner.  Both were ground-breaking, inspirational pieces of art that wowed viewers at the time.  Speaking as a latecomer to the classics, though, they’re looking a little long in the teeth.