This week I read "Memories of a Hologram Rose", which definitely reminded me of "cyberpunk". Since the story is driven by the invention of a device called the "ASP", we see the glimpse of a future where it rules almost all media and entertainment. It lets people escape reality by plunging them into an alternate, virtual space, and experience a world through another's recorded sensory memories. Of course, the implications of such technology leads many to be lost in these virtual realities, but can also serve as a bridge between people, letting them share experiences. This cyberpunk future is edgy, technologically advanced but not exactly a bright, shiny chrome. This kind of future is kind of rough around the edges, thinly masking the dark desires of humanity, which have become amplified with the new technology. In a cyberpunk future where human's safest sanctuaries- the mind- can be hacked and tricked, the darker implications of human nature come forward. But human nature is complex, and when explored through altered realities can only reflect certain sides of it, even though there may be thousand facets, like a shattered hologram rose.
On the other hand, Paprika, a classic Satoshi Kon movie, also explores this theme of the human psyche through the altered reality that is a dreamscape. However, it visually contrasts other films of its genre, like Blade Runner, in that is is saturated and colorful, teeming with movement and life. Even with the dark undertones of its narrative, the cover of bright visuals adds to its psychedelic feel, as if everything that was happening wasn't real. Meanwhile, the movie we viewed in class, Blade Runner, was dark, dingy, and hard boiled, truly befitting of its subject matter. Regardless of visuals, however, cyberpunk is more defined by its deep diving stories and hyper-technological future, truly Cyber and Punk.
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