Week 11: Cyberpunk's Mixed-Genre Purpose

Cyberpunk seems to serve as a genre to push your mind to think about the future and its implications -- it's a discussion on where our humanity is now and how that might look in the future. On a technical level, it is a mixed genre of reverse-science fiction, urban fantasy, and thriller.

William Gibson's Johnny Mneumonic serves to stretch the reader's mind about gender and sexuality. 

Gender
First, the main character sees himself as a "technical boy" who enjoys doing seemingly feminine things like "checking [himself] out in the chrome siding of a coffee kiosk". Then, the main character introduces us to The Magnetic Dog Sisters, one which "had originally been male." These almost-subtle interjections of forward-thinking ideas will get the reader thinking about blurred lines of gender, among other sex vs. gender issues we're experiencing today. Lastly, we meet the strong female character. In the first few lines she says to the narrator, her purpose in the story becomes obvious: "'My kind of man,' she said, and laughed. 'What's in the bag?'" Her charming confidence in her laugh, and her straight-forward words towards Johnny makes her the alpha of the room immediately.

Sexuality
While The Magnetic Dog Sisters might only be a name, they are also lovers. They are sisters in fighting, but lovers in bed. The narrator also describes them as "nearly identical as cosmetic surgery could make them." The writer might be calling out our innate need to love and root for ourselves.

This mixed genre is most relevant when discussing the weapons in Johnny Mneumonic.

Reverse SciFi, Urban Fantasy, Thriller
I would describe a portion of this story as reverse-SciFi because of its introduction -- in order to create and use traditionally functioning, 'antique' weapons, the main character explains "your [skill] has to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to crudeness." Secondly, when the main character comes out of the tube, he's immediately thrust into a fantasy-level bar experience. He finds the man who he's looking for in his short storied journey fueled by payback, Ralfi Face. Finally, the reader sits in a life-or-death tension for the majority of the story, where Johnny (the main character) has an antique gun pointed at Ralfi, and when the strong alpha female arrives, the tension builds even more: "her hand came up and seemed to brush his wrist as it passed. Bright blood sprayed the table." She made him bleed with nothing in her hand.