Defining Cyberpunk
Punk: High-Tech and Low-Life
The combination of technology and a punk underworld may seem strange, but one need only look at the younger generation around us to see what cyberpunk is about. Video games; virtual reality headsets; music on compact disks; computer-generated rock music: these all demonstrate the use of incredibly sophisticated technology for less-than-epic pursuits. In cyberpunk fiction, there are no more rocket ships traveling to foreign star systems; characters such as those in Gene Roddenbery's Star Trek, seeking out "new life and new civilizations," are not present in the cyberpunk world. Cyberpunk characters use technology to turn in towards the self, not outwards into space. There is no new civilization for the cyberpunk, merely the remnants of an old, decayed society gilded with technology. There is no new life out in space for the cyberpunk either; his life is full of pain and all-too human suffering, and his hope lies inward, towards the nerves, rather than out into space. This self-centeredness is rooted in punk ideals and punk music.
"Punk" defies definition by its very nature, seeking to escape the confines of society altogether. Rooted in the hard-edged, loud, discordant music of the late seventies and early eighties, punk music has always appealed to the "lowlifes": the people of the street; the outcasts; the criminals; the computer hackers; the drug-addicts. Punks adopt a variety of looks as well as lifestyles: the black leather and mirrorshades commonly associated with early cyberpunk; the mohawk hairdo, often painted strange colors; long unkempt hair; multiple body-piercings and tattoos; etc. Punk has a lot more to do with attitude, however, than with what someone is called or what they wear.
Punks are by definition anarchists, desiring nothing more than to live without the rules imposed by society. In cyberpunk fiction, those "rules" are represented by the "machine," and while these cyberpunk characters strive to use machines and technology, they seek to destroy the "machine" that runs everyone's lives. This attitude is, perhaps, a bit ambivalent at first glance. The paradox is erased when one realizes the nature of the technologies used, and the ways in which they are used. Razor blades can hide under ones' fingers; surgically implanted prostheses can be used to kill with awesome force; metal snakes can leap from a character's throat: any technology can be used subversively.
Sterling tells us, quoting William Gibson, that "'the street finds its own use for things.' Rolling, irrepressible street graffiti from that classic industrial artifact, the spray can. The subversive potential of the home printer and the photocopier..." (Sterling xiv). No matter what the technology, the punk strives to use it for his or her own means, even if that involves misuse, crime, or disobeying authority. "A cyber-person is one who pilots his/her own life" (Leary 258), one who questions authority and does not merely submit to decisions made by others. Here one cannot help but be reminded of the opening scenes of Blade Runner, in which an urban scene is dominated by enormous blimps shining lights into people's homes, erasing any notion of privacy. The main characters in cyberpunk fiction are punks because they react against this intrusion. They represent freedom; good or bad, the characters all think for themselves, whether that leads to criminal activities or saving the world.
In Stephenson's Snow Crash, the main character does the latter, saving cyberspace and the entire world by destroying a deadly computer virus. Hiro Protagonist (an intentional pun) seizes the opportunity to promote his business by using the same deadly computer program, now inert:
The screens are blank at first, but finally the same image snaps into existence on all four of them at once..."If this were a virus, you would be dead now. Fortunately, it's not. The Metaverse is a dangerous place; how's your security? Call Hiro Protagonist Security Associates for a free initial consultation." (457)Rather than walking off into a sunset as a selfless hero, Hiro acknowledges that he's saved everyone's lives, and then uses it as an opportunity for financial gain. This is the punk attitude at its finest. As the Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 game tells us, in cyberpunk "The traditional concepts of good and evil are replaced by the values of expedience - you do what you have to to survive" (Moss 3).
In Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired, one of the main characters, Cowboy, seeks to destroy an "evil" corporation by flying his own plane into the side of one of theirs, destroying the company financially. This is not at all a selfless, heroic action, though it may seem to be at first glance:
But somewhere in Cowboy's mind there is a realization that this is the necessary and correct conclusion to his legend, to use himself and his matte-black body [his plane] as the last missile against the Orbital shuttle and win for himself a slice of immortality, a place in the mind of every panzerboy, every jock... (326)One of the other pilots, a friend of Cowboy's, beats him to the punch, crashing into the jet before him and saving the day. Cowboy is not relieved or upset; rather, "[a]nger rises in his mind at the thought of his fate being stolen" (328). He may be out saving lives, but Cowboy's concern is still selfish. Unlike a more legendary "hero," such as Beowulf, Cowboy's selfish concern for his honor replaces concern for others. It may be somehow heroic to want to die in battle, becoming a legend, but Cowboy carries this belief to the point where the death of a friend brings not despair or sadness, but anger and jealousy. It is this turning inward that best demonstrates the punk attitude as present in cyberpunk fiction.