Forget The Matrix, Let The Long-Awaited Neuromancer Adaptation Reboot Cyberpunk
By Mia Tucker
Because "Blade Runner" is so beloved, and because it came out two years before "Neuromancer," it's easy to assume that Gibson's novel is more of a rip-off than the genesis of cyberpunk. The truth, however, is a little more complicated. Gibson had been writing cyberpunk short stories and publishing them in sci-fi magazines for years before "Blade Runner" was released. These stories included 1981's "Johnny Mnemonic," which was later adapted for the big screen with Keanu Reeves in the leading role, and 1982's "Burning Chrome," which takes place in the same continuity as "Neuromancer."
In these earlier stories, Gibson had already laid out the core tenets of his particular sci-fi vision. The style and tone borrow heavily from film noir and classic hardboiled crime novels. Thematically, the stories deal with the intersections of humanity and evolving technology, from cybernetic augmentations to the mass commercialization of life. Gibson envisioned a world where urban sprawl dominated the planet, where shadowy corporations and cult-like populist groups struggled over ideology and resources, and where the residue of the Cold War lay heavy on everyone and everything.
"Blade Runner" incorporated many of these same ideas — the polluted metropolis, neon skylines, and noir stylings, for instance — in a visual medium that gave cyberpunk a true face. The ideas of Ridley Scott's film, however, are more rooted in the classical science fiction of the 1960s, which makes sense given that it's an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (1968). "Neuromancer" is far more interested in the cyber world. Gibson's writing is quite literally the reason that "cyberspace" became a common phrase.
