![]() So a movie in which electronic databases are accessible from across different points in the globe, along with electronic containment of vital information, transhumanism and body modifications were on the rise, and virtual reality allowed people to navigate this data was way beyond what many were ready for-even if it wasn’t that far out from where reality would be in a couple of years.īut of course, JOHNNY MNEMONIC wasn’t interested in prognostication as much as telling an interesting story with colorful characters - even if its story is pretty familiar.īourgeoisie boy Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a mnemonic courier who uploads information into his brain and travels with the sensitive data that can’t be sent across the world wide web to physically deliver it to recipients. There have been breakthroughs into mainstream pop culture with works like GHOST IN THE SHELL, Serial Experiments Lain, THE MATRIX series, and more - but mostly it has been a large subculture that influenced design and attitude but didn’t totally make the crossover into widespread acceptance.ġ995 also saw the release of THE NET, which was set in present day and had a “hacker” using the Internet to get information and even order a pizza - concepts which were rapidly approaching into becoming norms and realities, but still seemed a bit science fiction-y. Born from works of writers like Gibson (who also wrote JOHNNY MNEMONIC’s screenplay), Bruce Sterling, and Neal Stephenson, it would influence music, video games, TV, fashion, and films with its focus on advanced technology, stark striation of classes, a strong Japanese influence on society, rampant crime, and massive corporations operating above the law. Since its “inception” - that is to say, multiple artists and works with similar aesthetics and elements emerging from various parts of the world at the same time - in the early ‘80s, cyberpunk has mostly been on the fringes of culture. JOHNNY MNEMONIC was released 25 years ago today, but its time may finally be coming to pass. JOHNNY MNEMONIC’s 2021 is a cyberpunk world ripped apart by corporations, mercenaries, disease, and massive socioeconomic disparity - with only some of those elements being far off from the current trajectory.īased on William Gibson’s 1981 short story of the same name, JOHNNY MNEMONIC was presumably never meant as a predictor, but it remains an interesting reflection of the eras that spawned it (first the ‘70s/‘80s, and then the ‘90s) - highlighting then impossible technology side-by-side with constant morality (or lack thereof) found in society. Films that take place in the not-too-distant future are always more telling about the present than they are of being true forecasts of what’s to come.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |