I posted it on KBin yesterday – as glad as I am to see Neuromancer finally getting some screentime, I know it won’t be ‘good enough for you.’ Forty years of discussion and dissection of William Gibson’s cyberpunk masterpiece mean that no one can truly tell the story as good as the one we saw in our heads. Let’s talk a bit about Neuromancer’s impact on scifi. Then, we’ll break down why you’ll hear people screaming no matter what Apple TV does with Neuromancer. Pure intentions are no match for the scifi purity test!
Why Neuromancer Matters
First published in 1984, Neuromancer came at the right place and the right time for the cyberpunk genre. We were in the last twenty years of the millennium – what was the future going to look like? Gibson showed us a ‘future shock’ view the realpolitik of the United States, Japan, and Russia and an information society dominated by technology and autocratic totalitarian corporations. He (likely) drew inspiration from ‘Simulacra and Simulation,’ describing a world where ‘individuals flee from the “desert of the real” for the ecstasies of hyperreality and the new realm of computer, media, and technological experience.'”
He introduced important ideas like The Matrix, orbital corporate kingdoms operating as sinful travel destinations and financial freeports, ‘high tech, low-life’ denizens who scammed to survive on the wrong side of the cyber-tracks. None of the story components were original in themselves, but his combination of noir fiction housed in a low-earth orbital toroid was *just* what the world wanted to read about in the early 1980s.
Don’t kid yourself – Neuromancer ain’t for kids. It’s written in a ‘literary acid house’ style, a noir thriller with sex and violence. You wouldn’t let your children read this book and you likely won’t let your kids watch this show. But its impact on the genre cannot be denied. Every cyberpunk story or movie since the 80s can trace its lineage directly back to Neuromancer. Every cyberpunk fan knows Neuromancer, has an opinion about it, cares about what happens to it.
You’re Going to Hate the Neuromancer Show
Hollywood has never understood William Gibson’s work and it shows. Think of every William Gibson story that got turned into a show, movie, or video game. Any of them well-received? Well-rated? Watched? Hardly.
Gibson seems to be one of those artists that embodies the curse: ‘everybody knows you and loves you but nobody can handle you.’ Just as Bob Dylan’s work was largely appreciated *after* it had been covered by other artists, Gibson seems doomed to be misunderstood, misinterpreted, and dismissed. I feel bad for him – he seems to be a bright guy, able to capture and articulate important ideas. I blame the under-educated sensibilities of the modern media-consuming public, but that leads me to my main point:
Why Neuromancer Won’t Be Good Enough For You
As noted with Bob Dylan, Gibson’s work ‘lived whole other lives, evolving and changing over the years, with his idea of the [story] as only a blueprint.’ My prediction is that readers, viewers will watch Neuromancer – one person’s interpretation of the story – and immediately scream: “THAT’S NOT THE STORY I SAW IN MY HEAD!” Hell hath no fury as nerdy expectations scorned.
Some of this is Hollywood’s fault but A LOT of it is the scifi community’s fault. Nerds will intrinsically apply the two Purity Test rules to Neuromancer:
- Any new form of science fiction conform to a specific rule set of quality before it can be considered ‘good’ sci-fi.
- This rule set is subject to change without explanation or notice.
They will find the show wanting, and immediately rush to the Internet to register their disgust throughout the world. Huzzah, the Hypercritical / Hypocritical Complex – the media Pecksniffian observations industry – profits off your outrage for another financial quarter! And so it goes …
My hope (aspiration, dream, fervent prayer) is that somehow we’ll outgrow the adolescent, amateur hugboxes and echo chambers. Neuromancer – whatever it turns out to be – deserves on honest feedback and constructive criticism. Science fiction deserves adult voices and thoughtful, mindful consideration.
