From: Alienthe@hotmail.com   
      
   3ngine wrote:   
      
   > On 10 Dec 2003 16:18:46 -0800, u01mzb@abdn.ac.uk (FixinDixon) wrote:   
      
      
   >>3) CP is defined by reference to a world where individuals either   
   >>attack or work within Megacorps OR/AND utilise a global internet   
   >>system.   
      
      
   Ah yes, the Question.   
      
   To me it seems more correct to state the world is dominated by   
   megacorps, particularly the media. Massive networking is part   
   of the props but was not named the Internet back in the 80's from   
   what I can remember. One of Vinge's books describes a vast net   
   something closer to Usenet.   
      
   > What about the anti-hero?  I always thought this was an essential   
   > theme in CP lit.   
      
      
   The anti-hero is a (Hollywood?) construct, the unshaven   
   alcoholic cousin of the equally synthetic Hollywood hero   
   who square jawedly saves the day, either unscathed or   
   quite dead. No middle of the way approach is permitted.   
      
   This is of course also in constrast to the classical hero   
   of partly olympic descent that completes the tasks but is   
   always ended in tragedy.   
      
   Then you have the real life heros, such as war heros. Often   
   the ordinary man or woman who rose to the occation, served   
   above and beyond the call of duty and then often returned to   
   quiet anonymity if possible.   
      
   Cyberpunk literature has a few of these:   
     - Johnny Mnemonic starts square jawed, ends in tragedy   
     - Case is an anti-hero but hardly saves much   
     - Hiro Protagonist is a Hollywood grade hero   
     - Neo, well...   
      
   > Hey, I forgot who I was talking with about this (distinction between   
   > *punk, such as biopunk, genepunk, etc.), but Molly from Gibson's   
   > universe is jacked up genetically, right?  If she were alone in a   
      
      
   Not sure if it is genetically but definitely engineered   
   and paid for.   
      
   > novel, it'd still be CP, right?  Maybe there really isn't any   
   > difference between *punks...   
      
      
   Molly is a femme fatale in the Noir tradition. Still, any   
   movie with her would probably rate a cyberpunk movie, at   
   least with me.   
      
   ==<)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)