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Cyberpunk is an increasingly popular aesthetic and sub-genre in the world of entertainment. First gaining mainstream prominence with Blade Runner in 1982, the rain and neon soaked streets of this Californian dystopia have inspired multiple works of fiction in Manga, anime, comic books, TV, films and video games.
However, it comes loaded with a host of several problems. This video analyses the problematic tropes, the American-Japanese Politics of the 1980’s that seeped into this fiction and how it still rears its head today.
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Ironic considering how bad they treated their employees.
Kavernacle is probably one of my least respectable YouTubers, interesting and alternative opinions but time and time again he'll refuse to adress actual counterpoints or simply berate those who disagree.
really? the american politicians crying about quotas? thought it was all about the free makret baby?
man in high castle is not cyberpunk, philip k dick is not exclusively cyberpunk writer, cyberpunk is mainly about high tech low life, not about race and whatever you said 2049 is about, 2049 is a shit movie
So I don't disagree, but there is two angles to this you may be overlooking.
One is the idea that overtime the world will become more merged and mixed. The other is that these things are happening in the future and are full of foreign and exotic designs.
To a western audience a really strong way of encapsulating both of these ideas is by mixing the east and west. Big Hero Six did this quite literally by somehow merging SanFaran and Tokyo.
And you overlooked a progenitor of this. Also a film that Ridley Scott directed, a few years before Blade Runner: Alien. Where the chief antagonist is Weyland-Yutani. a UK/Japanese corporation.
I mean, it’s not really racist… the whole point is that in the future, cultures have mixed so much between the east and the west, that they’re nearly homogeneous. The dystopia comes from the corporatism and authoritarian system they have put in place. I find it ironic that people that complain about “cultural appropriation” heavily suggest that the only way to combat it is through cultural segregation.
Not defending Cyber p but japan kinda sucks.
I haven't read it so forgive me if I'm not too familiar but isn't the man in the high Castle just about the Axis powers winning in general and it's mostly about you know Nazi occupied everywhere else and Japan occupied California was just a few lines of something or a chapter or two correct me if I'm wrong but that's my understanding of the book
You really do not understand that Bladerunner takes place off-world… hence what the sequel tries to depict, because when R. Scott shot Bladerunner he did not have the means to depict, nor budget show it off-world
One other thing… why is almost every discussion-content on CP77 never once or beyond just a slight-mentioning every say the author of the project that CD Project Red said aided the efforts in the crafting of CP77 of Mike Pondsmith; you talk about having a discussion on the tropes within CP77 and try to broaden the discussion to what is or what about Cyberpunk is interesting and yet every discussion knowingly and/or unapologetically unknowing never research Mike Pondsmith tons of interviews talking about what he created, which is the world which CyberPunk 2077 comes from!
William Gibson is also an influential writer for cyberpunk. The book Idoru predicted people marrying holograms.
Kid, I hate to inform you… but you're an SJW or very close to one, but maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're just a kid who doesn't have enough life experience. If you get out there and live a little. you will learn a few things.
1) Americans love Asian stuff. We eat a shit ton of ramen. We have a Japantown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo etc. In every major city in our country, and when we travel too far from those places, we complain that we can't get good Sushi, and that's been going on probably since the 70's. Americans can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Mongolian etc. The more you talk about it, the more you show how little you know about Americans, don't believe everything you see on T.V.
2) While the UK and US are undoubtedly the villains of the age, some countries don't need any help. Japan and China hate each other, that's a thing, Japan and Korea hate each other that's a thing. Regions all over the world have extensive histories of animosity and bloodshed far predating the US. Political Science is an Oxymoron, I'm sorry you wasted your time in school. Had you taken more philosophy and psychology, you'd probably enjoy Phillip K Dick more, and yes those covers are blasphemous.
3) YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND CYBERPUNK PERIOD, your grasp of it is below the level of normies…. and I can only attribute that to the skewed lenses that have been affixed to your eyes by your "education" Japanese has nothing to do with it. When you say "We can't really tell what it is. you have some advertisements that are dystopian, and I think they're meant to be pretty racist, but we don't really understand what it's trying to show us."…. NOPE, IT'S JUST YOU, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.
The fact that you think the ads are trying to be racist, invalidates every second of this critique because you're coming from a position of bad faith. The longer you go on, the more I question if you're actually a fan of any of this stuff, because you sound more and more, like Anita Sarkeesian, only you're talking about race instead of sex, considering you're a white boy in the current era, I must say… bold move. There's nothing racist about the Cyberpunk RPG's created by Mike Pondsmith (a black guy) which is what 2077 is a continuation of. He has stated multiple times what the primary influences on him were when he was making his game's and you didn't mention a single one. You seem overly fixated on the works of Philip K Dick, which is a shame, because you don't do them credit, and grossly misrepresent them. The Man in the High Castle has NOTHING to do with the game or the genre. The ONLY reason you bring it up, is because YOU HAVE BEEN ABUSED. That might seem like a strong statement but it's accurate. Nobody uses the word PROBLEMATIC when disusing fiction naturally, it was taught to you, you learned it at some point, and in that instance a great wrong was committed against you.
If you're up to the task, I recommend deprogramming yourself, so you can enjoy and see the elements in art with you own eyes, not the eyes of the social justice dogs. If Philip K Dick were alive in 2021 he's probably say some shit like "It's the end of the world, go have some fun." I will simply say good luck.
P.S. Keep reading Dick, you may find you enjoy some of his shorter pieces even more than his longer ones. My personal favorite is The Gun.
Its a hold over from the 80’s. Why its STILL part of cyberpunk bewilders me!
I think the biggest issue I have with this critique is that it…(sorry for the essay but I love this shit)
1) misconstrues orientalism for clickbait and ignores historical evidence that modifies the theory later added in academia.
2) It ignores Japans own history of imperialism and taking advantage of the exploitation of China by Britain during the Opium War. It's not about any one group being xenophobic…it's about the powerful using xenophobia for their own ends…which is what Cyberpunk is about, personified by Saburo and Militech. Every single faction believes they are greater in this universe. I think the specific focus on Arasaka is just as a nod to maintain the ties to previous literature for Cyberpunk and the growing economic influence of Japan seeming endless. Even today Japan is one of the largest cultural exporters in the world and are very much xenophobic towards other cultures in the upper classes or by design from their information. This is WHY Cyberpunk is the way it is, not because it's afraid of Japanese imperialism or the Orient…it's about the system itself.
3) in the context of the early fiction, it wasn't about fear of Japan or the other, it was simply an acknowledgment of current trends…Japan was on a limitless rise faster than any other country…and so they assumed that would continue and projected the future with a powerful Japan…not out of fear, just as an acknowledgment. There is not an ounce of xenophobia, cultural commodification…sure…but that's capitalism.
Edward Said's book is kind of interesting because it's having a big comeuppance. Specifically with his detachment from class and its omission of aspects of imperialism present across cultures…not just in the west. He paints Orientalism as a purely western phenomenon…and it isn't. This dehumanization of the other was present in China and their idea of the Middle Kingdom, same for India and their understanding of the other…etc. BUT, only in the context of their ruling classes. Why? Because they profit from the mechanisms of dehumanization; slavery, conquest, etc. They need to justify their own power, further accumulation as such, and to point the finger away from the actual tools they use to control their own populace. The only thing that denotes Western Imperialism from others is the happenstance of their naval dominance and use of gunpowder, which is purely chance, and most of those discoveries came from outside of the west, their murder industry was just more "developed" not their civilization.
I think this critique of the perspective of Orientalism, not all of it, just this aspect, is present in Cyberpunk in an important way…Japan isn't just a victim, anyone in the ruling class has the same kind of framework of understanding as Saburo Arasaka and the idea that the ruling classes are creating this systemic tribalism and marketing in it is present throughout Cyberpunk 2077 lore. Saburo actively wants a feud with Militech for a number of reasons, and actively personifies Militech as THE enemy in the same way that he sees the US as his enemy, which starts the Corpo Wars…which then creates this pretext for a continued rivalry between the companies that furthers his personal goal of destroying the US. This isn't a cultural trait…it's a class trait. Yorinobu, who broke from his father and joined the lower classes…does not agree with his father. His empathy for the lower classes is what drives him to kill his father. Which makes him a tragic hero figure.
This is about how Capitalism isn't some invisible impersonal force that runs the world fairly and only empowers the intelligent and talented…no, it's about how it's not better than any other tribal concept of self and other and actively undermines its own institutions to enact ulterior goals. It's a critique and to showcase it isn't outside of the national system, it's simply an arm of it.
I also think this misuse of iconography is telling. Samurai doesn't mean warrior…it means "To Serve"…and this misunderstanding of the term showcases and acts as a telltale sign for whats actually going on here. Throughout the game and the lore Johnny,. Rogue, etc…they all act as part of the system, feeding into it, and profiting off it. They don't actually want to change the system, and therefor the band name "Samurai" is a sign of this. "Street Samurai" are always servants working for a master. Otherwise they'd use the ACTUAL term of Ronin, a warrior with no master.
The fiction has lots of these things people get hung-up on but there are more layers there and if you don't dig you just leave with a shallow view of the picture.
Wake me up when Cyberpunk does Anti Chinese/Indian Racism next
Noboby cares
Your coverage of the switching sides of the US in bed with China and then Japan as "playing them off each other" is very, very odd – the reasoning between being close to one country then then other has very clear, obvious reasons that has nothing to do with playing two countries against each other for some personal, mustach-twirling gain. Japan attacked the US while it was already at war with China – and so of course the US was on the same side as China in the resulting war. Then, post WWII, the US is rebuilding Japan into a friendly democracy, and China goes communist and gets into bed with Russia – so very much not on the "US side" in the Cold War. I don't see how those turn of events is "playing these two countries against each other" – China is more than happy to step in and make deals with Japan should the US decide supporting Japan is not something they want (and there were rumbles of this during the Trump years as he was very cool on many of the US's international relationships/organizations). If anything – Japan is "played" (or attempted to be played) by both the US and China, but continues to prefer, for various reasons, to play with the US.
Have you found any cool legendary gear?
I never understood why Japanese were so popular. It wouldn’t happen in any reality, especially if you know that Japan’s population is receding, not growing. Dumb developers wanted a cool demographic that most gamers enjoy so they picked Japanese instead of something more realistic.
@The Kavernacle Cyberpunk (CP) proper begins with the novel Neuromancer by Gibson. While being a precursor to that PK Dick was a post-modernist pulp scifi writer, the poor man's Thomas Pynchon. The other important CP movies not mentioned here are Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and the Matrix. I can't see how are those orientalist.
And you know, you should revisit women's arguments why Blade Runner 2049 is sexist. They kind of make similar arguments as yours in this video. And in the sequel where did many Arabs/Turks and people from the Far East go? I guess Orban's tax breaks are more important. BR2049 is more white movie that BR after 35 years, with the lone dark skinned character, that dealer guy is a caricature for an African.
Me who has only read Battle Angel Alita and Blame! and watched the Ghost in the Shell anime (as far as anything cyberpunk related): Cyberpunk is racist?! 👁️👄👁️
Have there been ANY cyberpunk stories where they avoid the orientalist trappings?
Why in the world would anything like this be demonized? It's interesting!
Does man care?
People in real life are capable of racism. So why wouldnt it be a feature in a game that is trying to capture the worst aspects of humanity. If there were 0 of it, then peopld would complain it doesnt feel realistic enough.
Idk when I played cyberpunk I thought they made the difference between East Asian cultures pretty obvious with there being Chinese writing in China town with more people speaking mandarin near there and then having lots of hirigana and katakana in Japan town with there being more Japanese people. As well as I noticed that both Japanese and Chinese companies have a presence in the game which surprised me knowing the tropes of this setting. But maybe that’s just because I’m a Japanese major and have Asian family members so maybe the way I see things is a bit more detailed than most people. Either way good video I especially liked it when you talked about the economic bubble in the 80s I don’t think most westerns appreciate that aspect of Japanese-American relations. ^_^
日本❤️アメリカ
I respectfully disagree. I think it is more for the Culture shock of seeing something you know changed to its foundations. Like the Nazis in MITHC or Wolfenstien making America super Germanic, or Soviet taking over the world. Asian culture was picked in the 80s cause they were on the rise, and were seen as possible overtaking American culture. Seeing an American city looking something similar to Hong Kong but with little bits and pieces of America is a foreign and intriguing concept to players, and an acceptable break from reality due to the knowledge of the time ( EX of a not accepted break from reality is 2017 Red Dawn/ Home Front with North Korea invading US)
I do see your point but I don't think it's intended. Look at Militech in cyberpunk for example. There as American as Apple Pie yet are seen as ruthless and corrupt as the rest of them. All Corps are in that serials. Or how Europe is technically the most power nations in the world with the Eurodollar being the world currency instead of a Yen or an Asian focused currency.
In short, i disagree that was the intention of anyone when creating these works and into the modern day. I think they just wanted to have those classic staples of current life be forgin but simlar to real life. A slightly off feeling that keeps you on edge as you travel a world similar but different to your own as you are stalked by unseen eyes and crushed under corporate control.
So, in summary?,
You ever watch Just Write's video about cyberpunk? It's a pretty interesting watch…
https://youtu.be/YK6IjJkjkiI