Being a university student with some background in Literature and focusing on Culture Studies, I'm accustomed to making connections between and among texts. For instance, the character of Molly Millions in Gibson's novel
Neuromancer. In his vision of the cyberpunk future, she is the definition of a femme fatale, a former prostitute turned "Razorgirl," a cyber-samurai if you will.
Of course, the only representation of Molly is on the cover of the novel, where we only see her face. The descriptions in the various books she appears in, though, have allowed fans to conjure a likeness that is more-or-less accepted. Anyway,
Neuromancer is one of those novels that influenced a great many things. Heck, it included the internet before it even existed (Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" himself).
Enter the world of Tron, a community existing within a computer system. The parallels between the Tron franchise and classic cyberpunk are quite apparent. I'd like to look at the character of Quorra, though: she's the Molly Millions of the film. Her appearance is similar, her fighting skills are similar, and she, too, is taught amidst an Asian-inspired aesthetic. Huh.
art by deadinsane, Neuromancer cover art (c) Ace 1984, Tron: Legacy movie still (c) Walt Disney Pictures
may or may not have seen Tron for a third time last night. heheh.
ReplyDeleteBut Jack, Have you considered that Neuromancer itself might be influenced by the original TRON.
ReplyDeleteSome vicious circle this is.
there's potential there, but i think that Bladerunner was more influential on the genre.
ReplyDelete