What is Cyberpunk?Is it a science-fiction sub-genre? A visual aesthetics? An atmosphere? A philosophy? An 80's neon rain in the night? Human augmentations? Black leather jackets and sunglasses in the night hour? I'd say — none of that… and at the same time all at once… and so much more. In order to understand what the Cyberpunk is, we have to go the very beginning of the genre and concept.&nbsp;Its inception begins with a notorious writer and a philosopher Willam Gib… no… the other Willam. Well, Wilhelm — to be more precise. That is Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche — a german thinker and social critic of the 19th century, who changed the western civilisation forever. He is considered to be the father of the 20th century, a grandfather of postmodernism and a guru of new-age philosophy. He is the most beloved and hated minds in the modern history.&nbsp;Among his many written works Nietzsche wrote a book titled "Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None" — probably one of his most notable and quoted works. In it he continued the concept of Übermensch he previously started in a publication "The Gay Science", but made famous via "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" book. So what is Übermensch and why is it important? Übermensch is translated from German as Super-human, Over-Human or — my personal favourite variant — Beyond-Human. It is basically like Surrealism, only in human morality. Nietzsche believed that a mankind is not a crown of creation, but merely a bridge between a monkey and an Übermensch. It can be interpreted as an evolutionary bridge — yes (but we will get back to it later), and it also meant the moral and ideological bridge. Being Beyond-Human means to be beyond all morals and ideologies… beyond good and evil, since all existing human institutions that dictate rules and world views (even the most fundamental once like churches and governments) could no longer provide the consistent moral directions for humanity. Everything is a lie and nothing is true. Thus Übermensch has to find his own ways — the better ways, that suit him best.Unfortunately, like all philosophers of the past… and all the times, who try to sound smarter than they probably are, leaving plenty of room for readers' imagination and interpretations, Nietzsche never provided any detailed clarifications regarding the true Übermensch characteristics. Just vague explanations that Übermensch is better than an ordinary human-being in all the way possible. No wonder that Übermensch concept was so beloved by nazis, as they thought that they are the new and better people. Well, we all know where it all lead. The biggest war in human history happened due to the wrong interpretation of a fiction novel. It's nothing new to the world, as wars constantly happen due the different interpretations of fiction books. People always fought over the correct views on "Torah", "Bible", "Quran" and other texts, but this time mankind went way too far. And it was just the beginning.However Nietzsche wasn't a nazi. On a contrary he detested the anti-Semite movements and stood agains all authorities, thus he would have never supported nazism or anybody else. It was Nietzsche who singlehandedly killed the highest authority figure in human history by writing the most rebellious statement in philosophy — "God is dead". By doing so he didn't mean that there is an actual god that is actually dead. No. What he meant is that all authorities and institutes that dictate moral values are no longer legit, as they are all come and gone. Nor church, nor state, nor the academic world — nothing could serve as a moral compass for humanity any longer. In other words: Nietzsche was an anarchist and one of the earlier punks. Just look at his portraits — those moustache look nowadays as funky as the green mohawks of 1980s.German influence on punk and cyberpunk culture is not limited by Nietzsche's work alone. Germany in early 20's century was the most artistically avant-garde countries in the world. It's music, fashion, paintings and cinema shaped the entire look of the century. The style of German expressionism was dominating the worldly art. Absurd shapes mixed with tilted perspectives and contrasty shadows. The most stylish and visionary silent films where the direct result of German expressionism in action. Tim Burton, David Lynch and other modern "innovative" filmmakers with "their own style" are merely copying the long forgotten by general audience German expressionism in the new package.Fritz Lang — the German filmmaker of early 20's century — was true visionary director and innovator. His motion picture "Metropolis" was the first fully realised depiction of a cyberpunk future long before such genre was even named. "Metropolis" has it all — high tech, low life… cyborgs, grand cityscapes, flying vehicles, the underground rebellious groups, criticism of social inequality, even the Nietzschean philosophy — everything. The true root of the Cyberpunk genre.But the genre would have never emerged only due to one film. "Metropolis" is an important step — both visually and ideologically, but there had to be another sub-genre of German expressionism to catalyse the inception of Cyberpunk. That catalyst was the other Fritz Lang motion picture called "M" — the film that spawned an entire cultural phenomenon, known as "film noir". "Film noir" came to Hollywood as a direct result of German expressionism style — contrast, shadows and questionable moral values. And in many ways Fritz Lang's "M" and "film noir" genre played much more important part in the creation of Cyberpunk then even a first Cyberpunk feature film "Metropolis". How is that? How all those private eyes, mobsters in fancy black and white suits, depressing music, never ending rain, femmes fatales in evening dresses and constant smoking helped to shape Cyberpunk? The answer is in the context.Lets look at the stereotypical "film-noir" protagonist. He is a privet eye, definitely a loner in the corrupt and alienating world. He is a bit of a libertine, but he respects traditions. He is cynical on words, but principal in all his actions. He cannot be intimidated or bribed, as he stands by his principles and money doesn't mean nothing to him in comparison with the truth. He probably used to be a cop, but was fired due to obvious insubordination issues. An anti-authoritarian figure that breaks rules for his benefit and rejects moral codes, but doesn't dwell into nihilism. He lives by his personal values that exist outside the religion or the law… and he is probably played by Humphrey Bogart, of course. Isn't it a description of a Nietzschean Übermensch? A perfect role model for future punks and cyberpunks. Funny, the most conservative art genre — that is “film noir" — gave birth to the most rebellious one — Cyberpunk.The turning point for Cyberpunk was the year of 1982 with the release of "Blade Runner" motion picture — directed by Ridley Scott and loosely based on Philip Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" The film is the golden standard of the Cyberpunk genre by any means. And it is obviously a "film noir" piece of art… or "neo-noir", or "tech-noir" (as it will be named later… after the release of "The Terminator" — another Cyberpunk classic highly influenced by the "film noir" aesthetics). "Blade Runner" has it all: a lone detective with personal moral values in a corrupt society, the bleak alien world, the contrast lighting, the shadows, the never ending rain… even the femme fatale is present — the classic damsel in distress with a dark secret. The story features not one, but two archetypes of Übermensch rivalling each other: Roy — played by Rutger Hauer— a nexus replicant both physically and mentally superior to ordinary human being, the true manifestation of Übermensch… versus Rick Deckard — played by Harrison Ford — a stereotypical "film noir" protagonist, a representation of moral Übermensch. I think that the "film noir" roots of the genre are very important to highlight, since most critics and scholars refer to "Blade Runner" as a "Science Fiction" film, classifying the whole Cyberpunk as a "sci-fi" sub-genre, while I see Cyberpunk primarily as a sub-genre of "film noir". In my opinion it IS "film noir" with "sci-fi" elements, and not the other way around.The differences between "Science Fiction" and Cyberpunk may seam not too obvious and minor, but they are crucial in understanding the culture and genres. "Science Fiction" follows the traditions set by novelist Jules Verne — the themes of adventure, journey into the unknown and explorations, while Cyberpunk is inspired by philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche — the concept of a personal and social development. "Science Fiction" is abstract and its main question is "What if…?". For example, "Back to the future" — a beloved "sci-fi" classic by Robert Zemeckis — the main focus of the story is "What if the time machine existed?", or "Alien" — another cult film by Ridley Scott — it asks "What if alien species existed?", or "Jurassic Park" by Steven Spielberg — "What if dinosaurs could be resurrected?" etc. While Cyberpunk's main question is not just "What if…?", but rather "How the today's world would react to…?" or even "What sort of moral dilemmas we will have to face if…?" Lets take "Ghost in the shell" by Mamoru Oshii — its main theme would be "How would the today's world react to the machines gaining their own consciousness?", or "Strange days" by Kathryn Bigelow — "How would the today's world react to memories being recorded and sold?", or "Minority report" by Steven Spielberg — "What moral dilemmas we will have to face if all our crimes are predetermined?"… and "Blade Runner", of course — "What moral dilemmas we will face if artificial humans will be identical to us… or even superior? And how the today's world will react to it?" Yes, the "today's world", not the "world of times to come".&nbsp;It's the "Science Fiction" that explores the days and nights of tomorrow, since it can go far away into the future, assuming that the present political and social problems are resolved somehow or entirely ignored, allowing to focus primarily on its main "sci-fi" themes. Or it can go back in time and rewrite the history, turning genre into the alternate world "Fantasy" or even "Steampunk". Even if "Science Fiction" takes place in modern times, it tries to remain abstract and idealised to the point that it has nothing to do with present days reality. While Cyberpunk is aways grounded. No matter how surreal and stylised its presentation may be, Cyberpunk keeps realism and believability at its core, since all its characters and even futuristic equipment follow the rules of present day logic and physical capabilities.Cyberpunk doesn't ignore modern political and social problems, as it is usually set in the near future, deliberately exaggerating present day issues to their extreme. The future is so near and illustrated themes are usually so familiar to present day life, that sometimes the line between today and tomorrow blurs into obscurity. Instead of putting the hot topics comfortably remote, they are uncomfortably close. Thus Cyberpunk is a risky genre, since closer it is to our times and reality — easier it is to go wrong with predictions and observations. Therefore the art pieces of Cyberpunk doesn't age well, but that is not the weakness of the genre, but its core strength. Cyberpunk authors take risks, and that is always a good sign for the artistic value. And this is where the last major difference between "sci-fi" and Cyberpunk takes place, since Cyberpunk is "punk"! Yes, it is right there in the title and it's named as such not without a reason. Cyberpunk is everything that the punk culture is — it implies passion, idealism, rebellious nature, philosophy, street freedom, hairstyles, dress code (or should I say a total fashion chaos) and more… plus cyber elements dictated by the technological progress.&nbsp;<a href="https://omnifinery.com/">Omnifinery - Feel Comfort in Your Individuality&nbsp;</a>Text:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/jurii.kirnev/">Jurii Kirnev</a> - talk to us on DISCORD - <a href="https://discord.gg/awbvB7UNqJ">https://discord.gg/awbvB7UNqJ</a>Omnifinery Editorial: <a href="https://omnifinery.com/editorial/culture">Culture</a> Article 010

Exploration of Sci-Fi Utopia in Today’s Cyberculture Through Various Definitions of Cyberpunk and Its Aesthetics

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