NEUROMANCER vs THE MATRIX

 

Both the book and movie draw on aspects of a literary genre called cyberpunk. Cyberpunk was born with the publishing of Neuromancer by William Gibson in 1984. Neuromancer uses technology, punkish clothing, and a pessimistic outlook on the future to create its world where power is measured in information.

Similarly, The Matrix created quite a stir in the film industry when it came out in 1999. It has stunning visual affects, a worldwide gross of $456,500,000, and an interesting storyline that questioned reality.

But what is reality? The reality created in The Matrix is a "computer generated dream world" while the reality created in Neuromancer is that of cyberspace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Created by Aleksandra Krzywicka for an Honor Scholar Seminar called Speculative Visions: The Worlds of Science Fiction taught by Art Evans on April 22, 2005. If you have any suggestions for the improvement of this web site please contact me at akrzywicka@depauw.edu. Special thanks to Professor Evans and Rob Snyder for their help. This web site was last updated on May 5, 2005.

The term "Cyberspace" was originally coined by Gibson in Neuromancer. Despite the different approach of the creators of both works to the audience, Neuromancer shares many similarities with The Matrix. 

This site's mission is to explore the intricacies and complexities of these two very different yet comparable  mediums and analyze the effects that both have had on contemporary culture.