Okay- so, welcome back. Hope everyone liked their week off.
So, yeah, I’m reading The Diamond Age and all I can think is that, while I’m loving every second and am glad that we’re reading something this science fiction-based, it’s far from an original story. Here’s the thing; everything I’ve read in here, I’ve seen or read elsewhere. And from before The Diamond Age was ever published. Think about it, we’ve seen androids and cyborgs before. The movie Blade Runner and the book of the same name, as well as the short story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? on which both were based, are loaded with humans connected to mechanical devices and with robots that seem more like humans. Like the stereo system that some members of The Diamond Age‘s societies have in their heads, citizens in Blade Runner used a special stereo to give their lives a soundtrack to live to. Further, Star Trek introduced the cyborg Borg in ‘91. Airships, the royalty’s main mode of transportation, has also been the main mode of transportation of Final Fantasy characters for years. In fact, including the obvious fact that the story takes place in Shanghai, the entire story seems influenced by Asian styles of storytelling. Cyber-punk has been a mainstream staple of anime, the Japanese animated form of storytelling that has dominated a small, but growing group for generations. ’88’s Akira tells the story of roving gangs, reminiscent of The Diamond Age’s various sects, religions, and political movements. Half of the gang members are cyborgs and the fate of the world is trusted to youths who stumble onto that which they shouldn’t. By 1995, the Wachowski brothers already had their first drafts of the Matrix complete. Indeed, how many times have they said that they based the Matrix on the anime styles of Japan? Of course, for the violent gangs, Stephenson might have just as easily turned to A Clockwork Orange. After all, how much more creepily Victorian does it get? At times, the novel is reminiscent of the dystopia found in 1984. At other points, one feels as if they have stumbled into the world of Metropolis. My point in listing these is not to say that Stephenson has ripped off his plot, because, so far, I haven’t shown any plot points directly stolen, but to show that what he wrote is not as original as the critics seemed intent on making it out to be. Really, all Stephenson did was bring anime style to America in a form that would be taken seriously, the novel. I actually deeply respect him for that. But, given a few weeks, I think I’ll be able to prove to all of you just how much was alreadt there. My eventual presentation on video game literature will be focusing highly on the Japanese style games like Final Fantasy, created in the mid-80’s and highly influential within Stephenson’s work.
