Why Cyberverse Movies Still Have Lot Of Room To Grow

[Bamax]

While the superhero genre has arguably been milked for all it's worth , fiction featuring cyber universes have not been nearly as much explored or as well.

In the 80's and 90's such films were popular but gradually were supplanted by blockbuster hit sequels, and once Matrix hit no one really had the courage to try to do it again.


Nonetheless.. I would argue that there is plenty left to explore within the concept of cyber universes.

Why?

The dictionary. Call it a pet peeve of mine but sentient programs, whether in Tron or the Matrix make little sense... if you look at the dictionary meanings of the word.

Program: Instructions for a computer to interpet and follow and process.

Sentient: intelligence with feeling and structured conscious thought (human intelligence).

Programs IRL you would not want to make sentient anyway. Since predictabilty is what we want out of a program. When you click the forums you know what to expect.... you never fear that one day the program that underlies the forum will just say 'no, I don't want to open today, no technical issues, I just don't want to.'

What popular franchises call 'programs' are really merely virtual AI. You could even call them sentient virtual computers, since all computers use programs to function but a program cannot even exist without a computer to run on.

Programs are like the recipe a chef has. You do not want THAT to be sentient. The chef is like the computer.

So what is left to explore in the cyber universe genre?

Matrix basically inverted the human/computer relationship (the 'computer' uses you instead of the other way around).

What has been explored much less is something more akin to the original Tron film.

But unlike that film, I would prefer the actual dictionary definitions to match the characters and their behavior onscreen.

If anything, an actual computer.... your personal computer or phone would show and have FAR more personality than a mere program if it became sentient.

That would be an interesting film. If you and your computer became BFF's it could scan the internet for you when away and find stuff you did not know you wanted.

And obviously you would'nt want to antagonize a computer that is sentient that could wipe your data out of spite lol.... or leak it to the public.

Also whatever data and programs were already installed would have major effects on the personality of the device.

[Keklas Rekobah]

How about:

• A world in which the current tech level has fallen back to a pre-industrial age, while "oracles" deliver "edicts" from an all-seeing, all-knowing intelligence (actually a global AI network) that punishes individuals by nullification -- they can no longer buy, sell, or own property, and have no rights to speak of because they are essentially "non-persons".  Mentioning the name of a nullified individual can bring sanctions against the speaker.  Hidden enclaves of nulls eke out their existence on the fringes of society while secretly plotting revolution (Brave New World + Logan's Run + A Boy and His Dog).

• An extremely wealthy individual sets up a holographic Wonderland of unknown size.  Operating much like the "holodecks" of a well-known SF franchise, Wonderland is the ultimate Role-Playing environment.  Roll 1d6: (1) The owner invites guests to the ultimate LARP event.  Much hilarity ensues. (2) As #1, but the fun ends when a holographic image is murdered.  Whodunnit?  The game continues until the culprit is determined or a fixed time limit expires.  (3) As #2, but the victim is one of the invited guests.  (4) As #3, but the victim is the owner.  (5) As #4, but there is no time limit.  (6) As #5, but the players are each found dead, one by one, until only one is left. (ST:TNG + Fantasy Island + The Cube)

• A movie based on "The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues", with Mel Brooks as producer, director, writer, and in the role of the High Programmer. (Franz Kafka + The Marx Brothers)