Tech-noir - A Genre Introduction #1

Everyone knows Genres such a Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery, but among those there are many nuanced subgenres. In this series of articles I will try to shed some light into these subgenres by explaining the elements typical for them, their origin and naming some of the best examples for the respective subgenres. 

The subgenre of Tech-noir is also known as Cyber Noir or Science Fiction Noir with the latter term being coined as early as the 60ies. The name Tech-noir derives from a nightclub in the movie "Terminator" (1984) where the first shoot out with the Terminator takes place. The term is a portmanteau of "technology", representing the Science Fiction elements of the genre and "noir", which is French for black and comes from the term "film noir". 

"Film noir" is a term, that was coined in the 1940ies for crime movies, that had cynical undertone and often a sexual motivation in its center. It often included a central character that deviated from the classical hero, in the sense that he is at a low point. Another typical character in movies attributed to this genre is the femme fatale, a seductive mysterious woman, whose first action often is to pull the main character into the story. These movies' themes appear in retrospect lightyears ahead of its time. A classic example for this is "Gilda" (1946), in which the title character manipulates men with her sexuality to achieve her goals, almost fifty years before "Basic Instinct" was made.  

Tech-noir movies often take place in a dystopian future, where earth or the setting shows signs of decay due to human ignorance or even through the abuse of technology (e.g. "Strange Days" and "Johnny Mnemonic"). In addition some or all of the above mentioned elements from the film noir genre are present and the general cynical tone of the classic film noir. 

Although the term was coined in 1984, after the movie "Terminator" came out, Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" can be considered one of the the first movies of this new subgerne. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is the retired cop, or in this case the blade runner, who is called back to action and Rachael (Sean Young) is the movie's femme fatal. Interesting enough the movie is based on Philipp K. Dick's "Do Androids dream of electric sheep?" and almost all of Philipp K. Dick's work that has been adapted for the screen has been attributed to this genre, although the noir elements have often been added by the film makers. 

Other examples of tech-noir movies and series include: "Strange Days", "Altered Carbon", "Minority Resport", "A.I." and "Ghost in the Shell". 

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