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William Gibson's Neuromancer Staged With Porn Star

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the are-you-familiar-with-her-work dept.

destinyland writes "Sunday night saw a reading of the William Gibson's classic cyberpunk novel featuring porn star Sasha Grey at a New York art museum, along with sculpture-props simulating virtual reality. Artist Brody Condon promised to combine 'Gibson's 1980s dystopian techno-fetishism with early twentieth-century abstraction,' but the editor of H+ magazine challenges that description. 'In a 1993 interview, Gibson himself told me: "I think my world looks dystopian if you're a middle class white guy doing reasonably well in 1993... There are so many places in the world today that are so much crappier than anything I'm writing about."' And earlier this month William Gibson shared his response to a blog post about the event. 'Gol' dang! It's news to me!'"

36 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. "sculpture-props simulating virtual reality" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    sculpture-props simulating virtual reality

    You get the sense that someone doesn't quite grasp the basic concepts.

    1. Re:"sculpture-props simulating virtual reality" by LordAndrewSama · · Score: 2, Funny

      maybe they're too busy grasping something else?

    2. Re:"sculpture-props simulating virtual reality" by The+Archon+V2.0 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      sculpture-props simulating virtual reality

      You get the sense that someone doesn't quite grasp the basic concepts.

      No, actually, they got it right. Something real styled after something that doesn't exist must be simulated.

      Thinking about any one of their props hard enough leads me to this train of thought: It's a real object, therefore it is real reality. So it can't be real virtual reality, it has to be simulated virtual reality which is what any real real reality made with real virtual reality in mind has to be, though since it's based on a cyberpunk novel it's really a simulated virtual fictional object, or a non-real non-real non-real object and now my ears are bleeding and I wonder why that is and it's all really real ooooh....

  2. Re:Queen of 'Loser Porn' - Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's "Loser Porn"?

    It's "I can't even dream of having sex with a girl as pretty and intelligent as Sasha Grey, so I'll just call her a skank and call her work 'loser porn'".

  3. Re:Not a play, just by lnlypaladin · · Score: 2

    Isn't that what books on tape are for?

    Oh well. I think it would be better as a movie than as a play anyway. Unfortunately the special effects department would probably get carried away when the characters jack in and suck up so much time that they'd forget to tell the story.

    --
    Even those with good senses of humor, honor, and saintly intentions must occasionally require the use of a strong shield
  4. I think my world looks dystopian... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But the world looks utopian if you're a middle class white guy doing Sasha Grey.

    1. Re:I think my world looks dystopian... by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 2, Funny

      But the world looks utopian if you're a middle class white guy doing Sasha Grey.

      Until the test results come back.

    2. Re:I think my world looks dystopian... by MBGMorden · · Score: 2, Interesting

      STD's are actually fairly uncommon in the mainstream porn industry. Some performers wear condoms (which if you wore during your little escapade with Ms Grey then you have little to worry about - it's not a 100% thing but it's close enough not to fret over it), and those who don't are constantly tested and essentially sign contracts explicitly stating that they'll only have sex with others in the porn industry who are subjected to the same tests. Generally they'll stick to that as, well, most people in porn are getting laid more than enough to seek out more action outside of the biz.

      When there's an outbreak of AIDS or something similar it literally hits national (porn) news. Haven't seen a scare in about 2 years, and the last one didn't affect too many in the industry.

      All in all, strap on your glove and bang who you want. Heck most prostitutes use condoms religiously to the point where you're probably safer there wearing your rubber than with some random chick you take home from the bar if she doesn't care if you wear it.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    3. Re:I think my world looks dystopian... by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If your boss gives you a car, you feel great.
      If your boss gives your co-worker two cars, now you feel badly.

      The last three decades have consisted of taking away pieces of white middle class males cars until now they are riding a used bicycle only very slightly better than everyone else's.

      The drop in status, income, prestige, and even the ability to retain a job has been painful and protracted. Very soon white males will be a minority in many areas and from what I've seen, the former minorities have a lot of illegal practices (like hiring only the same minority as they are) which no one is willing to fight against yet. I think that at some point very soon (the next 10 years), you will see a Mexican company based in the U.S. sued successfully for not hiring/promoting white males.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    4. Re:I think my world looks dystopian... by raddan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I have a friend from college who is doing fairly well as a porn producer. He says that there's another factor preventing people in the porn industry from having sexual relationships with people outside of it: most people have tremendous hang ups about sex. As a result, it's very difficult to maintain a relationship with someone who is not a porn star when you yourself are, so people in the industry tend to date other people in the industry.

    5. Re:I think my world looks dystopian... by Shimmer · · Score: 2, Informative

      A minority to who? The only way that's at all possible is if you say we're a minority compared to everyone else added up, which is stupid.

      You might think it's stupid, but that's what the word "minority" means!

      Minority means < 50%
      Majority means > 50%
      Super-majority means > 50% + X, where X is some positive number.

      They are not relative terms.

      --
      The most rabid believers in American Exceptionalism are the exact same people whose policies are destroying it.
  5. Re:Why.. by Schiphol · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well, the interest of mainstream contemporary art in a cyber-punk novel may be deemed of interest to /.ers. But I agree with you that this publication is too close to "Drop William Gibson's name and I'll slashdot you".

  6. Re:Why.. by umghhh · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sasha Grey plays a vitol role in some of the documentaries that we so love to watch in our cellars - that is why.

  7. I saw this... by PortWineBoy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was at the reading yesterday as part of my sojourns around Performa 09. No one else recognized her (that I could tell) in the audience, but it was a durational piece and I was only there a half hour. I was almost positive it was her, but she had these huge sunglasses on and I couldn't be sure...and it didn't seem like a good question to just ask a random chick at a performance piece while I was there with my gf...

    --

    this sig deleted by another sig

  8. They're Still Dystopian by russotto · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The world of _1984_ would look great to someone from Somalia or some of the other hellholes of the world. _Brave New World_ even more so. Yet they're still both considered dystopian. Same goes for Neuromancer.

    1. Re:They're Still Dystopian by sarhjinian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Liberty has a very low calorie content and you can't burn individuality to keep you warm during cold winter nights.

      I'm not saying they're not valuable, but they're also pretty far down the hierarchy of needs. There's a lesson to be learned here: if you keep people well-fed, sheltered, clothed and socially stable you can actually foster liberty and individuality (and innovation, creativity, etc) because the base needs are met. If you want to oppress people, make sure they don't have enough food to get up off their knees.

      It's very interesting that, throughout history, periods where the middle class grows coincide with leaps in "social betterment", while strife and stagnation are lockstep with polarization of rich and poor. You'd think we'd have figured this out after the first few cycles, huh?

      --
      --srj/mmv
    2. Re:They're Still Dystopian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Except in 1984 if you were in Somalia, you were pretty much part of a slave caste and your conditions wouldn't have changed regardless of who owned you. You were worth less even than the proles. [Rant] I wonder how many people that reference 1984 actually have read it, much less remember it. People talk about heading into a 1984 society where everyone is monitored and having no freedom but by and large the majority of the population did not experience this in the book. The proles like you and I were just disregarded and left to our devices unless we spoke up or showed some prowness towards helping Big Brother.[/Rant]

  9. Re:Article written by... by SolarCanine · · Score: 5, Informative

    R.U. Sirius has been writing for years, and was the editor of Mondo 2000 magazine during the '90s, as well as co-author of Cyberpunk Handbook:: The Real Cyberpunk Fakebook with St. Jude. So yes, it's very real (and not the first time his work has found the convergence of cyberpunk and porn, either...)

  10. Re:Why.. by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The first time I had ever seen Sasha Grey was in The Girlfriend Experience. She was awful, probably ruined the film (if it wasn't the writers who ruined it first). Anyway, it was a complete snooze fest. Also who hires a pron star to play a prostitute and has her keep her clothes on for 99% of the film?

  11. Re:Queen of 'Loser Porn' - Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Every "second tier porn skank" was "at one point pegged to be the next Jenna Jameson."

  12. Re:Not a play, just by ae1294 · · Score: 2, Funny

    All this talk of chocolate and vanilla ice cream in response to an article about Sasha Grey makes my id go wild...

    My ID would like to subscribe to your newsletter... RIGHT NOW...

  13. Re:LOL! One of Sash's Loser Jerkoff Boys Speaks by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Guess where I live loser? That's right, the San Fucking Fernando Valley. Fucking pornstars. Been there, done that.

    translation: I think I am Napoleon Bonaparte.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  14. Re:Why.. by ae1294 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why is this on slashdot?/quote
    Sasha Grey

  15. Middle class "white guy?" by zhrike · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That kind of uncritical asinine blather never ceases to tweak me. Middle class anyone, Gibson, you tool. It's amazing that people spout (and think) racist shit like this, and it is left bare, unchallenged, validated by silence thus tacit approval. Fuck that. The assumption is what? If you're middle class but not white that your perspective is different? GMAFB. If you're middle class and white, like me, you can't possibly know about destitution? (I came from it).

    Idiocy.

    1. Re:Middle class "white guy?" by maxume · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, except for the part where it is pretty clear Gibson is naming middle class white guys as examples of people who were relatively comfortable in 1993, not naming them as the only people who were comfortable in 1993.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:Middle class "white guy?" by m.ducharme · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would say that the world does look different to middle class black people, and even middle class white women, at least in North America. To pretend otherwise to to assume that we've successfully removed all race and gender barriers from our society. But we haven't. You can pretend that everything is all sweetness and light if you like, and that all the injustices of the past have been righted and anyone who says otherwise is just a whiner, but the facts simply don't bear that out. Despite affirmative action, despite equal opportunities, life is still better for white guys in North America than it is for anyone else.

      The fact that you came up from destitution isn't the point. The point is that it's easier for someone to pull themselves up from the gutter if they're white males than it is for anyone else. It's easier to stay out of the gutter if you're a white male, and it's easier to get from the middle class to the upper classes if you're a white male (which is not to say that it's easy, it's been getting harder for all of us to even maintain our financial positions over the last few decades).

      --
      Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
  16. Re:Not a play, just by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've staged War of the Worlds in my living room with my cats as the aliens, but it didn't make it onto Slashdot.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  17. The middle class by manekineko2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I agree the race dropping was uncalled for, but he also was giving this response in an interview, where we can't always pick the perfect words for what we're trying to say. If he was just trying to draw a distinction between middle class in the privileged (and largely white) West versus the middle class in, say, India where by US standards you're still desperately poor, I don't think it's entirely illegitimate.

  18. Dystopian is contextual by manekineko2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, they're all considered dystopian in the context of the West, but I think his point is astute, that whether something is a dystopia is contextual. The people living in positions of privilege, i.e. the West, wring their hands over and work hard to prevent these various dystopias from occurring, even while they may be actually working against the interests of the majority of humanity.

    What we have now, if it wasn't reality, could be easily portrayed as a dystopia in a novel. Worse, the people with power to change things (the powered and moneyed people who are citizens in the first world) are unwilling to consider a lot of possibilities that may be on the table because they seem worse than their own privileged positions, without considering how badly off the majority of humanity is under their current system.

  19. Re:Not a play, just by E+IS+mC(Square) · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I hope not.

  20. i give this troll an 8 out 10 by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Insightful

    the contrived outrage: well-played sir

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  21. Molly Millions by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When you take into account the mindless sex-doll career of the character Molly, Sasha Grey is an apt choice for the part.

  22. Porn Stars not what they used to be. by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When I was growing up porn stars were very rare.

    Today they are very common.

    The stigma is less but so is the cachet.

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    1. Re:Porn Stars not what they used to be. by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Lol.

      What is missing from most porn (old and new) is the seduction.

      I've never found people screwing to be erotic (even if both are female). There was one I saw back in the late 80's/ early 90's tho-- I think it was directed by a female (back before females became so much more masculine) and she had two people, fully dressed, standing talking in front of a fireplace for about 5 to 10 minutes that was one of the most erotic things I've ever seen. Both were good but average looking without makeup.

      They went from casually talking to credibly aroused and there was the electric moment when both realized they were going to do something. I can't even recall the sex scene after but I still remember that scene two decades later.

      Sex is usually about rubbing one spot a lot. It often looks goofy. The seduction is the part that is interesting to me.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  23. Middle-class White Guy? by flajann · · Score: 3, Funny
    "I think my world looks dystopian if you're a middle class white guy doing reasonably well in 1993..."

    How about if you are a middle class "black" guy doing reasonably well in 1993?

    --
    Ruby Neural Evolution of Augmenting Topologies
  24. Trolls trolling trolls.... by m.ducharme · · Score: 3, Insightful

    trolling trolls trolling trolls.

    --
    Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.