Quite Unusual
Posted by FirmWarez on 12 Apr 2012 in Blog | 0 comments
Front 242 as Prototype Hackers
From their appearance and joy of exploring their art, to the themes in their music and videos, Front 242’s early 1980s line-up is a prototype of hacker and cyberpunk.
An example of this is the video for the song “Quite Unusual”. The song’s lyrics are an interesting take on 1980s apocalypse music. The lyrics seem to be written from the point of view of a survivor of a nuclear attack, describing the scene using metaphors from the natural world.
The video however presents a number of archetypical hacker concepts and ethos.
The band members’ appearance sets the stage for the hacker/cyberpunk look through-out the remainder of the century, including the Matrix film franchise. Their dress includes leather, combat style boots, sunglasses, and a general dark appearance. One member has a Mohawk haircut. Technology acts as accessories to their look, with members wearing communications headsets.
We first see the band climbing across a roof top in an apparently run-down industrial area, invoking urban exploration and physical space hacking. From the exterior shot we move to the interior of an old industrial building, and we find our heroes chained to columns in the building, imprisoned by a nemesis that uses technology to torment and monitor them. This nemesis imposes his control over the heroes with a remote controlled helicopter.
The heroes break their bonds; not to escape technology but to escape the use of technology as a means of control. In their freedom they escape the scene in a helicopter, showing it’s not the technology itself, but rather the application of the technology that matters.