A Postmodern Cultural Study Of Cyberpunk Drama Person Of Interest

Broadcasted on CBS,American hi-tech crime television Person of Interest(POI)centers on an artificial intelligence system spying every human being authorized by the government.Since the broadcasting,POI has received great audience ratings with positive feedback.After the Snowden Disclosure,POI gains huge public attention because it is considered as the prophecy of the PRISM.The utilization of mass surveillance and artificial intelligence manifestations in the television also trigger public discussion on the ethics and civil rights.This thesis intends to conduct a postmodern cultural study on POI in order to recover the humanism theme hidden behind the postmodern storylines.The thesis would conduct a cultural criticism on Person of Interest with Fredric Jameson's cultural logic.Jameson is a literary critic introducing the concept of utopia into science fiction criticism.In addition,he also proposes a literary characteristic called “generic discontinuities” with its widespread use in science fictions.Applying Jameson's concepts,this thesis studies the utopian manifestations and the practice of “generic discontinuities” in POI.Artificial intelligence(AI)and mass surveillance are two major science fiction factors that attract audience the most.The development of AI and the potential threats from mass surveillance are also hotspot issues in the real world.An analysis of POI in terms of realistic AI and mass surveillance events is granted in detail.Person of Interest marks a typical cyberpunk television in its application of cyber symbols like computer and the Internet as well as its postmodern narration style.This thesis concludes that even though POI is a postmodern cyberpunk television depicting a doomsday of AI losing control,the original intention of POI is to highlight the humanism spirit in the postmodern era.POI is such a science fictional fable that calls for the world's attention on the development of science technology and its subsequent ethical issues.