History Headscratchers / JohnnyMnemonic

**** What do you ''mean'' "Takahashi wasn't important enough"? If being the person in charge of an entire company's operations in one region of the world doesn't make him important enough, then who ''is'' important. Nevermind the fact that Shinji was '''''subordinate''''' to Takahashi and received instructions from [=PharmaKom=]'s '''Tokyo''' division.
*** Also, [[DoWeHaveThisOne we have a trope]] for the treatment/cure debate: ''PhlebotinumMuncher''. Selling a cure '''might''' have gotten them a lot of money(more likely, politicians would force the company to give the cure away for free in exchange for votes), but the treatments were making [[TakeOverTheWorld the entire planet]] increasingly dependent on [=PharmaKom=] - '''''"[[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem When PharmaKom says jump, you say 'how high' or you'll die of NAS!]]"''''' J-Bone wasn't just being rebellious when he said, "It's payback time," at the [=PharmaKom=] tower bursting into flames(most likely because it was being attacked by lynch mobs).
**** This entire point still ignores the fact that [=PharmaKom=] went through all the trouble to create the cure that '''they wouldn't even use for themselves'''. Even if anything you're trying to point out here would have any value on its own in a debate, [=PharmaKom=] ''STILL'' created the cure for apparently no reason other than to '''''just sit on it and do nothing with it'''''; if they were going to go through all the time and effort to create a cure (which they did), [[CutLexLuthorACheck they may as well try to do something with it to get some kind of valued use out of it]]. If "treating the disease is more profitable than curing it," '''then why even bother to make one in the first place?'''

**** What do you ''mean'' "Takahashi wasn't important enough"? If the person in charge of an entire company's operations in one region of the world doesn't make him important enough, then who ''is'' important. Nevermind the fact that Shinji was '''''subordinate''''' to Takahashi and received instructions from [=PharmaKom=]'s '''Tokyo''' division.

*** Also, [[DoWeHaveThisOne we have a trope]] for the treatment/cure debate: ''PhlebotinumMuncher''. Selling a cure '''might''' have gotten them a lot of money(more likely, politicians would force the company to give the cure away for free in exchange for votes), but the treatments were making the entire planet increasingly dependent on [=PharmaKom=] - '''''"[[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem When PharmaKom says jump, you say 'how high' or you'll die of NAS!]]"''''']]

*** Also, [[DoWeHaveThisOne we have a trope]] for the treatment/cure debate: ''PlebotinumMuncher''. Selling a cure '''might''' have gotten them a lot of money(more likely, politicians would force the company to give the cure away for free in exchange for votes), but the treatments were making the entire planet increasingly dependent on [=PharmaKom=] - '''''"[[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem When PharmaKom says jump, you say 'how high' or you'll die of NAS!]]"''''']]

*** Takahashi changed sides ''because'' he learned the truth! Even then, this doesn't explain why [=PharmaKom=] would waste their own money and resources on researching and creating a cure that they didn't even want to inoculate themselves with.

** [=PharmaKom=] didn't even make the cure for NAS available to their own employees and staff to make sure that they couldn't get the disease themselves, as evidenced in Takahashi's storyline with his daughter. What's the point in a company using their own money and resources in researching and creating a cure for a disease if they're not even going to inoculate '''''themselves''''' and just going to sit on it? Creating the cure was entirely pointless for them.

*** Because we don't have enough scientific research to create them, and what does ''that'' question have to do with ''the movie''?

*** Were those guys ''really'' the army? I always thought those guys were part of [=PharmaKom=]'s private security (which would be equally bizarre, if they indeed have access to police and military) or, at best, a [[DirtyCop crooked SWAT team]]. I just remember Shinji dressing ''exactly'' like those [[{{Mook}} mooks]], and he was definitely not part of the army. And what would they need plausible deniability for if they pretty much own or even ''are'' the government; can't they just influence the law enforcement and justice divisions that we're already arguing they had control of? If you're running The System, you can basically pull all the strings to just make you look like the good guy. Introduce legislation that benefits your corporate agenda. Print propaganda. Brand the Lo-Teks, NAS Underground, and corporate "defectors" as Enemies of the State and use your influence over government bodies to use police and military to wipe them out. There's no need to ever have to ''hire the Yakuza'', ever, even if your corporation is supposed to be Japanese owned.

*** Were those guys ''really'' the army? I always thought those guys were part of [=PharmaKom=]'s private security (which would be equally bizarre, if they indeed have access to police and military) or, at best, a [[DirtyCop crooked SWAT team]]. I just remember Shinji dressing ''exactly'' like those [[{{Mook}} mooks]], and he was definitely not part of the army. And what would they need plausible deniability for if they pretty much own or even ''are'' the government; can't they just influence the law enforcement and justice divisions that we're already arguing they had control of? If you're running The System, you can basically pull all the strings to just make you look like the good guy. Introduce legislation that benefits your corporate agenda. Print propaganda. Brand the Lo-Teks, NAS Underground, and corporate "defectors" as Enemies of the State and use your influence over police and armies to wipe them out. There's no need to ever have to ''hire the Yakuza'', even if your corporation is supposed to be Japanese owned.

*** TwoWords [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability Plausible Deniability]]. And they ''do'' call in the army anyway when they lay siege to Lo-Tek headquarters.

*** That doesn't mean people can no longer catch a disease once a cure is developed. A cure for cancer does not automatically mean all people no longer get cancer. Not to mention that there are ''new'' diseases crop up ''all the damn time''. There will ''always'' be big money to be made in pharmaceuticals no matter how many cures are discovered and/or sold.

*** But why would a corporation '''''hire the Yakuza''''' if they have '''the police and army''' in their pocket? The Yakuza operates ''outside'' law and order; police and the army ''enforce exactly what law and order are supposed to be'' and would likely have a lot more resources at their disposal. There's just no point to hiring thugs if you can get professional soldiers who are actually ''trained'' and would certainly have the most access to the best available equipment just the same.

*** But why would a corporation '''''hire the Yakuza''''' if they have '''the police and army''' in their pocket? The Yakuza operates ''outside'' law and order; police and the army ''enforce exactly what law and order are supposed to be'' and would likely have a lot more resources at their disposal. There's just no point to hiring thugs when you can get professional soldiers who are actually ''trained'' and would certainly have the most access to the best available equipment.

*** That doesn't mean people can no longer catch a disease once a cure is developed. A cure for cancer does not automatically mean all people no longer get cancer. Not to mention that there are ''new'' diseases crop up ''all the damn time''. There will ''always'' be big money to be made in pharmaceuticals than

*** This is closely tied to RealLife conspiracy theories about drug companies - visit any drugstore and you'll find reams of OTC medications that implicitly state that they "provide temporary relief from the symptoms of yadda yadda." If ''any'' disease is actually cured, there's no way to make money off it any more.

* Well, yeah. The corporations implicitly own the cops and the army, but contract out ''really'' dirty tricks to the guys who do dirty tricks for a living.

** Well, yeah. The corporations implicitly own the cops and the army, but contract out ''really'' dirty tricks to the guys who do dirty tricks for a living. And the Lo-Teks could be more appropriately known as {{Schizo Tech}}s - they steal any weapons they can and kitbash the rest. After they rescued Jones from the U.S. Navy, he became the core of their hacking system. Guerrilla warfare at its most basic.

* One of Ralfi's bodyguards helps Shinji chase down Johnny and Jane [[spoiler: after Shinji killed Ralfi]]. Why would she want to help the person who [[spoiler: killed her own employer and the person she was supposed to bodyguard]]? Your guess is as good as mine.

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