Molly Millions (also known as Sally Shears, Rose Kolodny, and others) is a recurring character in stories and novels written by
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...
, particularly his
Sprawl trilogy
The Sprawl trilogy (also known as the Neuromancer, Cyberspace, or Matrix trilogy) is William Gibson's first set of novels, composed of ''Neuromancer'' (1984), ''Count Zero'' (1986), and ''Mona Lisa Overdrive'' (1988).
The novels are all set in t ...
. She first appeared in "
Johnny Mnemonic", to which she makes an oblique reference in ''
Neuromancer
''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. Considered one of the earliest and best-known works in the cyberpunk genre, it is the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and ...
'' (where she is mostly referred to as "Molly" with no last name given). She later appeared in ''
Mona Lisa Overdrive
''Mona Lisa Overdrive'' is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, published in 1988. It is the final novel of the cyberpunk Sprawl trilogy, following ''Neuromancer'' and '' Count Zero'', taking place eight years aft ...
'' under the name "Sally Shears".
Character history
In all three stories, Molly is a physically tough (but not instantly imposing) bodyguard/mercenary
cyborg
A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. . She is referred to as a "razorgirl" or "street samurai" throughout his stories and also as "Steppin' Razor" by the residents of Zion, a
Rastafarian
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...
enclave aboard a space station.
A useful contact for dealing with gangs and black market elements, she tends to show little remorse for the opponents she ruthlessly dispatches in the course of her objectives. In fact she shows few deep emotions towards anyone outside of hatred, suspicion or amused contempt. Nevertheless, Molly is always regarded throughout the book as a loyal, morally strong character, opposed to the progressing decay of human relations in the world Gibson depicts.
An exception to her cold, somewhat cynical approach to life was her relationship with Johnny (of "
Johnny Mnemonic"), for whom she still mourned at the time of ''Neuromancer''. This is part of the personal history she relates to its protagonist, Case, in addition to the revelation that she worked as a "meat puppet" (a
prostitute) in a "puppet parlor" (a
brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub p ...
where people loan out their bodies while maintained in a blanked-out state) to pay for her considerable cybernetic enhancements.
Another
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
, used when she rents a hotel room in ''Neuromancer'', is "Rose Kolodny", the name by which the
Turing Police refer to her. The Turing Police may have simply gotten the name from the hotel's registry, but it is sometimes speculated to be her original name. The later trilogy books speculate that she is "SINless", having been an unrecorded birth and never having been issued a "Single Identity Number". This would give her the advantage of being more difficult to track in the cyberspace environment. Critic
Larry McCaffery
Lawrence F. McCaffery Jr. (born May 13, 1946) is an American literary critic, editor, and retired professor of English and comparative literature at San Diego State University. His work and teaching focuses on postmodern literature, contemporary ...
asserts that the name "Molly" is a reference to her status as a
gun moll
A gun moll or gangster moll or gangster's moll is the female companion of a male professional criminal. "Gun" was British slang for thief, derived from Yiddish ''ganef'', from the Hebrew ''gannāb'' ( גנב). "Moll" is also used as a euphemism for ...
.
William Gibson has stated that he derived inspiration for the character from the image of
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...
on the
cover of the first
Pretenders album.
Augmentations
Molly's metabolism, sensory input, and reflexes are artificially heightened by means of electronic implants and other advanced medical procedures. She has razor-sharp retractable blades underneath her fingernails, each double-edged and four centimeters in length. Appearing at first glance to be wearing mirrored sunglasses, Molly has in fact had her eye sockets sealed with vision-enhancing mirrored lenses, installed by the skilled black-market surgeons of
Chiba City
is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about east of the centre of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. The city became a government-designated city in 1992. In June 2019, its population was 979,768, with a population density of 3,605 people ...
. To accommodate the inset lenses her tear ducts have been re-routed to her mouth; on the very rare occasions she cries, she either spits out or swallows the tears. She never lets others touch the lenses as it would leave messy fingerprints requiring extra cleaning.
Portrayal in other media
The 1995 film version of ''
Johnny Mnemonic'' replaced Molly with a character named Jane who did not have modifications to her eyes or to her fingers. Jane did share the modified nervous system but used a single razor attached to the tip of a flexible spring rod as a weapon.
In the 2003
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
adaptation of ''
Neuromancer
''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. Considered one of the earliest and best-known works in the cyberpunk genre, it is the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and ...
'', Molly was played by the English actress
Nicola Walker
Nicola Jane Walker (born 15 May 1970) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, including that of Ruth Evershed in the spy drama '' Spooks'' (2003–2006 and 2009–201 ...
.
Sasha Grey
Marina Ann Hantzis (born March 14, 1988), known professionally as Sasha Grey, is an American actress, model, writer, musician, and former pornographic actress. Grey began her acting career in the pornographic film industry, winning 15 awards for ...
took on the role in ''Case'', a six-hour dramatic contemporary adaptation of the novel staged in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
in November 2009.
Literary analysis
The character has been described as one of Gibson's most complex characters.
References in pop culture
Molly is the subject of a song called "Mirrorshades" by the group
Information Society
An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drivers are information and communication technologies, which have resulted in rapid info ...
.
Comments: Mirrorshades
Notes
References
* William Gibson, ''Burning Chrome'' ("Johnny Mnemonic"), 1986,
* William Gibson, ''Neuromancer'', 1984,
* William Gibson, ''Mona Lisa Overdrive'', 1988,
External links
Fan site
Voidspace
Online excerpts from ''Neuromancer'' and ''Mona Lisa Overdrive''
MOLLY'S MIRRORSHADES; ZEISS-IKON EYES
"I could never dream up a sufficiently convincing way to imagine them being attached."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Millions, Molly
Fictional cyborgs
Sprawl trilogy
William Gibson characters
Literary characters introduced in 1981
Characters in American novels of the 20th century