Cherry 2000 depicts a fractured 2017 America where the economy and environment have collapsed into a patchwork of hyper-civilized urban enclaves and lawless, radioactive "zones." Earth is portrayed as a decaying landscape where 20th-century technology is scavenged and recycled to sustain a dwindling societal structure, effectively turning the future into a technological recycling center.

Intimacy in this world is governed by extreme bureaucracy; human-to-human sexual encounters often require legal contracts and attorneys to negotiate terms in public clubs. This societal aversion to natural intimacy leads citizens to prefer gynoids—advanced female androids like the titular Cherry 2000 model—which represent a commodified version of affection. These robots are treated as disposable appliances, though their personality-storing memory disks allow for a facsimile of emotional continuity if a replacement body can be found.

While the film's version of 2017 did not mirror the real-world's total environmental collapse, its depiction of the bureaucratic stifling of human connection carries notable weight. Modern parallels exist in the data-driven, transactional nature of dating apps and the ongoing development of social robotics and AI companions. Furthermore, the film correctly identified a future where vintage hardware and physical media would become rare artifacts within a planned obsolescence economy.