Ready Player One - Movie

[QualityChimp]

Interesting commentary on when an interest in something becomes a toxic obsession.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/what-ready-player-one-tells-us-about-toxic-fandom/

[Asura]

Interesting commentary on when an interest in something becomes a toxic obsession.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/what-rea...-toxic-fandom/

I'm not too surprised to see all of these takes on the movie, given how it panned out.

I enjoyed it, personally; in fact I really enjoyed it. That being said, I'm not blind to these criticisms.

Something that has irritated me in recent years are the sheer number of remakes and reboots we've seen. The term that sometimes gets applied is "navel gazing"; the idea that our culture has become obsessed with itself. In a sense, Ready Player One is like the ultimate expression of that. It concerns me, at times, when I see announcements of some of these reboots; like a little while back when they were going to reboot Men In Black, and you just sit there wondering how, economically, culturally, how did we reach a point where doing that was doing better than practically anything else. It's like we're at some kind of tipping point where an existing property, any existing property, even a bad one, is better than doing something fresh and new, and Ready Player One is the fulcrum around which that whole approach turns. There are honestly bloggers who are screaming "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE ROME FELL", like the internet equivalent of those guys with sandwich boards professing the world's going to end in 2012-err, 2019.

That being said, I think levelling this at the movie is a bit unfair, and giving it too much power as a piece of media.

It's similar to what I said about Star Wars. Everyone is lambasting the supposedly toxic Star Wars fanbase for hating on The Last Jedi, and it's true, some of them are really taking it too far. However, what's problematic is that Disney and Lucasfilm seem to want to wash their hands of it all, when they are in some part responsible. They've spent ~30 years marketing Star Wars as a lifestyle brand ever since the Expanded Universe books got big, and they've made billions as a result. They can't then turn around and complain that these fans, who they have happily brought along for the ride, just sprang up from the ether when they released the latest movie which consciously tried to take the franchise in a new direction. You reap what you sow. Do I think that's a pain? Well, yeah. It's weird that people will so readily accept something like Star Wars as the defining aspect of their lives, to the point where they'll defend it with amazing zeal - but it's true, we all knew it, we all saw it happening, as did the owners of the franchise.

I think it's more that Ready Player One was marketed as a pop culture mashup - perhaps the ultimate 80s pop-culture mashup - and then the trailers, from over a year ago when they were first shown, really sold that idea. They focused more on that than on the movie's own content, which makes sense from a marketing standpoint, but is always going to suggest that the film is like some kind of hollow Where's Wally of cultural references.

I feel it was actually quite a well-made Spielberg movie. Few people have talked about how, in reality, it's practically an animated movie (nearly all of it takes place in the virtual world), yet it doesn't feel like one due to how it was shot and directed. It's also very well-paced, something I believe Hollywood has often screwed up in recent times (looking at you, Bayformers).

And I'm not naive enough to believe this was accidental. I'm certain that the marketers knew exactly what they were doing. Now we just have to see if it pans out for them.

[Dogg Thang]

I saw this today. I thought it was okay. It would be tough to be objective in any way because I’ve read the book, listened to the audiobook and spent time making a vid based on it so I have already played the ‘what would I do?’ game many tines. The book was always going to need a level of adaptation for narrative, length and licensing reasons so seeing what choices were made was really interesting.

I’m not a big fan of the design choices in the movie. Sorrento’s avatar in particular just didn’t work for me. When it got busy, even with Spielberg’s eye, I thought it got messy - great shots but the design just sort of melds together

But beyond that, there is a basic enjoyable story. It’s a big cartoon really and feels that way in the characterisation too and that’s okay I guess. My daughter totally loved it and is now campaigning to watch The Shining. She is not watching The Shining.

[Atticus]

Went to see this today and I thought it was pretty average. Agree with what Dogg says on the design choices ... just didn't quite work. Also, Mrs Atticus felt quite motion sick watching it ... and the part that should have been my favourite I couldn't actually enjoy as it was borderline a bit too scary for the kids so I found myself focussing more on them

[Neon Ignition]

The Shining aspect was very well done though felt quite out of place, Though it tied in with the narrative it just felt out of place.

That being said, it's hard to be too critical of a modern film prominently featuring Mecha-Godzilla

[Dogg Thang]

Wow, Mark Kermode REALLY liked this movie. I didn’t see that coming. But I liked seeing his joy when he described it. It was a bit like my daughter - she just loved it for what it was.

[charlesr]

Really enjoyed this. Laughed a decent amount too

[Lebowski]

Interesting commentary on when an interest in something becomes a toxic obsession.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/what-rea...-toxic-fandom/

That article pissed me off more than it should have, pushing this whole gamer gate crap misoginistic into the film completely misses the fact that half the main cast are female and seen as being more rounded and knowledgeable than the main protagonist.

At no point dose wade display any toxic behavior towards anyone in the film, he actively hero worships the main female protagonist in their first encounter as shes portrayed as an amazing gamer. To me it sounds like the editor on cracked is bringing his or her own hangups into a fantasy film.

All fanbases have their toxic fans i don't see how this article relates at all to this film and is just clickbaity crap.

[Dogg Thang]

Did you skim it or read it? If it pissed you off more than it should, maybe the article is spot on: "because it's not that game that's being criticized, not in their minds -- it's their identity." The film doesn't say that Wade is like that. What it says is "that's what some of the Wades of the world are like". And they are. You're defending elements of the film that the article doesn't reference. So... "regardless of whether the the Ready Player One movie is remembered as a delightful classic or a pile of pandering garbage, it seems like it's a good excuse to have this conversation. At what point does your enthusiasm for a game or movie franchise, or a celebrity, or political candidate, or firearms, or anything else suddenly bring out the worst in your personality? At what level does your love turn into bitter defensiveness and petty gatekeeping?" The article is simply asking questions. Seems like they are good questions to ask.

[Lebowski]

Did you skim it or read it? If it pissed you off more than it should, maybe the article is spot on: "because it's not that game that's being criticized, not in their minds -- it's their identity." The film doesn't say that Wade is like that. What it says is "that's what some of the Wades of the world are like". And they are. You're defending elements of the film that the article doesn't reference. So... "regardless of whether the the Ready Player One movie is remembered as a delightful classic or a pile of pandering garbage, it seems like it's a good excuse to have this conversation. At what point does your enthusiasm for a game or movie franchise, or a celebrity, or political candidate, or firearms, or anything else suddenly bring out the worst in your personality? At what level does your love turn into bitter defensiveness and petty gatekeeping?" The article is simply asking questions. Seems like they are good questions to ask.

If this film was a misogynistic fanboys wet dream, that portrayed sexist and toxic behavior as ok then fair play, but to me this article is really stretching and pushing an agenda with little relation to the source material for the sake of it.

[Dogg Thang]

The article never says or implies that the film is that.

[Lebowski]

The article never says or implies that the film is that.

Which is what annoys me how is Ready player one a starting point to talk about toxic community/fanbases and gamergate, when the film doesn't glamorize any of the negative aspects that surround these things.

[Dogg Thang]

Yep, it doesn't. I'm not sure you're quite getting the article, which discusses the 2011 book as much as the film and the differences between the two in when they came out and what has come to light since then.

[Neon Ignition]

Now I've had a bit of time to digest the film, having heard a sequel book is in the works, I'd be glad if they didn't return to it. It's a fun ride but lacks weight so it's not stayed with me in any meaningful way. To be fair, that's pretty much the same as 99% of games I play so it's very accurate in that way but it plays out a very limited number of ideas within its run time to their maximum so any Ready Player Two holds little appeal.

[Dogg Thang]

I wasn't a fan of his second book, although QC liked it. I'm sure I'd end up reading a sequel book but it's not something I'd be excited about.