Learning Real's Better in Real Player One.

Afternoon, Fam…

So, we talked about escapism and blurring the line between reality and fantasy in Kiss Me First.  In Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, we continue that theme, but instead of the escapism’s need from a tragedy, it’s from a fear of life.

Based on Ernest Cline’s novel, we jump to 2045 where James Halliday (Mark Rylance), the creator of OASIS, a worldwide popular VR game, has died.  In his final message, he tells the community of players that whoever finds the Easter Egg he’s hidden in the system, that person gets his fortune and thereby gets to run OASIS.  Being that this’s worldwide, everybody and God wants it, of course, to push their own agenda.  Some people’ll even kill in real life to attain this prize.

Tye Sheridan is Parzival, real name Wade Watts.  He just wants a better life with his online friends, Art3mis/Samantha (Olivia Cooke), Aech / Helen (Lena Waithe), Sho (Philip Zhao), and Daito (Win Morisaki) that make up the High Five while on the other end of the spectrum’s Ben Mendelsohn’s Nolan Sorrento, who’s head of Innovative Online Industries, the rival company that wants a hostile takeover of OASIS. He leads the Sixers, an army of indentured servants in the OASIS.

As we’ve said here in multiple blogs, life’s a bitch, when it gets real, it gets real.  That’s scary.  Some have what it takes to weather any storm (cliché), some cower at the littlest thing.  Some just need the cause to step up (Wade).  Still, that’s hard.  It’s all about getting out of our own heads, out of our own way and not get a distraction, so we don’t have to face life.

BECAUSE, IT AIN’T GOING AWAY when the distraction’s over.  Also, when we do check out, I’m a firm believer we carry whatever we thought we failed at in life to death (purgatory) until we learn from it.

Granted, I haven’t read the book yet, it’s on my “to do” list, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, which might be a good thing since I’ve heard people say the film’s weak even with all the awesome throwbacks Easter eggs Spielberg’s thrown in.

Still, the message’s real and it resonated with us, because our life is always changing, some good, some bad, and it’s that unknown that’s scary as hell.

Check it out, see what you think…and, be good too each other.

-J-