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Ready Player One: The Blurred Line Between Reality and the Digital World

In an increasingly technological society, we find ourselves plugged into the matrix 24/7. We’re constantly communicating with others digitally and virtually through the online world.

Digital worlds like the ones in video games, are becoming progressively more realistic as well, not only are our consoles and computers displaying more graphical power, but we can immerse ourselves entirely into these virtual worlds using VR technologies.

This can provide satisfying escapism for those dissatisfied with reality, and for many players, the virtual worlds of their video games become almost like second life.

Many online games have the player create an avatar and role-play life through it. In these worlds, players are free from the restrictions of reality, they can be elves or pandas, they can steal a car or carry out a heist without any real-world repercussions.

People are making friends and building communities. Creating an online persona in these digital mediums that become more their first, than second life.

Steven Spielberg’s latest sci-fi film Ready Player One explores this idea, in a theoretical future where the virtual world overtakes reality.

“A blast of pure childlike amusement.” See #ReadyPlayerOne again – get tickets​ at the link in bio.

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The film is set in the year 2045 in the US state of Ohio, which resembles a classic dystopian city. Houses are made-up of portable buildings stacked on top of one another. Scrap metal and crushed cars litter the streets. Amazon Air-esque drones fly all over the city delivering pizza and goods, and almost everyone in sight is equipped with the VR-like headset, moving and reacting to things that are not seen in the real world.

Inside these headsets, players are immersed in a magnificent world called OASIS. Here, players can be and do anything they want.

Aside from eating or sleeping, everyone is connected to their headsets almost 24/7, seeing, hearing, and feeling everything only in the virtual world – unless someone bumps them in real life.

This includes being any race (human or otherwise), size, gender and appearance they want. They can fight each other, interact with virtual foes like giant apes and dinosaurs, they can dance in clubs and watch films by immersing themselves in their actual worlds. The games are, as far as they are concerned, life.

Before his death, the creator of the OASIS, Halliday, leaves an ‘easter egg’ within the game to be found by following clues. The player who finds the easter egg will have total control over the game, and effectively, everyone’s lives.

A big conglomerate seeks to gain control over OASIS for monetary gains, through revenue gained by placing ads filling 85% of the players’ field of view.

The protagonist, a young man named Wade Watts, is one of many people called ‘gunters’ also trying to find the easter egg, to gain control of the game, (for conveniently more noble reasons that the large conglomerate). They study the creator and his life, in order to learn the clues to the easter egg location.

A discovery they make about the world’s creator is that he was a huge pop culture and video game fan. This is referenced throughout the film with cameos from popular game series, such as Halo, Overwatch, and the classic game Adventure.

Films ingrained in popular culture like The Shining are referenced, and there are even a few nods towards popular animes such as GundamFans of any of the above things will likely enjoy the film and find something they recognise.

The film aims to appeal to gamers and pop culture geeks by using nostalgic references, making it a film aimed mostly towards that demographic. Aside from the references, there is still things others outside the target demographic would enjoy.

Most people would enjoy the film on its merits, but shouldn’t expect much character development. The characters aren’t explored in-depth due to the events happening over a short period of time in the film, meaning they don’t get a chance to develop their personalities.

Visually, the movie is mesmerising to observe, the digitally animated graphics in the virtual world sequences are strikingly realistic and emotive. The film’s animation is a great showcase of how far digital animation has come.

Ready Player One is aimed at those with certain interests, for those people, it’s a must-see. However, the theme the film explores, merging reality and the digital world, is something that anyone will find interesting.

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