Ready Player One

About

Ready Player One is a 2011 dystopian science-fiction novel written by Ernest Cline. Upon its publication, the book quickly became a New York Times best-seller and received critical acclaims for its innovative exploration of virtual reality, as well as a film adaptation by Steven Spielberg that is slated for release in 2018.

Plot Summary

Ready Player One follows Wade Watts in a dystopian future set in the year 2044.^[1] In the book, Watts, hunts for an "Easter egg" in a virtual reality game, the discovery of which will help him inherit a valuable fortune. In the year 2044, the world is wracked with an energy crisis as a result of the depletion of fossil fuels. People pass the time by living in a virtual reality world called OASIS, a program created by Jason Halliday. Before he died, Halliday announced that there was an Easter egg--a hidden message-- in the game, and the first person to discover it would inherit his fortune and company. Halliday was an avid fan of 80s culture, so much of the world contains references to 80s and 90s pop culture icons. The story begins as Watts finds one of the first clues to discover the Easter egg. As Watts goes on adventures, he develops a crush on Art3mis, a fellow hunter, and has a best friend named Aech.

History

The novel was published by Random House on August 16th, 2011. It was a New York Times Bestseller and a critical success. Critics lauded the novel's wit and deep love of geek culture. The Huffington Post wrote the book "has it all – nostalgia, trivia, adventure, romance, heart and, dare I say it, some very fascinating social commentary." USA Today wrote that the book made Cline "the hottest geek on the planet right now."

Film Adaptation

The film rights were purchased by Warner Bros. on the same day Cline signed with Random House. Stephen Spielberg signed on to direct the film in March of 2015. On July 22nd, 2017, the first trailer for the film was released (shown below).

Reception

Upon its publication in August 2011, Ready Player One received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the critics, including the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Huffington Post, NPR, A.V. Club, CNN, USA Today, io9, and Boing Boing, among others. The book has been listed as a New York Times bestseller three times and translated into more than 20 languages.

Film Trailer

Following the release of the first trailer for the film in July 2017, both the book and film became targets of backlash on Twitter, where users criticized it for being a vast tableau of pandering, "nerd culture" references without any substance. A popular tweet by @donniemnemonic mocked a page in which the narrator offers a long list of 80s pop culture shows and films he had become obsessed with (shown below).

Neil Cicierega parodied the trailer by shouting "Whoa!" in a five-second clip in which various pop culture icons flash on the screen (shown below). AV Club^[2] and Fox News^[3] covered the backlash online against the film.

Geeks Should Rejoice

On March 12th, 2018, Twitter^[6] user @Koutchboom responded to a positive review of the film by Screen Crush writer Matt Singer. They wrote, "Any dork hating on Ready Player One stems from jealousy since Ernest Cline seems to be living the ultimate geek make a wish. But his follow up novel proves he's not a one wish pony. Geeks should rejoice in Ready Player One, this is their Black Panther." The tweet implies that fans of popular culture should feel similar to those who enjoyed Black Panther, the first African American superhero to be given its own film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Later that day, Twitter^[7] user @mrfeelswildride shared a screen capture of the tweet and added the caption, "this is the single worst sentence I've ever read." The post (shown below, left) received more than 9,000 retweets and 28,000 likes in 24 hours.

Following the tweet, people on Twitter began mocking the tweet, parodying the comment. Twitter user @iamlaurenp posted the quote with the "hiding behind the wall" emoticon with no one speaking, indicating that this is a thought no one would have. The post (shown below, center) received more than 100 retweets and 380 likes in 24 hours.

Others replaced the name of the film Black Panther with other movies. Twitter^[8] user @HarmlessAvocado tweeted, "Geeks should rejoice in Ready Player One, this is their La Bamba" (shown below, right) and began a thread replacing the name of the movie with other movies.

Fandom

Online, the book and film have decent followings. An official Facebook^[4] page for the film has 44,000 likes. There are also a few dozen illustrations under the #readyplayerone^[5] tag on DeviantArt.

Related Memes

Poster Parodies

Ready Player One Poster Parodies refer to a series of jokes and photoshops inspired by the advertising campaign for the 2018 science fiction film Ready Player One.

On March 6th, 2018, a new series of posters for Ready Player One were released. In this case, the posters were designed to pay homage to famous movie posters that are associated with blockbuster entertainment from the 80s and 90s but using characters and imagery from Ready Player One. These include such films as The Matrix, Blade Runner and The Breakfast Club.

Search Interest

External References