How Steven Spielberg breaks down reality in Ready Player One
21st century is turning out to be a strange place. Technology is altering the human experience, be it the activation of social humanoid, Sophia, new discoveries with artificial intelligence or phones that can virtually assist in almost everything we do. Everything seems on the cusp of a disruptive transition.
The crucial question at the heart of existence today is whether humans can switch to the virtual world to escape the pressures of reality? The answer is somewhat unravelled in Steven Spielberg’s latest, Ready Player One – an adventure quest to take ownership of a virtual reality universe, the OASIS.
What is OASIS?
OASIS stands for Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation. Here's when you break it down: Ontology - a branch of philosophy which deals with the nature of existence; Anthropocentric is that which has humans at the centre of it; Sensory - stimulating all five senses; Immersive - too real to forgo reality; Simulation - perhaps a small reminder that it’s not real after all.
The film is set in 2045. The world is bleak and overcrowded, unemployment and poverty limits are peaking. In the opening scene, Wade Watts, in his introduction of the OASIS, talks about the present where people take refuge in a virtual reality to escape the "absurdity" of reality.
The dystopian future is wrought with an unforeseen energy crisis owing to global warming, famine, disease, poverty and incessant conflicts and riots. This world is stricken and meaninglessness where suffering has been normalised. OASIS, a multiplayer online game, has outgrown itself into a virtual reality portal that has connected people from across the globe. All humans have access to it as smartphones today.
If we need movies, music, books today, here the MMO (massively multiplayer online) game OASIS is the de facto escape for everyone. Spielberg’s visual extravaganza, which is based on the eponymous novel of American author Ernest Cline, is all too real and a bit hard to discern in parts.
People could be anybody here: “The OASIS lets you be whoever you want to be. That's why everyone is addicted to it.”
James Halliday, the creator of OASIS, upon his death pledges half a trillion dollars and ownership of the virtual universe. The ownership and the fortune can only be availed by the one who solves his riddles. The entire movie dwells on the quest to find the three keys vital to the ownership.
Real versus virtual
The real hero here is decided by who will survive in the tussle between the real and virtual. The movie, replete with pop culture references from the 1980s, explores the possibility of virtual reality losing the virtual edge.
So far, the perils of technology are not uncommon to humanity, but in a distant future, a virtual conquest of the real world will be far from surprising and all too close to home. In the real world, human interactions matter; in the virtual world, however, we are reduced to a version of ourselves, which is modified to balance the unfulfilled needs.
While in the real world people long to be a certain way, in the virtual sphere, you are quite literally what you think you are.
In the movie, OASIS not only allows users to alter their physical appearance but also allows them to change their concept of self. Regular people can be warriors and nerds can be superheroes. Dissatisfaction is the driving force behind people indulging with OASIS.
You only live once
In the real world, despite all its absurdities, complexities and unpredictability, life is a fascinating thrill-ride, full of boundless possibilities. We have friendships and families to make life beautiful. In fact, the most important takeaway from the film is towards the end when Wade kisses Samantha - a feeling that cannot be replicated in the virtual world.
Humankind for generations has been grappling with the meaning of life and death. One advantage of OASIS in Speilberg’s celluloid adaptation of Ready Player One is that it has made mortality tangible and accessible to users in form of their virtual avatars that can easily evade the trappings of time and space.
The creator of OASIS has found immortality with his avatar Anorak.
In the movie, Wade feels safe in OASIS, away from the world. This might seem like a very restricting thought, as in the real world, regardless of who you are, there is a place for everyone.
No matter how science and technology progress in the coming days, reality will be seeded in. Just as in Spielberg’s film, reality with all its horrors and wonderment will keep humanity closely knit. Because reality is, after all, the real thing.