WHAT DO YOU SEE?
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Also, if you need any more reasons, or just want some: The Dystopia is basically that a world exists outside of a white privileged dudeâs fantasy of having no responsibility and being left to your nostalgia, the pop culture is excruciatingly white(itâs a book thatâs full to bursting with 80s nostalgia that includes a moderately comprehensive listing of every popular cock-rock band from the 80s, but manages to pretend that rap doesnât exist, practically none of the references are ever to anything created by women or anyone who isnât a white American or British dude), it literally has a scene of people cheering the protagonist because he out-nerds and shames someone for not being âworthyâ(read: Obsessed enough with 80s pop culture trivia) enough of a nerd, the story is literally just an old(and dead) white guy gatekeeping nerd culture and giving a prize to the person who passes his super narrow gate, the female protagonist is judged almost exclusively on her ability to pass that gatekeeping, and serves only two purposes, as character development for the protagonist, and a prize at the end.
Oh, and speaking of the end, itâs not even an ending that turns and goes âYouâre a fucking idiotâ like some other works that revolve around references(see: High Fidelity) the end is literally just - entirely due to his absurdly detailed knowledge of the minutia of 80s nerd culture references - he gets the money, gets the girl(and even learns to accept her despite her hideous deformity ofâŚa highly visible birthmark), becomes literally the most powerful person on the face of the earth.
This is one of the only good things to come out of that book.
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Oh. One more thing. Unlike those old white guy sci-fi books (Dune), Ready Player One was published in 2011. Cline doesnât even have the lame excuse of being from the past where people didnât know better.
I agree with everything youâve pointed out, but as a pedant.
Your page and a half above mentions The Matrix as a âholy trinityâ
[quote=âNaoza, post:24, topic:862â]
Your page and a half above mentions The Matrix as a âholy trinityâ
[/quote]Ehh, edge case. By the time the book came out, Lana had just barely come out as trans, despite rumors for years, at at that point, only film trade publications were referring to her as Lana. Even during Speed Racer in 2008, their latest big film at the time, they were denying it as a baseless rumor. Lana didnât publicly come out until 2012, a year after the book came out, and it had already been written, edited, and was being shopped around to publishers in itâs final form in 2010, meaning it likely completed around some time in late 2009.
If it was written today, Iâd say youâre absolutely right, but I think we also have to consider in in the context of what the author would have realistically known at the time. Not that I think heâd not include it on those grounds had it been written later, of course, but I still feel itâs worth noting.
Fair point. I stand (more or less) corrected.
[quote=âNaoza, post:26, topic:862, full:trueâ]
Fair point. I stand (more or less) corrected.
[/quote]In fairness, the only reason I know otherwise is because I pointed out almost exactly the same thing(I also included Nacy Cartwright, who has over the years arguably had some creative influence over her character on The Simpsons) in a different conversation, and someone basically filled me in on the same details. But itâs good you pointed it out, itâs definitely something that needed further explanation, because itâs certainly something that could come across as a very shitty thing to say.
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I heard about Groening making a new Netflix series a year and a half ago, and there was no info on it at the time. Iâm so glad to finally hear something about it. The premise certainly sounds intriguing.
Itâs also nice to see heâs finally moving away from Fox.
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We finally have info on the new Matt Groening series. Itâs called Disenchantment and it premieres August 17. We also have character designs.