The added layer of empathy that comes from spending time with the character first really helps humanise these issues in a way that could’ve been an eye-opener for watchers of the film. Her story feels like it’s coming from someone you actually know. They come to care about her before ever learning about her struggles, making the reasons for hiding her identity hit so much harder. Helen is a unique character in that, through the novel, readers learn a lot about her without meeting her until the end. Ready Player One could have, in its own way, helped with that. But even with these huge pushes by women to have their voices heard, there are still those who struggle to relate to their experiences. At the end of 2017, #MeToo started to expose the predators who have been lurking at the top of the Hollywood food chain for far too long. A bevy of Hollywood stars started it to expose the harassment women have faced in their workplaces for decades.
READY PLAYER ONE BOOK QUOTES FULL
Right now, the #TimesUp movement is in full swing. Instead, we’re getting a clichéd rebellion plotline.
READY PLAYER ONE BOOK QUOTES MOVIE
It may have been a brief moment, but that’s all the more reason why it’s disappointing that the movie is brushing past it. The scene tackles anonymity in the OASIS, racism, gender, and the workplace. Sacrificing the reveal scene also gets rid of one of the few moments where the book paused to handle real issues. Unfortunately, the movie strips this rare demonstration of Wade’s maturity and growth from the audience. It’s a great moment, as he learns to move past those feelings and to, instead, empathise with her struggles and accept her for who she is. His best friend has lied to him for years.
However, when Wade meets Helen in the book, we get to see him react with shock and a bit of anger. By the end of the story, he hasn’t shown much, if any, growth. His arc boils down to him going from being a weak man-child to a powerful man-child. Emotional moments for Wade are scarce in the novel. Helen’s reveal also gave Wade some much-needed character development. Now, thanks to the avatar switch and the film’s promotional materials and IMDB listings showing off Lena Waithe in the role, even those who haven’t read the books will know what to expect. We all expected to see a white man behind that avatar. In the book, the reveal not only shocked Wade but readers, as well. It’s obvious to those in the OASIS that Aech’s avatar looks nothing her. The film isn't concerned with hiding her.īy making Aech an orc, audiences lose the shock of Helen’s reveal, killing the book’s best twist. The Narrative Suffers See? There's Helen, front and centre. It may seem small, but this seemingly minor alteration has both narrative and social repercussions. However, she no longer uses a human avatar. In the Ready Player One movie, Aech still appears as Wade’s best friend. She noticed the “marked difference it made in how she was treated and the opportunities she was given.” Similarly, Aech uses a white male avatar to avoid harassment, disrespect, and other problems that come with being a black woman on the internet. Her mother, who worked in an OASIS-based, data-processing centre, made a conscious decision to use a white avatar.
Like her mother, Aech hid her race and gender from others in the Oasis. However, when the two meet in person toward the end of the book, Wade learns that Aech is actually an African-American girl named Helen Harris. He’s described in the book as a “Caucasian male with dark hair and brown eyes.” Over the course of their three-year friendship, Wade assumed that Aech resembled his avatar. He fights in the OASIS’ player-vs-player arenas and is among the five highest-scoring players in Halliday’s Egg Hunt. Aech, a super famous avatar, known for his skills, is the perfect example of this. There, anyone can create a virtual avatar and become anything they want. In Ready Player One, most of humanity spends their time in an online world known as the OASIS. The “Real” Aech This is the movie's version of Aech. SPOILER ALERT: Warning, this article contains spoilers from Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One. Changes that could rob the film of its opportunity to speak on real gender issues. But Ready Player One has made some questionable changes that may ruin its most compelling character, Aech, the best friend of the hero, Wade Watts. Of course, not everything that works on the page will work in a film. Ready Player One is taking creative liberties with its source material.
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