The Feminist Leanings of Ready Player One
I make very little secret of the fact that "Ready Player One" (Ernest Cline, 2011) is one of my favourite five novels and had quite a large impact on me.
But in more recent times (which is an odd phrase for a book that came out just over 14 years ago) there has been more and more talk about how "it's a book for boys" and about how it doesn't treat the female characters all that well.
I think part of the problem is the film -- it was not a very good adaptation of the book, and both Aech and Arty got screwed over. Their parts in the films are greatly reduced and their roles in the quest, and their backstories are.......... badly told.
In the book Art3mis and Aech (Samantha and Helen) earn their positions in The High Five.
Aech is one of the top ranked competitors in The OASIS death-match and capture the flag tournaments. She is one of the greatest fighters The OASIS has ever seen and she is the third gunter to find The Copper Key, needing only the slight hint that Parzival has never left Ludus to point her to where it might be.
She also finds The Jade Key knowing only the vaguest location (Sector Seven), completing it without any help.
Then there is the fact that she spends her time in The OASIS behind a white, male avatar because she knows that if she were to appear as a "fat, black chick" no one would take her seriously. Despite her knowledge, despite her skills, despite the fact she is clearly one of the best of the best -- despite the fact she is amongst the elite -- if she were to appear as who she really is she would be relegated to the second or third tier because that's how not only society treats women (and women of colour) but how male gamers treat female gamers.
We see an indication of that in a conversation between Parzival and Art3mis -- they talk about the "SNL Skit" about them, and the fact the majority of people still think Art3mis is a guy, not a girl. Because, as Parzival points out, most guys refuse to accept that a girl could have beaten them to The Copper Key and could be SO much better than them.
Which, as a nice segue, brings me onto the topic of Art3mis.
She is, by all accounts and all evidence, the first gunter in the contest to find the hiding place of The Copper Key. Over a month before Parzival arrives at The Tomb. And -- after a single suggestion (switching sides) she gains The Key only a few hours after he does.
She is also the first to find The Jade Key. No help, no hints, no clues from anyone else.
Then, during the The Third Gate, it is Art3mis who explains how to manipulate Tempest to gain the bonus credits and ensure that Parzival can beat the high score without dying, and it is only she who knows that Tempest would feature in the game and so did the research to learn about the bug to get the credits.
The book makes it clear that they are both young, independent women who are very good at what they do, and who entirely deserve to be where they are in the contest.
And sure -- it's a story about Parzival (Wade) winning, and since it is a first person story we hear everything from his perspective.
But the story treats Samantha and Helen very well, and it makes it clear throughout the story that they are very good at what they do, and generally far better at what they do than either Parzival or Shoto (or Daito).
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The film, as I said, does not translate this part very well. Aech's avatar is not white and male, which totally loses the point of her backstory completely, and the entire "Welcome to The Resistance" plot entirely destroys Samantha's story with Wade and the events at the "re-education centre" are just.......... oh they are just so appalling that it reduces her to a "Disney Princess"
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The novel has so many themes about it (privatisation vs nationalisation, socialism vs capitalism, individualism vs cooperation to name but a few) but the thread of feminism running through it is one of the strongest.
And the fact that it gets talked down -- the fact "the story" gets slammed for being sexist -- is kind of annoying, and a little sad.
