I don't think anyone here claims it's evil, simply that considering it only as a huge boon to humanity is a tad simplistic.
We've seen firsthand here how easy Internet makes recruiting young terrorists, thanks to that freedom of speech. Now, a direct recruitment is not even necessary, you can join ISIS without ever meeting one of their members or a fundamentalist preacher in person.
You can organize harassment campaigns, you can get revenge on an ex by publishing intimate material...it's just a magnificent tool for human pettiness.
It seemed to me that there was a missed opportunity on the part of Speilberg (and Cline, for that matter) to make a statement about notion about how our "stuff" comes to dominate us. This is not to say that's what I think the film/book ought to have been about, necessarily, only that the theme seemed to be there inherently to have something done with it. Early on, Artemis accuses Parzival of not being willing to risk everything to get the key because he's afraid of zeroing out and losing his stuff. Wade's aunt threatens to throw him out if she finds he's been messing with her stuff, I-Rock's literally bleeding items at one point and later saying that he can't die because he's got "ten years worth of shit" stored up. The use of the word "shit" for possessions, would seem to be telling as well, You've got a whole world where people spend most of their time amassing and protecting mostly what amounts to electronic ink. Sounds like a comment on bitcoin and it's ilk, to me.
Then again, perhaps this is meant to be an intentional theme, and it just feels more undeveloped then it should. Ah well.
edited 22nd Apr '18 12:09:22 PM by Robbery
I didn't think it was as good as the book (though it did have some great new touches like Sorrento having a nerd squad whispering references into his ear), but I liked it enough to see it twice, once by myself, once with a friend.
I maintain that Jonathan Frakes would have been the perfect Halliday. Mark Rylance's performance was a little too loopy for me.
Watching the movie right now. Thought it was fine. Lots of nerd stuff, but since I've never read the book, i can't really compare it.
Loved the references though.
Edit: WAIT A MINUTE! HOW DID THEY GET THE RIGHTS TO ALL THOSE CHARACTERS!?
Edited by HandsomeRob on Jul 24th 2018 at 7:16:24 AM
One Strip! One Strip!"If Steven Spielberg tells you to jump, you ask how high."
Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.I liked it, I honestly appreciated that it wasn't the technology itself that was evil, the trap of this sort of dystopian genre, but the corporate pressures outside of it. And the message at the end didn't condemn the Oasis, but that you should balance that with your real life.
I've only read part of the book so far, so I'm not sure if its quite the same, but I like how well the story balanced reality and its time in the oasis. It somehow made the story feel more believable.
Bide your time, and Hold out Hope — GANKUTSUOU Just because it's irrational, doesn't mean it's not real.

I just got back from it. Parts of it were enjoyable enough, but geez...did it have to make every writing mistake?
edited 22nd Apr '18 1:18:06 AM by TheShadow