Rpo Essay Revised 1

Isabella Vaughn
IB LA 11
McKay
March 2nd, 2021
The Variety of Power in Ready Player One
With the growing use of technology in the society communities live in, it is easy to get
caught up in what’s real and what isn’t. This is the exact issue the movie Ready Player One deals
with, and the movie takes an incredibly interesting take on how power affects this situation.
Examples of different types of power are shown throughout the film, with each one having
different consequences and ethical backgrounds. The director, Steven Spielberg, illustrates the
spectrum of power with comparisons, heavy emotion invoking scenes, and the fear created over
the film’s issues that seem almost possible in this growing world. The power shown in this
movie is but a small fraction of the things that contribute to the film’s underlying message, of
questioning what is reality, and what simply feels like reality. However, it is one of the most
important factors in this complex movie, and the multiple ways it was portrayed makes the
movie all more engaging. By showing the differences between James Halliday and Nolan
Sorrento, along with their actions, and drawing positive accomplished feelings in the film’s
young-adult audience due to the characters’ success, Steven Speilberg portrays the complexities
of power and how it affects the people, communities, and organizations in the film.
To first set up the situation surrounding power, Speilberg demonstrates the differences
between Nolan Sorrento, the head of the company IOI, and James Halliday, the deceased creator
of the OASIS. The intro of the movie is fun and inspiring, while Wade Watts explains the
situation surrounding the OASIS and the impact it had on people’s lives. He states, that people
viewed Halliday as a god. This line sets up the deep understanding, that the people in this world
viewed him as a god because he provided an escape for them. There is nothing more god-like
than creating a world, which is exactly what he did. The character of James Halliday is also
shown as very stereotypically nerdy, awkward, and into pop-culture. These two pieces of
information serve importance in differentiating Halliday from Sorrento. Halliday didn’t ask for
all of this power, and he definitely wasn’t trying to exploit anyone for it, but he provided a
solution to everyone’s problems, and they loved him for that.
Nolan, on the other hand, was displayed to the viewers as an uptight selfish CEO that
didn’t care for morals or the greater good. The darker colors worn, and his tailored and
established nature demonstrate not just the physical differences between him and Halliday, but
also the different values the two characters have. These characteristics put the audience, who are
for the most part probably not rich CEOs like Nolan, in the mood of his goals that have to do
with power, money, and monetization, and doing anything necessary to get to that point. This
film follows the classic hero vs. villain trope, where Nolan Sorrento is the villain, and Wade
along with his friends are the heroes. Spielberg’s portrayal of Wade being the hero of the story
and not Halliday provides clear-cut evidence that the two men’s definitions of power and what to
do with it are very different. The portrayal demonstrates the different types of power and the
variety of ways individuals choose to accept and use authority.
Throughout the film, Nolan’s actions often surrounded exploiting people for his goal of
owning the OASIS. One of the most apparent examples of this was when he blew up the stack
that Wade lived in, as an attempt to murder him. Nolan told Wade that no one would care about a
minor explosion in the stacks of Ohio. This specific line lays out in detail the true nature of
Sorrento and how he doesn’t care about anyone that doesn’t help his goal. The grey colors and
blandness of the Stacks reflect how many characters in their society may view the
poverty-stricken area, and the audience is able to sympathize with that as well, to better
understand the nature of Nolan Sorrento’s decision to cause mayhem there. The relatability
aspect of this situation gets people upset about the fact that this false reality created such
detrimental effects in their real world, an idea mentioned by the character Art3mis earlier in the
movie. The Loyalty centers are another idea from the film that is incredibly frightening to any
audience thinking about something like that actually happening today, which immerses one into
the story even more. Relatability is a big factor in the effects of this movie, and Spielberg leaves
remnants of it everywhere.
The last form of power is shown at the very heroic end of the film, where Wade decides
to split the power over the OASIS between him and his 4 friends. This scene’s contents,
including the confetti, heroic music, and comedic relief, is the perfect ending to the stressful
journey the film has been on, and the accomplished feeling provided from the end of the movie
pairs extremely well with the message sent from Wade’s decision. When he chose to split the
power between the High-5, he followed in Halliday’s footsteps. Halliday didn’t have intentions
to have as much power over people’s lives as he did, so Wade decided he didn’t want that for
himself either. Halliday’s power and god-like figure in the society’s eyes influenced how other
people used their power when they had their chance to have it. Spielberg including this
extremely touching ending, shows that power isn’t always bad when put in the hands of the right
people. This ending to the story makes the audience think about the different ways it could have
played out. For example, IOI owning the OASIS in the end. If this were the case, the film would
result in much less thoughtful thinking from the audience, and leave a negative aftertaste towards
the idea of power, instead of contributing to the movie’s true message about how we view
reality. Instead, the audience gets to leave the film experience feeling accomplished and
celebratory.
The film Ready Player One’s ulterior motive to understand how society views reality vs.
realistic non-reality, wouldn’t be complete without the portrayal of different forms of power
throughout the movie. The differences shown between Halliday and Sorrento are vital to
understanding each character’s ulterior motives, and realizing that power isn’t always bad is the
s stated by
first step to diving deep into the reality questioning message of Ready Player One. A
Wade Watts in the last line of the movie, “like Halliday said, reality is the only thing that’s real,”
something everyone in the world today can take a step back and think about, when faced with the
many trials of technological and online life.

Works Cited Page
Speilberg, Steven, director. Ready Player One. Warner Home Video 2018

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Isabella Vaughn

March 2nd, 2021

The Variety of Power in Ready Player One

solution to everyone’s problems, and they loved him for that.

variety of ways individuals choose to accept and use authority.

many trials of technological and online life.

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