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Maybe it's like reading wikipedia if you always wished someone would choose the link to follow for you?
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Aug 5, 2017 04:30
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there wolf posted:Does RPO appeal to non-nerds on any level? I know it references broad pop culture things, but is the level of worship towards the obscure stuff going to appeal to people who don't know or care about it? I know I started this whole discussion by demanding to know what the gently caress Ready Player One is and why it deserves a movie, but now that I've got a better handle on it, it doesn't even look like obscure stuff from the 80s. I mean, I don't see any deep diving references to stuff like Royal Space Force when they can just throw the Akira bike in there. It's all blockbuster movies and arcade games and horror icons and literary figures instead of weird cult classics. So not only is it nerd porn, it's the really obvious nerd porn. Hell, Brazzers nerd porn parodies go for more obscure fish than RPO.
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Aug 5, 2017 06:07
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There's only one subtle reference to Buckaroo Banzai, which is all I need to know it's crap.
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Aug 5, 2017 06:14
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Arcsquad12 posted:I know I started this whole discussion by demanding to know what the gently caress Ready Player One is and why it deserves a movie, but now that I've got a better handle on it, it doesn't even look like obscure stuff from the 80s. I mean, I don't see any deep diving references to stuff like Royal Space Force when they can just throw the Akira bike in there. It's all blockbuster movies and arcade games and horror icons and literary figures instead of weird cult classics. So not only is it nerd porn, it's the really obvious nerd porn. Hell, Brazzers nerd porn parodies go for more obscure fish than RPO. But for the most part, you're right. It's a very obvious, generalized pool of popular media that he draws from, and the occasional quirks never really add up to a discernibly individual frame of reference. Sham bam bamina! has a new favorite as of 07:22 on Aug 5, 2017 |
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Aug 5, 2017 07:20
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The Japanese Spider-Man robot is also, IIRC, associated with the completely stupid and superfluous Japanese characters in the protagonist's friend group, which are basically weird cardboard cutouts of what Ernest Cline thinks Japanese people might be like based on consuming a lot of trashy anime/tokusatsu/samurai movies/etc. They would probably be pretty offensive if they ever actually did anything of note, which they don't -- I think one of them sacrifices his MMO avatar valiantly to, like, buy the hero time, or something? This is also a setting where "sacrificing an MMO avatar" is a meaningful concept, because if you die in this super-VR future MMO,
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Aug 5, 2017 07:50
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I haven't ead the Ready Player One book, nor do I plan on watching the movie. All info I have on them is gained from here. But from what I understand Ernest Cline went "Hey, nerds are big right now. You know what nerds like? Consuming poular culture! If I put enough names of popular media in this story then nerds will like it and buy it and make me rich!" Am I close?
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Aug 5, 2017 08:05
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BrigadierSensible posted:I haven't ead the Ready Player One book, nor do I plan on watching the movie. All info I have on them is gained from here. this is some top quality literary criticism
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Aug 5, 2017 08:27
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Arcsquad12 posted:I know I started this whole discussion by demanding to know what the gently caress Ready Player One is and why it deserves a movie, but now that I've got a better handle on it, it doesn't even look like obscure stuff from the 80s. I mean, I don't see any deep diving references to stuff like Royal Space Force when they can just throw the Akira bike in there. It's all blockbuster movies and arcade games and horror icons and literary figures instead of weird cult classics. So not only is it nerd porn, it's the really obvious nerd porn. Hell, Brazzers nerd porn parodies go for more obscure fish than RPO. He thinks a geek girl is one who knows Luke Skywalker is from Tatooine. Like, I'm not sure what I'm more offended by, that he does the stupid "geek girl gateway" thing or that he offends every shred of my intelligence by making the bar that LOW. I hate being offended by the low quality of his stupid geek girl gateway test. The test is such a dumb thing on its own, but come the gently caress on, at least give me the satisfaction of having something slightly difficult to answer before I flip you off! Midnight Voyager has a new favorite as of 08:30 on Aug 5, 2017 |
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Aug 5, 2017 08:28
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before i ask a woman out, i always make sure to ask if she uses glasses or at least contact lenses (big ol glasses are preferable though) i just cant get hard if she has 20/20 vision
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Aug 5, 2017 09:05
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Powaqoatse posted:before i ask a woman out, i always make sure to ask if she uses glasses or at least contact lenses (big ol glasses are preferable though) If I looked like you I'd only date nearly blind women too.
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Aug 5, 2017 09:09
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Screaming Idiot posted:If I looked like you I'd only date nearly blind women too. heyooo haha but yea youre right
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Aug 5, 2017 09:15
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I still think you're sexy, bro
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Aug 5, 2017 09:19
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Arcsquad12 posted:I know I started this whole discussion by demanding to know what the gently caress Ready Player One is and why it deserves a movie, but now that I've got a better handle on it, it doesn't even look like obscure stuff from the 80s. I mean, I don't see any deep diving references to stuff like Royal Space Force when they can just throw the Akira bike in there. It's all blockbuster movies and arcade games and horror icons and literary figures instead of weird cult classics. So not only is it nerd porn, it's the really obvious nerd porn. Hell, Brazzers nerd porn parodies go for more obscure fish than RPO. As others have pointed out, there are some more obscure things in there. But more importantly the whole thing is framed as secret knowledge of nerdkind, no matter how well-known the product is... and now that I think about it, that's exactly what the appeal is. It's a long blowjob for the idea of nerds as holders of elite knowledge, with the actual knowledge presented being largely broad, pop culture references so there's almost no barrier of entry for being part of the elite. It's literally just, do you think of yourself as nerdy and take any kind of pride or pleasure in that identity? Here's some validation and ego-stroking. And just to be clear, I am not trying to play gatekeeper on the special club by splitting people up into real vs. fake nerds. That stuff is bullshit. I'm just saying that RPO is taking an attribute of actual nerd culture, the pride and value placed on being in-the-know and the relentless testing and proving nerds do to show that off, and packaging it for the mass market.
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Aug 5, 2017 10:05
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Nerds are just assholes who based their entire identity on the mass-produced media they consume and RPO is holding their hands and whispering "Shh, it's okay honey, the stuff you like really is important, and someday your ability to fight dragons in a video game will make you rich and get you laid" in between rancid smegma-belches and sloppy sucking noises.
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Aug 5, 2017 12:02
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I'm just surprised that RPO came out in 2011. It seems like a work from at least half a decade earlier.
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Aug 5, 2017 12:10
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Screaming Idiot posted:Nerds are just assholes who based their entire identity on the mass-produced media they consume and RPO is holding their hands and whispering "Shh, it's okay honey, the stuff you like really is important, and someday your ability to fight dragons in a video game will make you rich and get you laid" in between rancid smegma-belches and sloppy sucking noises. Counterpoint: that was almost the plot of The Last Starfighter and that movie was rad. See I made a reference to some 80s/90s popular culture that I consumed as a child. Therefore making me ace and cool and not at all worried that I wasted my life staring at screens
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Aug 5, 2017 12:11
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Antivehicular posted:There are definitely people out there who find RPO fun, but I also found it pretty joyless, aside from a few isolated bits that landed for me (because I'm a nerdlinger). I feel like it's probably because it's such a laundry list, almost never actually describing anything besides listing off the things it's referencing; my assumption is that people who found it fun are the ones who were willing/able to do the extra mental work to imagine and embellish what Cline implies. That's reasonable enough (if you're gonna read dumb schlock and you want to put in the work to have a good time, feel free), but it's not really about any quality of the book at that point. as Adrian Bott put it: nostalgia versus taxidermy.
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Aug 5, 2017 13:25
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RobotDogPolice posted:I don't know why I enjoy people making GBS threads on RPO as much as I do. I haven't read many terrible books though, mostly because the reccomendations I get are normally solid. I read the whole thing though, waiting for something of substance to happen. Me too. The reason I enjoy it is because of all the praise the book has received from supposedly smart people who should know better. I think even The New York Review of Books loved it. People just see "nostalgia" and don't see the bullshit in between.
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Aug 5, 2017 14:47
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I just read My Best Friend's Exorcism, which also an 80's nostalgia fest, but at the service of the story, and not just a list of things you remember. They leaned real hard into the nostalgia for the paper back cover too. So the nostalgia thing can be done well if you're a competent writer.
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Aug 5, 2017 15:24
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Just as well it has 'A Novel' labelled on it, I keep thinking that looks like a 80s/90s game cover.
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Aug 5, 2017 16:22
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BrigadierSensible posted:Counterpoint: that was almost the plot of The Last Starfighter and that movie was rad. Don't worry, Cline's second book Armada is literally just The Last Starfighter, except awful. He lifts the entire plot and makes it basically RPO again except more video game focused.
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Aug 5, 2017 16:22
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Inescapable Duck posted:Just as well it has 'A Novel' labelled on it, I keep thinking that looks like a 80s/90s game cover. Well, no wonder: there's a VHS sticker in the bottom left corner. So maybe more like videotape. Man, now I'm getting nostalgic for the little mom-and-pop video rental place we used to go to when I was a kid.
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Aug 5, 2017 16:45
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Antivehicular posted:The Japanese Spider-Man robot is also, IIRC, associated with the completely stupid and superfluous Japanese characters in the protagonist's friend group, which are basically weird cardboard cutouts of what Ernest Cline thinks Japanese people might be like based on consuming a lot of trashy anime/tokusatsu/samurai movies/etc. They would probably be pretty offensive if they ever actually did anything of note, which they don't -- I think one of them sacrifices his MMO avatar valiantly to, like, buy the hero time, or something? No dude, the one Japanese guy actually saves his adopted brother's real-life by getting killed (again, in real-life) by the Evil Corporation.* Because in a dystopian future where there are cameras literally everywhere, hardwired into a Super Internet that everyone is accessing all the time, of course it's easy for corporations to blow up trailer parks and hire goons to toss teenagers out a window and make it look like suicide. Nobody would ever be able to prove that! * They may have referenced some kind of bullshido "code of honor" or something at the time, I don't remember for sure though. RPO is really, really bad.
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Aug 5, 2017 20:09
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Zamboni_Rodeo posted:Well, no wonder: there's a VHS sticker in the bottom left corner. So maybe more like videotape.
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Aug 5, 2017 20:16
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food court bailiff posted:No dude, the one Japanese guy actually saves his adopted brother's real-life by getting killed (again, in real-life) by the Evil Corporation.* Welp, that goes to show how much I remember about the plot of RPO! Seriously though those Japanese characters are garbage and Cline should be especially embarrassed, I'm just saying
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Aug 5, 2017 20:23
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I'm more than willing to admit they're not great literature but I'm a pretty big fan of James Rollins' stuff. It's all very similar Indiana Jones style 'Ancient Relic' thrillers but I'll be damned if they aren't the best kind of airport trash. Whereas every Dan Brown book I've read feels like he was writing it with a huge  on his face Rollins' stuff feels like it's written by a dude who really digs ancient myths, cool science stuff and writing dumb as hell action scenes. Every book ends with a postscript that's basically "Yeah, all this stuff is mostly bullshit but I based parts on real stuff and it's really cool, here's some books to learn about cool poo poo if you're interested in actual facts."He just seems like a really earnest dude. If you're looking for some fun little thriller books that have that kind of ancient mystery vibe I highly recommend his stuff. Plus he's got a pretty big collection at this point.
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Aug 6, 2017 02:00
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I'm reminded of CineD chat about Matthew Reilly, Australian author whose works is something like Tom Clancy minus the political screeds and with more Michael Bay sensibilities. The best poo poo ever when you are 14, in essence. That and he went out of his way to have the antagonists be from different backgrounds; one book is basically about people caught up in a fight between different US military branches over a superweapon.
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Aug 6, 2017 07:59
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Inescapable Duck posted:I'm reminded of CineD chat about Matthew Reilly, Australian author whose works is something like Tom Clancy minus the political screeds and with more Michael Bay sensibilities. The best poo poo ever when you are 14, in essence. That and he went out of his way to have the antagonists be from different backgrounds; one book is basically about people caught up in a fight between different US military branches over a superweapon. Ferretbrain had a pretty fun article (and comment-thread) about him.
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Aug 6, 2017 14:03
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Given his complaints about thriller novels being too slow, I have to wonder if he accidentally stumbled into the 'action novels without the author insistently injecting their terrible politics in massive hateful screeds' niche.
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Aug 6, 2017 17:13
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This thread is intense, man, I literally had a dream last night where I was explaining out loud to nobody why Ready Player One was such a bad book.
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Aug 6, 2017 18:11
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Is this the place to post if I'm looking for hot takes on Lang Leav / Michael Faudet? Something about them just doesn't sit right with me, but at the same time I feel like I'm being an elitist snob for looking down on "accessible" poetry.
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Aug 7, 2017 13:57
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My wife & I listened to the RPO audiobook on a 20-ish hour drive (round trip). It's narrated by Wil Wheaton because of course it is. I suppose, with the possible exception of the upcoming movie, that's the ideal way to experience it, since driving in traffic makes any distraction entertaining by default. Anyway, it was pretty entertaining for a while, but about halfway through I got a sinking feeling because I realized that any of the self-awareness and subversion that I assumed were built into the story were never actually going to materialize. Or really any sort of twist at all. It is really just the most straightforward adventure plot imaginable, but also without any character development, and no surprises beyond what will be referenced next. It also has a really eye-rolling "serious" and/or "progressive street cred" moment where a character previously assumed to be another straight white male is revealed to be a black female and she talks at length about how her parents won't accept her being gay. Aside from being right up there with Loss.jpg for awkward tonal dissonance, it's that same "check all the boxes" approach that the rest of the book does with '80s nostalgia, but this time for progressivism.
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Aug 7, 2017 15:59
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Sir Lemming posted:
In both RPO and Armada the main characters show how woke they are by repeatedly bowing to Asian characters. RPO also has a part where the MC gives a Japanese character his Ultraman powerup because he thinks it's something sacred to Japanese culture or some poo poo. I think he even calls it Ultaru-manu or some poo poo.
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Aug 8, 2017 10:33
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gradenko_2000 posted:Is this the place to post if I'm looking for hot takes on Lang Leav / Michael Faudet? Something about them just doesn't sit right with me, but at the same time I feel like I'm being an elitist snob for looking down on "accessible" poetry. Feel free to dish? I'm not familiar with either of them, but the samples Google turned up seem pretty bad. Faudet in particular seems dreadful, way too "tee-hee, naughty," like he's the staff poet on Tales of Ribaldry.
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Aug 8, 2017 10:38
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Antivehicular posted:Feel free to dish? I'm not familiar with either of them, but the samples Google turned up seem pretty bad. Faudet in particular seems dreadful, way too "tee-hee, naughty," like he's the staff poet on Tales of Ribaldry. That's exactly the kind of vibe I get from Faudet. Their poetry is also relatively short, and what doesn't sit well with me is that it's deliberate so that you can fit it on a picture and share it on social media.
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Aug 8, 2017 10:44
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That article captures Matthew Reilly perfectly: it's utter trash, but the guy is so gleeful and enthralled with his own stories that are nothing but action-action-action ("Quick as a flash, he unslung his sniper rifle, aimed and fired it at the first oncoming RPG!"), that it all kinda works.
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Aug 8, 2017 14:20
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outlier posted:That article captures Matthew Reilly perfectly: it's utter trash, but the guy is so gleeful and enthralled with his own stories that are nothing but action-action-action ("Quick as a flash, he unslung his sniper rifle, aimed and fired it at the first oncoming RPG!"), that it all kinda works. That's pretty much exactly why I consider James Rollins a much more readable Dan Brown. The dude is so clearly enamored with science, ancient cultures and artifacts and cool action set pieces that it shines through his work. I can just picture him with a huge grin typing up these dumb books and having a blast.
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Aug 8, 2017 14:55
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grittyreboot posted:In both RPO and Armada the main characters show how woke they are by repeatedly bowing to Asian characters. Why does it sound like the Japanese nerds are obsessed with poo poo from before the 80s? Other than I guess it's the stuff Ernest Cline knows about from American nerd culture. What's terrible nerd 80s nostalgia like in Japan? I only know about the ones who like anime.
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Aug 8, 2017 14:58
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ThePlague-Daemon posted:Why does it sound like the Japanese nerds are obsessed with poo poo from before the 80s? Other than I guess it's the stuff Ernest Cline knows about from American nerd culture. Well probably NES games
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Aug 8, 2017 15:14
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And Ultraman.
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Aug 8, 2017 15:19
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