and Words
All through the night
I’ll be awake and I’ll be with you
All through the night
This precious time when time is new
Oh, All through the night today
Knowin’ that we feel the same without sayin’
We have no past, we won’t reach back
Keep with me forward all through the night
Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.
I endured high school during the 1980’s and definitely lived the life of a computer geek. Back then computers were in their infancy, and all anyone really did with them was word processing, gaming, and programming. I excelled at computer programming, enough to represent my high school in competition. Eventually, I went to study engineering at the University of Miami. That said, my existence in high school mostly felt like that of a misfit. I consistently hovered in the edges of society.
Few popular books (or movies) portray people like me. That is people who collect trivial knowledge about video games, computers, and RPG. When we picture protagonists, we don’t see people like me. Eventually, we get the Ready Player One. Ernest Cline released the book, his first novel, in 2011. Honestly, it remained off my radar until the release of the film in 2018. Though upon the release of the film, I purchased the novel and read it.
Spoiler warning: The following contains references to both the book and the film. If you’ve both seen the film and read the book, then by all means proceed; otherwise, you’ve been warned.
My opinion about the book and the movie? To preemptively answer your questions… The book and film are substantially different. However, I enjoyed them both; they’re among my favorite films and novels respectively. Cline co-wrote the screenplay and furthermore he sold the rights to the film before the release of the novel. Therefore, there’s only so much to the claim that they twisted (or ruined) the novel. Naturally, the novel had considerably more depth than the film and film was more (popularly) accessible.
The best way that I can describe the differences between the novel and film is to consider Batman. Is the true incarnation of Batman the one where he partners with Robin or is “The Dark Knight” (sans Boy Wonder) the truest version (or perhaps others)? The simplest answer is that they’re both legitimate versions of Batman. One speaks to the people that watched the live action television show with the cheesy visual sound effects; the other speaks to the consumers of the darker comic book series.
Similarly, both versions of Ready Player One are legitimate versions that fit their media. The three key and gates format worked for the novel, and the visually stunning three key version works for the film. Who are we to question Ernest Cline on the screenplay adaptation? Yes, I have friends who assert that a Ready Player One film does not exist. That said, I do question some decisions, like Daito’s death in the book, but not the film.
However, I’ll perform my best Ernest Cline imitation and second guess one small detail from the novel. I won’t go into the intricate details and context of it all; I’ll assume that you’ve read it. I’ll frame the scene; it surrounds a moment that occurs between Parzival, the protagonist, and Art3mis, fellow gunter and love interest. This occurs after Parzival and Art3mis have both acquired the first key and passed the first gate.
However, Nolan Sorrento (from IOI) tries to enlist Parzival’s help finding the Halliday’s Egg and upon refusing, arranged to have him killed in his home, but Parzival escaped the deadly bombing of the home he shared with his aunt. Sorrento had every reason to believe that he had perished in the bombing, hence there was no need for further attempts on his life. This near miss forced Parzival to keep a low profile for a bit.
As Parzival continues to avoid detection of his physical location, he and Art3mis spend a great amount of time together in the OASIS. At first, they spend their time exchanging ideas about Halliday’s Egg Hunt, but it slowly evolves into a friendship and subsequently a romance. Then Og, the surviving inventor of the OASIS, invites them (and many others) to his birthday party at a club called The Distracted Globe.
This party serves as the opportunity for others to see them as a couple. While they’ve been spending much time together, they may finally announce to the world that they’re a couple, and they may commit to each other. They arrive at The Distracted Globe separately but spend their time together. They spent the night dancing weightlessly over the center of the globe to an array of typical dance music from the 80’s, much like I had done many times during my time in college (minus the weightless part).
Then the typical dance music stops, and Cindy Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ plays. Parzival awkwardly does not know how to proceed; Art3mis takes his hand and pulls him closer for a slow dance. It was during that dance that IOI breaks into The Distracted Globe with weapons drawn and tries to kill them both in an effort to eliminate the competition. Art3mis realizes that they have been neglecting Halliday’s Egg Hunt and parts ways with Parzival. Everything up to here is simply framing the moment.
Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ is a perfectly good song to slow dance. It fits the era that they celebrated, and it gave them a chance to catch their breath and chat a little more intimately. However, as I pictured this moment, imagined that Cindy Lauper’s ‘All Through the Night’ was a better fit for this particular moment.
First, does it fit among the 1980’s music lore? Let’s take a look at the release of the singles from the She’s So Unusual. ‘Time After Time’ was far more popular, even reaching number one on the charts. For 80’s music, it’s instantly recognizable. However, ‘All Through the Night’ was also quite popular in its own right and though it didn’t have a video for MTV, it made it as far as number five on the charts. In other words, it’s a legitimate candidate for a slow song to play from the era.
However, as you listen to the words, the former has a vague notion of timelessness and melancholy. It has a lingering promise of persistent togetherness. This feel simply didn’t fit with the events that occurred in The Distracted Globe, where they parted ways.
In contrast, ‘All Through the Night’ celebrates that particular night. The music is more upbeat and avoids the pervasive sadness from the above. Read through the words, and you’ll see other ties to that moment. This song permeates intimacy, as if the rest of the world didn’t exist, only the two of them. It describes their friendship turned romance with words like, “All through the night today, knowin’ that we feel the same without sayin’.” Similarly, it understands that the moment is fleeting and alludes to their borrowed time. Words like “And once we start, the meter click, and it goes running all through the night” subtly forbode the disastrous events of that night, presumably upon the meter running out.
Ernest Cline meticulously referenced movies, video games, and music that filled my youth. Ready Player One is a celebration of people like me. ‘Time After Time’ completely fits the era and the setting; it’s a safe choice. However, ‘All Through the Night’ transcends the moment and captures the mood. It insulates and protects them during those elusive minutes. Lastly, it telegraphs their eventual breakup with the words, “Until it ends, there is no end”. It’s the better, more poetic choice for that particular moment.
And that’s how I’ll remember it.