It’s a dark, *dark* ending – suggesting the death of our lives is the only significance for ourselves, and what we create will outlive us but never define us. It goes against everything capitalism strives to sell to America’s youth. Ready Player One extrapolates on this, exploring the control society can manufacture under the guise of free-will and success. A major moment in Spielberg’s most recent work is when a section of the ‘stacks’ (glorified, verticalized slums) is destroyed. Hardly anyone sees it coming: they’re too busy, lost in their virtual reality goggles. To make machines of people, the futuristic culture in Ready Player One only had to sell them a video game. And they work, and work, and work, all for intangible coins and the hope of achieving the impossible – winning the ‘golden egg’ hidden by its creator and being awarded all the stock/funding in line with the OASIS. It’s the only way to get ahead, and besides, why seek out opportunity in the real world when you can have anything you want without leaving your home?

It is why both films share a mutual thread – ignorance is bliss. David goes to sleep with Monica at the end of A.I. in an unconscious yearning to be where she is, although an android, deep down, understands that it is nowhere in particular. Ready Player One, in blockbuster fashion, has a “happy” ending, one which forces the addicted-populace to look around and not solely live in their game. It practically says the same thing: I’d rather be asleep than awake. The difference lies in the hope for each respective future. A.I. is lonely. Ready Player One is interconnected, all-consuming. When you go to sleep in Ready Player One, you wake up in the real world, and it is changing for the better. Too bad they won’t notice it.