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Ready Player One is an amazing book. At this moment I have listened to the audiobook twice and have seen the movie three times. I have read some reviews, and I have talked to a couple of my friends. The response to the book has always been incredibly positive- except for the one person who didn’t finish it because there was too much cussing, and y’all can guess my response: “There was cussing?!”

F-bombs aside, this book is everything glorious about the 1980’s. Imagine an entire virtual world that revolves around all the things I loved as a kid (and admittedly still love as an adult.) Yes, I love this book!

And there was something else about the 80’s that we all loved. We even see his iconic style in the RPO movie- that’s right. Michael Jackson. He’s literally the King of Pop and, despite being on the wrong side in the Cola Wars, he cannot be duplicated, only imitated. I’m sure Science has tried, but alas, MJ is incomparable and there can be only one.

Then some whippersnapper band makes a cover of Smooth Criminal. You are outraged! It sounds completely different from the original. What did they do?! Annie is NOT okay! No one covers MJ! (Except Chris Cornell – more on that in a sec.) But you hear it a few more times, and it starts to grow on you. Eventually you even admit that this version of the song is a lot of fun. But the thing that makes AAF’s version of Smooth Criminal okay in the long run, which is the same thing that makes Chris Cornell’s version of Billie Jean so fantastic, is that they did not try to recreate a Michael Jackson hit. Like Chris Cornell, Alien Ant Farm took a song that we knew and loved and altered it just enough to make it their own – while still paying homage to the King of Pop. In my humble opinion, this is the best way for an artist to cover a song. It applies beyond Michael Jackson hits: Remember that Dinosaur Jr. cover of Just Like Heaven?

It also applies when an author writes a fantastic book in which, if adapted accurately, the movie would have to contain entire other movies. In the case of Ready Player One book vs. movie, this is sort of like Michael Jackson covering a Michael Jackson song – or maybe more accurately, the two versions of Sgt. Pepper at the beginning and end of everyone’s favorite Beatles album. The author of the book wrote the screen play, so I instantly have a “he can do whatever he wants” reaction, but I also believe part of the charm of this movie is that it took most of the story and key concepts of the book and used the wonderful medium of film to show us something new.

Nowadays nearly every movie is a sequel or a reboot, but RPO manages to be steeped in nostalgia while giving us a whole new experience. And for me it was a very enjoyable experience. My gut reaction when I first saw the preview was that Wade’s character was supposed to be pudgy and out of shape. As someone who has struggled with my weight, I wanted to see the non-ideal kid save the day. Once I saw the film and realized how much shorter the time-frame was, I was able to forgive the change. There wasn’t time to do a good job building that part of Wade’s story on top of all the other good stuff we got, so it was cut. I was also sad that movie-Wade did not start his journey in Oklahoma City. I still think that could have been done, but traveling from OKC to Columbus was just a blip in the book. I love a good road trip, but this is not a road trip book at its heart. Eliminating travel time is one of the things that was necessary to give the audience the fast pace and action we have come to expect in movies. This book is about VR, the internet, privacy, friendship, and taking down “the man” and all of these were well delivered. Oh- and LOVE, but whatever.

I sincerely hope that you have read the book and watched the movie (a few times.) If not, go now! Then come back and discuss. Do you agree with my Smooth Criminal comparison? Do you prefer the book or movie? Or do you love both?