"But, rather than take a stand against the apotheosis of self-satisfied male nerdism, the mainstream media made itself complicit in an atrocity." For how I hav

"But, rather than take a stand against the apotheosis of self-satisfied male nerdism, the mainstream media made itself complicit in an atrocity." For how I have read it, the book starts with a guy that find in `self-satisfying male nerdism` his only way out of a depressed hopeless world and and up opening up, growing and making real friends over the digital world (while saving it). Also since when nerdism is bad and why would the media not accomplice in `the atrocity`? Regarding the quotes problem you talk about, `that's 70s show` and `Stranger Things` aren't staged in a distant future and their own zeitgeist is important to understand some things and to stage the show, but in `ready player one` the character is a `millennial from the future` that has to solve puzzles and riddles related to a far away in time culture (tbh good luck asking today to kids what `war games`, a nerd movie that came out 34 years ago, was.) and while recalling those movies (in a few lines) and having a thought process revolving around them (sure just to pull memories from his brain) he puts himself in hallyday's shoes as if it was an async tutorial setup by hallyday, a path towards world salvation that goes through the revival of a culture 'lost in time'. The world doesn't spin around specific games and movies the author likes, I think the book delivers a simple story (classic hero journey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey#Campbell.27s_seventeen_stages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey#Campbell.27s_...) with an interesting catch of being revolved around a specific time, culture and media. "It simply constructs a world around the reader, where his comfort zone, his passively acquired knowledge of retro video games and Star Wars, is enough to effortlessly make him a Great Man of History." that is exactly what it takes to make someone `a great man of history` on the internet. I didn't like the trailer, but i think the book is a nice and very easy to read. ps i don't play videogames.