Ralph Breaks the World
Disney’s newest movie “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is making amends to what it has established a long time ago. To be precise, the movie is like a palinode, retracting what Disney had been propagating through most of its princesses. This is not to say that the princesses are bad, but in the 21st century young girls need to look up to a suitable exemplary model. “Ralph” presents this model in the form of Vanellope Von Schweetz, the movie’s female protagonist.
What makes this movie stand out the most is the contrasting traits of women in the 20th century represented by the clique of princesses, and the traits of Schweetz of the 21st century. Even though she’s still a child in the movie, she knows that she cannot depend too much on Ralph, the movie’s male protagonist. I see this as a good advice for girls out there. Her character also breaks female stereotypes. We can see how smart Schweetz is at wearing what’s comfortable for her, and she advises the other princesses to wear what they feel like wearing. This can be seen in a larger picture. Women out there should trust their instincts and be whoever they want to be and not be afraid to try new things: construct your own identity and don’t let society tell you what and who you should be. It’s about challenging oneself, going out of the comfort zone, and adapting tonew surroundings so that we can evolve and develop into stronger human beings.
If we look into Schweetz’s character, she faces existential and identity crises. She wants to find something new in her life, as her old life is dull and boring. She feels reluctant to tell Ralph about it as he is clingy and annoying. It’s good that she feels concerned for him. Another thing about the movie is the portrayal of mental illness through Schweetz’s glitch. Whenever she feels anxious, insecure, or scared, her glitch goes out of control. This teaches us to see the signs of anxiety and other mental illnesses in real life. I commend Ralph for being a good support to Schweetz, as he knows what to say and what to do whenever Schweetz feels uneasy. Men should emulate Ralph in this regard. Of course at the beginning, he appears selfish and self-centered, but he fixes that at the end by supporting and respecting Schweetz’s decision to start a new life. It is important for men to give full support to the women in their life if they want to try something new. As human beings, we sometimes feel uneasy with the things that we’ve been doing frequently all our lives. Sometimes, we simply need a change of environment and to spread our wings. I believe if every man and woman out there plays the role of supporting each other, we can live in a better society.
The notion of looking at oneself in the reflection also piques my interest. When we are down or we feel depressed, a good thing to do is to contemplate about what we have done and make amends. This is what we don’t usually do in the 21st century, and that’s how, in my opinion, we get trapped in a whirlpool of anxiety. We must analyze our actions and seek a solution instead of blaming others. Forgiveness is also the key to escape anxiety. We should not delve too much into the past but move forward to the future to see what it has in store for us. If we keep doing the former, we may not make progress and get stuck forever.
Being occupied with the internet also stops us from progressing. I believe the movie is indirectly telling us to spend more time in the outside world and not care much about what is happening on our social media feeds. Disconnecting once in a while can be very good for our soul. It cleanses our mind and we may have more time to do things we’ve never done before. If there is a gauge meter that can tell us how much time we spend scrolling Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, we would probably be surprised.
If you haven’t watched “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” go and give the movie a try. I’m sure that after the movie, you will sit down and reflect more on life. To me, the bad side of the movie is only having Gadot as one of the cast. That was kind of disappointing. Overall, the movie paints a new image for women, creates awareness about mental illness, portrays how men should behave and highlights the dangers of spending too much time on the internet.
