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"First rule of the internet: do not read the comments."
I guess anyone who has used the Internet will find at least a moment of Disney's new animated film "Ralph Breaks the Internet" that resonates with them. For me it was this: Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly), the muscular hero of the movie, is standing in a room where he can see all the comments published in a series of videos created for a YouTube type site. They pile on each other in real time and the vast majority deliberately hurt. Although he is trying not to suffer from pain, an algorithm called Yesss (Taraji P. Henson) sees that he is suffering and offers the above words as solace. It's one of many movie moments inspired by the lessons of life gained after spending enough time online. As a writer having literally received thousands of comments in his articles, he hit home.
This is one of two publications by "Ralph Breaks the Internet", this rare sequel that qualitatively surpasses the film that preceded it. While "Wreck-It Ralph" told the story of a video game villain struggling with an existential crisis and used this principle to make a number of smart jokes about video games and the culture of the game. game, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" develops this idea and applies in cyberspace. After Ralph accidentally broke the video game of his best friend, Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), the two friends went online to find the room they will need to repair the damaged arcade machine and save Vanellope's house. . Yet, even as they both try to raise the funds needed to buy what they need, Vanellope is tempted to abandon the arcade and join a game called "Slaughter Race", which will provide him with new experiences as well as mentoring. from a runner named Shank (Gal Gadot).
It's there that "Ralph Breaks the Internet" is doing something rather daring. Instead of leading his plot with a MacGuffin (which part of the video game initially seems to be) or a villain (which this movie does not really have), the forces working against Ralph and Vanellope are confined to their internal struggles. For Ralph, he fears that Vanellope will end her friendship once she moves on to something else in her life. for Vanellope, it's her insecurity about the changes that could allow her to find happiness, but also to fail.
It is all in the honor of "Ralph Breaks the Internet" not to fear the painful truths that people face when faced with these dilemmas. Instead, he argues, with a maturity that is lacking even in many adult films, that one can have a happy ending by accepting the bittersweet that comes with life. Sometimes the relationships that we cherish most must evolve and perhaps even become more distant, so that the people who are dear to us can support themselves. And sometimes the destiny that suits us will be scary – but we must accept this fear, not run away from it, to grow as human beings. These are important lessons to learn for children and "Ralph Breaks the Internet" presents them poignantly without becoming predators or turning the film into a drag.
This last point can not be stressed enough: although I have made the sound of "Ralph Breaks the Internet" depressing, 90% of the film is a delight. There are many pop culture references to Disney princesses, Marvel superheroes, Star Wars and video game characters. Internet-based products such as computer viruses, spam, contextual ads, search engines, and mega-sites like Google, Twitter, eBay, and YouTube (as "BuzzTube") all get a good rating. taste whenever possible. As with the first movie "Wreck-It Ralph", it is clear that the creators of the sequel recognized that they had a golden opportunity to present their film with smart jokes and that they did not want spoil it. For every film like "The Emoji Movie", which cynically adds references to their story so that the trailers can draw the attention of the public, there are movies such as "Ralph Breaks the Internet" that consider comedy referential as a way to say something smart and funny. .
This review would be careless if I did not mention the controversy surrounding its gender policy. I first noticed this when the initial trailer fell and YouTube commentators expressed their horror at a scene in which Vanellope complains of Disney's princesses for sexist stereotypes in movies (The trailer has also received an unusually high number of dislikes, which is generally the case for feminist films, or perceived as such). A fanal cleared his throat saying "It's time to roast the feminists in this film." Another rather lengthy conference included the assertion of an unsympathetic sincerity that "it's not the fact that they've made a feminist joke that bothers me, but rather than joke it." looks like such a lazy cheap shot and does not really make sense. " "I hope Jordan Peterson will be part of this movie, so that he can explain the archetype of the male hero to all the Disney princesses. Also, I think it's funny that Merida was super bored all the time. " . "And of course, there were a lot of YouTube videos devoted entirely to deconstructing the trailer's message in a way that took on the opposite of modern feminism.
I am happy to say that the worst fears of the misogynists have been realized. It's really a film whose female characters are equal to those of their male counterparts, from Shank and Vanellope to Yesss and Disney princesses (played in a playful way by many of their original vocal actresses, including Mulan from Ming-Na Wen , Mulan of Auli'i Cravalho, Jodi Benson Ariel, Rapunzel of Mandy Moore and Elsa of Idina Menzel). Perhaps most notably, the events that put Vanellope's life at risk are due to Ralph's refusal to accept his own vulnerability. He is in need, clingy and afraid of losing his best friend, but instead of serenely responding to his fears, he uses sneaky and manipulative tactics to impose his will. As a result, his toxic behavior ends up being literally embodied in a giant monster that threatens to destroy the entire Internet, unless he can convince and convince him to grow.
While this subtle metaphor gives the film its heyday and the previous moment in BuzzTube's commentary section was an ephemeral scene, they both emphasized the same message: Cyberspace is a place where dreams can come true, but can also to become nightmares. "Ralph Breaks the Internet" has a lot to say about how the Internet brings out the best and the worst, and thus becomes a wonderful movie, suitable for all ages. And many of these people are the very ones who oppose it the most.
Matthew Rozsa
Matthew Rozsa is an author of breaking news for Salon. He holds a Masters degree in History from Rutgers University-Newark and holds a Ph.D. in History from Lehigh University. His work has been published in Mic, Quartz and MSNBC.
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