RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (2018) Movie Review
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
The film Wreck it Ralph depicts two lonely black sheep who find love and acceptance in each other. Ralph embarks on a quest to prove his worth, which he finds after he helps the Sugar Rush princess, Vanellope, claim her throne from the villainous attention seeking Turbo. Six years later, Ralph must help Vanellope again before Sugar Rush is scrapped and her subjects become homeless.
The duo journey to the internet where their seemingly unshakable friendship is tested. Vanellope discovers her new place as a racer in the lawless streets of Slaughter Race after six years of complacency. She craves a more exciting challenge. She yearns for another life, a life the boundless internet offers. Instead of finding a way to fix her current world, she finds a new home.
Vanellope's sense of purpose changes as she grows into a fully realized character. She denounces her position of a princess and seeks more challenging races. She also leaves her game in a good place. Sugar Rush is repaired and her subjects her their home. As a good leader, she acts in the best interest of her people, even if it means stepping down.
1 John 4:18 - "Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." (NLT)
Ralph, afraid of losing his best friend, must learn to let her go. His sense of identity depends on his friendship with Vanellope. He must once again find his worth, this time without her to boost his esteem. His insecurity infects the world around him like a virus. This powerful tears through the internet the way his character tears through his game, Fix-It Felix, Jr.
In order to stop the virus, save the internet, and preserve his friendship is to come to peace with Vanellope's new dream. To love is to often let go. Selflessness means to put another's happiness above personal happiness. Ralph must learn to let Vanellope go. He must overcome his fear of loneliness and put Vanellope's happiness above his own.
Despite their different dreams and the distance between them, they can remain friends. They embrace each other's happiness. They support each other's dreams. They accept each other as they are. Their friendship is too meaningful to simply end over petty, immature reasons.
Let us live by the same example. Don't burn bridges due to an understandable difference. Our callings in life may be different, but we still ways to connect with each other. Especially with the internet.
