Wreckin’ It with Wreck-it Ralph: Philosophical Messages from Animated Friends

Perhaps Wreck-it Ralph, the Disney tour de force available in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats at the Mercer County Library System, contains what might be the greatest, if somewhat ambivalent, self-acceptance mantra of our time: “I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.”

Maybe not the mantra for everyone – but still a fascinating concept. As someone once said “The villain is the hero of his own story.” Is this the case with Wreck-it Ralph?

By day Ralph is the enemy in the video game Fix It Felix, where Ralph breaks things and the hero Felix, well, fixes them. But, in his off hours, Ralph is a good-natured fellow. Ralph wants to be a hero – but he is programmed to be the exact opposite. In fact, he’s just fulfilling that programming until he gets off work and he can, then, be himself. How can Ralph become the hero he wants to become instead of the nemesis he was programmed to be?

The question at hand: can you be an enemy of the good by day and a virtuous person by night? Does your programming make you who you are or is it all about who you decide to be? Even if your programming (i.e. social conditioning) makes you one way, can you choose to be another way? Will Ralph find his answer?

Another character of equal – perhaps even more – gravitas than Wreck-it Ralph is Michael Corleone from The Godfather. Ralph faces a Reverse Corleone Conundrum. In The Godfather, also available in both DVD and Blu-Ray at the library, Michael is a good guy who becomes a bad guy while trying to do the right thing for his family. Ralph, however, is a villain who wants to be good because goodness is in his nature while destructiveness is in his programming. Which aspect of Ralph will win out?

No matter what, though, Ralph needs to show up to work and wreck It.

Whereas the first film deals with the nature of free will versus determinism the sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, contains further philosophical messages worthy of our scrutiny. In this sequel, the question is not whether Ralph is a villain or hero but, instead, whether Ralph is able to face down his insecurities and potential codependent tendencies toward Vanellope, his friend from the first film, as he tries to locate an object of great importance to help her. The fabled “wrecking” in this film comes in the form of an “insecurity” virus. Ultimately, if we love something we must let it go and if it flies back in a third film – kudos. Will Ralph be able to overcome his growing insecurities and codependence and learn that friendships mean that friends need to be free to pursue their own life goals or will his insecurities destroy the entirety of the Internet – as well as his friendship?

A deep dive into films such as Wreck-it Ralph and others with an eye toward the eternal philosophical questions is well worth one’s time. Continue your journey by watching or re-watching Wreck-it Ralph and others through the robust animated family films available at every branch of the Mercer County Library System. Or if you’re interested in a different kind of “family” film, watch The Godfather. It may be an offer you can’t refuse.