Warning: Contains spoilers
I recently finally saw Wreck It Ralph, after borrowing it from my parents.
While I didn't find it as funny as I'd hoped, it's definitely cute and has some very touching moments. And I took away some lessons from it. (I like to watch movies in which I can learn some moral lesson, and this definitely had some good stuff to take away.)
No one is a mistake.
If you're alive, you're meant to be alive and be a part of this world. While it may not be inherently obvious what your purpose is or even your value, you play an important and special role in life (or you wouldn't be here).
Just look at Venelope: she was told she was a "glitch" who was a mistake and never should have been--but in the end, she turned out to be the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush, and the greatest racer in the game! Just because others--or even you--don't see your worth, doesn't mean it's not there waiting under the surface.
Additionally, I like to take from this movie that you shouldn't take anyone in your life for granted. Even the "bad guy" has his place; life isn't just happenstance. You need everyone who is placed in your life--even the "bad guys" and those who seem to make life miserable.
One of my favorite analogies is that life is like a batch of cookies. It takes multiple ingredients to make cookies, and one of those ingredients is salt*. On it's own, the salt is overpoweringly unpleasant and you don't want it. But it's what helps make the cake good in the end.
The people in your life are the like the ingredients; you need them all--even the salty ones--to make your cookies the best they can be.
And then, of course, there's the whole message of the movie: making peace with the things you can't change about yourself, and accepting who you're supposed to be in life.
While I'm a firm advocate that people can constantly improve and better themselves and change, there are some things we're dealt in life that are out of our control. And the best thing we can do, if we can't change something, is accept it. I've used this quote more than once, and I'll use it again: "If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. " (Mary Engelbreit)
And if you're too focused on what others think and in being like them and having what they have, you'll miss filling your own role--and that could be disastrous for everyone (like when Ralph left his game and they no longer had a bad guy, and thus where declared "Out of Order").
And, of course, the other underlying theme: Don't let labels define you. Ralph was always treated like the "bad guy," but he was willing to give up his life to save little Venelope. Even though Ralph's main role was the "bad guy," he still chose to do good, and managed to help save the day.
All in all, it was worth the watch (though not my favorite Disney movie), and I found it to be a very wholesome family movie.
*I don't actually use salt in recipes like cookies, generally, because I try to cut out sodium as much as possible.
Photo source: http://m4mystery.com/2012/06/29/wreck-it-ralph-trailer/
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