@Cinaclov That wasn't the message - Ralph's issue isn't with his Bad Guy job itself ("I wreck things, professionally. I'm probably the best I know."), it's with the fact that people treat him like an actual bad person off-hours just because of his role in the game ("Maybe I wouldn't be feeling this way if things were different after work").
Ralph doesn't go off to find a vacant Good Guy position in another game (since that isn't how the games work), he leaves with the intention of bringing back a medal to prove himself worthy of respect and praise, since he figures that Felix is loved for winning medals. He wants to prove that he's a good person, regardless of the role he plays, since the Bad Guy role is just as important to the gameplay as the Good Guy role. The Nicelanders learn this when Ralph is missing and their game is almost unplugged. Ralph "moves up" in social status (as much as the arcade has social status in their culture) by showing that his role is worthy of as much respect as Felix's.
So the lesson could be interpreted as "don't judge people by their lot in life; everyone is important and those who perform non-glamorous jobs deserve appreciation" or "sometimes, little changes in life make the most difference", that sort of thing. I think the reason that the message was misunderstood was because the advertising campaign for the film made it look like Ralph was trying to find a place where he belonged, rather than a way to get respect where he already was.
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Re: Wreck-It Ralph 2 Confirmed to be Smashing Its Way to Theatres
@Cinaclov That wasn't the message - Ralph's issue isn't with his Bad Guy job itself ("I wreck things, professionally. I'm probably the best I know."), it's with the fact that people treat him like an actual bad person off-hours just because of his role in the game ("Maybe I wouldn't be feeling this way if things were different after work").
Ralph doesn't go off to find a vacant Good Guy position in another game (since that isn't how the games work), he leaves with the intention of bringing back a medal to prove himself worthy of respect and praise, since he figures that Felix is loved for winning medals. He wants to prove that he's a good person, regardless of the role he plays, since the Bad Guy role is just as important to the gameplay as the Good Guy role. The Nicelanders learn this when Ralph is missing and their game is almost unplugged. Ralph "moves up" in social status (as much as the arcade has social status in their culture) by showing that his role is worthy of as much respect as Felix's.
So the lesson could be interpreted as "don't judge people by their lot in life; everyone is important and those who perform non-glamorous jobs deserve appreciation" or "sometimes, little changes in life make the most difference", that sort of thing. I think the reason that the message was misunderstood was because the advertising campaign for the film made it look like Ralph was trying to find a place where he belonged, rather than a way to get respect where he already was.