Wreck it Ralph. Vanellope autistic/ has AS? Spoilers

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KenM
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02 Nov 2012, 6:40 pm

Just saw Wreck it Ralph. I thought the character of Vanellope was kind of like someone with autism/ AS in the real world. In the movie she "glitches". Looks like she freaks out, has meltdowns. Because of her condition, she is shunned by the others in Her game, lives alone, no one wants anything to do with Her, ect.. I thought it was alot like how autistics and people with AS are treated by NTs. Best thing about Her is in the end, she has a chance to be normal, but chooses to stay as a glitch. 8) Movies main theme is its OK to be who you are.

I thought the movie was fantastic. If you love video games you'll love it.



teachermommy
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02 Nov 2012, 10:02 pm

I just saw it with my 4 kids and I felt the exact same way! My 13 year old son (AS) was sitting beside me, his most recent tic is to inhale while tightening his stomach muscles, kind of jerkily and a bit loud, incessantly. I kept massaging him trying to calm him and he'd settle a bit, then it would start right back up. I'm literally doing this as I'm watching the bully girls say that she couldn't race because of her glitches ... whew, I was bawling! Then in the end when she chose to say "glitchy" because it helped her, LOVED that. Great film, the whole theatre applauded when it was over.



LtlPinkCoupe
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02 Nov 2012, 11:04 pm

Oh my gosh, I saw Wreck-It-Ralph tonight, and I LOVED Vanellope....I literally cried at all the parts where different characters were mean to her...I just wanted to give her a big ol' hug and tell her that she was okay the way she was. And yes, I loved the decision she made at the end, too. :)

I've even seen videos on Youtube that show the talking Vanellope dolls from Thinkway Toys and the Disney Store, and one of the phrases that the Thinkway Vanellope doll says is something like, "But who cares? I'd rather just be me," in that adorable little girl voice she has. I have struggled with self-esteem and self-acceptance for literally years, and after seeing the videos of the dolls and seeing her in the movie, I've decided that if a little girl from a movie-based video game can learn to like herself just the way she is, and see her supposed "weakness" as a strength, then I can, too. :D

I love how one of the messages of the movie is to just be yourself, and the people who truly like you and are your real friends will be drawn to you for it.


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equestriatola
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05 Nov 2012, 9:31 am

I loved this film. I can relate to Vanellope's struggles, to an extent.

The film itself is pretty funny; and it carries a strong message, it's what LtlPinkCoupe said. Highly recommended!


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05 Nov 2012, 10:22 am

There were also certain details of the movie that made me think that Vanellope was kind of sensory, too - for instance, she likes being bundled up in candy wrappers and she loves Ralph's hugs....that could be a "deep pressure" kind of thing. And then there's another scene where she tugs at the frilly collar of a dress she's wearing and looks visibly uncomfortable and longing for her old, comfy hoodie....the lace or stitching on the dress could have felt itchy or prickly on her neck, or something. I sure know how that feels....give me a hoodie over a lacy, itchy dress any day. :P

I think she also chews on one of the strings on her hoodie at one point when she first meets Ralph...I used to do that all the time with the strings on my jackets and hoodies. I really liked to chew things when I was younger.

...Just things I happened to notice. :D

Another thing I should mention is that Vanellope reminded me of my youngest half - sister as I was watching....my sister used to be a little spitfire just like Vanellope. :D So, in every scene where something bad happened to her, it was like something bad happening to my sister, and I would bawl my eyes out accordingly. lol


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BlueMax
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06 Nov 2012, 6:45 pm

I'm gonna' have to wait... a grown man going to see this without kids might trigger a police call. ;) ;)



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06 Nov 2012, 8:35 pm

BlueMax wrote:
I'm gonna' have to wait... a grown man going to see this without kids might trigger a police call. ;) ;)


I'm a grown man who saw it without kids, but then again I look young. I think a lot of adults want to see the movie for the cameos of retro video game characters. No big deal.



palindrome
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08 Nov 2012, 5:59 pm

I liked the movie quite a lot.

Vanelope made me think more of tourette's than autism. She has tics and they make her a social outcast! Though apparently she can control it. I don't think that's exactly an intended reading or anything though because she can control it, etc. But I was definitely thinking it.



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13 Nov 2012, 8:04 pm

BlueMax wrote:
I'm gonna' have to wait... a grown man going to see this without kids might trigger a police call. ;) ;)


I saw Wreck-It Ralph just the other day and someone thought of doing just that to me. :lol: :wink: :wink:


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13 Nov 2012, 8:15 pm

As for Vanellope, she made me think of something closer to ADD/ADHD than Autism/AS. She is so hyper that everybody in her game, from their point of view, sees her behavior as her trying to get attention, as if she's faking being glitchy because she wants attention so she's made a social outcast.

With Ralph in his game, before he leaves, all the characters in Fix-It Felix think Ralph has poor anger management skills because he wrecks the apartment building, so he too is a social outcast in his game.


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19 Nov 2012, 5:42 pm

Just saw the film yesterday. I wouldn't say she has AS/HFA. Although everyone's arguements do support symptoms, she just appears way too normal to me however. The Tourette's tic thing is a possibility. Her emotions seem to make it more frequent. The ADD/ADHD I would dismiss simply because she's a kid in a land of sugar. I mean her game is called "Sugar Rush."

What's bad is during one scene an adult in the audience says in a serious way "Oh this is just too sad." My husband whispers to himself "Then leave." Not wanting to contribute to the theaters conversation I think to myself "No $#%! It's supposed to be. Is this the first time you've seen a Disney movie? There's always at least one sad scene. Be thankful no one of value died in this one." (Programmed back stories don't count) The whole point of these sad scenes was to teach a lesson. While everyone here feels that the lesson is to like the way you are, and that may be so, I saw another larger lesson, don't bully people. "Too sad?" Maybe a few people in the audience learned something from it. Definitely more educational than watching Mufasa's rotting corpse while his son continues to love on it.

Anyway, I feel as those this character just represents anyone who had ever been bullied, even if it was only done by a single person



redrobin62
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04 Jun 2013, 1:48 pm

Vanellope sort of feels like an Asperger's character. She gets bullied, doesn't fit in, has meltdowns, has an intense focus on her special interest (building cars and driving), and because she glitches (stims?) she knows she's not like other people. Also, like many with Asperger's, she speaks her mind and tells the truth with no regard for how awkward or inappropriate it sounds. This is illustrated by when she asks Ralph, "Why are your hands so freakishly big?" to which he replies, "I don't know. Why are you so freakishly annoying?"

I can also related to Wreck It Ralph. He's a big lummox who is just tired of living alone in a dump and being an outsider. Very touching movie. Hopefully there'll be a Wreck It Ralph II.



xMistrox
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04 Jun 2013, 5:46 pm

Well, the character does claim to have "pixlexia" which could be interpreted as "dyslexia" word wise in popular culture. Dyslexia is a common comorbid of ASD and similar disorders as it is classified as a learning disability. On the other hand, it is physically portrayed as a "tic" or similar effect due to a minor meltdown, which she can eventually control (possibly then it would be considered a form of stim?). Probably unintended, but interesting due to the amount of similarities.


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05 Jun 2013, 2:19 am

I was actually just thinking about this, I was thinking about how in the movie it shows Turbo going in and ripping Vanellope's data from the rest of the game's system, leaving her disconnected from everyone else, her code just sparking with electricity far off in the vast space of the game's hard drive with nowhere to connect to. I sometimes explain to people that's what my brain is like, some wires in there are just sparking, thinking hard, but they don't connect all the time. And yes, everything that's been mentioned above I noticed right away when I first saw it in theaters. And to think, at one point they almost got rid of the character, I'm so glad they didn't, she's a wonderful girl and I love seeing people dress up as her at conventions.



sixstring
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05 Jun 2013, 1:36 pm

I felt so sad for her, I felt the same pain she felt for a long time.
I thought it deserved the oscar for the best animated movie much more than Brave.



KagamineLen
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05 Jun 2013, 3:14 pm

BlueMax wrote:
I'm gonna' have to wait... a grown man going to see this without kids might trigger a police call. ;) ;)


Well, I have quite a few gamer friends who weren't the least bit concerned about that when they saw it without kids. This has a lot more appeal for adults than something like The Barney Movie, after all.