Ralph Breaks The Internet: Why THIS Key Plot Point Is So Divisive

As a sequel to the 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph, Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet is destined to go down in history as wrecking the franchise's fandom. Those who like the 2018 film enjoy the message of letting friends drift apart and do their own thing. Those who don't are much more vocal.

Critics are quick to pick out the aberrations in characterization. The supporting cast is wasted, the reason to go to the internet feels contrived and the Disney Princesses scene feels ... strange. However, no complaint has more weight or support than one regarding a major rule break in the sequel: Vanellope goes turbo.

Related: Wreck-It Ralph: 10 Facts About Fix-It Felix, Jr. You Didn't Know

Going Turbo is not a good thing. The backstory for the term stems from the character Turbo causing two games to be unplugged, resulting in those games' characters either becoming homeless or outright dying. It's horrific enough that the arcade characters refer to 'going Turbo' with fear and dread. The act is selfish and destructive, as the game characters are bound by their code to certain roles.

Turbo's actions were driven by jealousy and narcissism and eventually led him to take over Sugar Rush and depose Vanellope. Ralph's actions in the first film can be considered going Turbo, even though they lead to Turbo's downfall. His game-jumping nearly results in his game being unplugged for good. In the context of the first film, going Turbo and rebelling against the code is the worst thing possible.

However, in Ralph Breaks the Internet, Vanellope's behavior can best be described as going Turbo. She's bored with a racing role she spent the whole first film fighting to achieve. When Ralph makes a new track for her to try, she rebels against the racer controlling her to attend to a personal desire, which results in a broken steering wheel and the risk that Sugar Rush will be unplugged. A selfish action results in her game being shut down and its occupants becoming homeless.

Related: Disney: Every Wreck-It Ralph 2 Poster, Ranked

Her behavior doesn't improve, as she's easily distracted by an online racing game called Slaughter Race and starts expressing a desire to stay in that game instead of restoring her own. Ralph is against this, but the film paints Ralph as being the selfish one. Vanellope finally does get what she wants and is coded into Slaughter Race, abandoning her old game for newer pastures. In the fandom's eyes, she goes Turbo.

The difference between the two films is how this important tenet of the movies' universe is treated. In the first movie, going Turbo is treated as a bad action with terrible consequences no matter what the reason. In the second movie, Vanellope performing the same action is celebrated and portrayed as a healthy continuation of her character growth.

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No thought is given to the rest of the characters of Sugar Rush -- something that should be of concern to their president princess. Ralph's concerns are treated as immature and he's portrayed as a toxic and clingy man-child, instead of a concerned friend who not only has more experience but has also spent years coming to terms with his own role in his game.

Ralph game-jumps because he's desperate for recognition, but he realizes the consequences of his actions and their impact on others. Vanellope doesn't. Her arc in the second movie is a classic "follow your dreams" plot -- popular with Disney, but not fitting in the movie's universe. To achieve it, the movie universe's rules have to be broken, which ultimately means it doesn't work. Wreck-It Ralph is remembered with fondness, but the sequel seems doomed to fade into obscurity due to its divisive plot.

Keep Reading: Disney: 5 Reasons We Want A Wreck-It Ralph 3 (& 5 Reasons We're Okay Without It)