From: Wreck-It Ralph
Genre: Movies
Who said it?: Various video game baddies
The story behind the quote: Wreck-It Ralph is a CGI Disney movie released in 2012. The titular character is a “bad guy” in a fictional video game called Fix-It Felix, Jr. Ralph’s job in the game is to wreck an apartment building while the “good guy,” Fix-It Felix, Jr., fixes whatever he destroys. Being the villain of the game (and since his job is to wreck the building), no one in the apartment complex really likes Ralph. Wanting acceptance, he believes that, if he gets a medal just like the one Felix gets when be beats the game, he will finally earn some respect.
The quote comes early in the movie where Ralph attends a Bad Guy support group which other video game villains like Zangief (?) and M. Bison from the Street Fighter series and Clyde from Pac-Man meet. At the end of the meeting, after Ralph expresses his want to stop being the bad guy, they stand up and give the Bad Guy Affirmation.
Geek wisdom: A lot of people miss the point of the quote. It’s actually okay to try to better yourself. The message here is more of accepting oneself for who we are and not how others think of you. In fact, the last line of the Bad Guy Affirmation says this pretty clearly: There’s no one I’d rather be than me.
There are a lot of people that are not satisfied with their race, color, gender or whatever. And they hate themselves for it.
You are who you are. Trying to pretend that you’re something else is not the answer. The best thing to do is to accept who you are and love yourself because you are unique and special because of what you are.