The Big Debate

The Internet is Improving Cinematic Literacy

Thanks to sites like Netflix, Movies Anywhere, and Rotten Tomatoes, it has never been a better time to be a movie fan

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

This is the first in a monthly Fanfare debate series, in which opposite perspectives are given on a particular topic. This month: Does the Internet improve or erode cinematic literacy?

Ralph Breaks the Internet is the sort of film you watch when you intrinsically believe you’ll live forever and not, like, die someday, and therefore time can be spent like quarters in a gum ball machine. It’s fine. There are plenty of worse movies.

I only saw it the one time. The scene that sticks in my memory is when Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) first arrive at (in?) the Internet, through accidental malfeasance of some sort that escapes me but probably involves Ralph doing something stupid. Our heroes stand at the edge, astounded by the immensity and scale. It’s the best visual representation of the Internet I’ve ever seen, a mash-up of The Wizard of Oz’s transformation to Technicolor, Vegas’ gaudy splendor, and an advertiser’s utopia, plus goofy avatars.

Given the Internet’s centrality to modern life, it’s easy to forget just how amazing it…