Headscratchers / Ruby Sparks

• So it's established that, in this movie's universe, it's possible for a fictional character someone writes about to become real. But this obviously doesn't always happen with fictional characters, as otherwise the world would be extremely visibly different and no one would have been at all surprised to see Ruby become real. What is it about this specific character, or Calvin's writing about her, that made the difference, causing it to happen with her when it didn't with other characters?
  • The same thing that makes the Groundhog Day loop happen to Phil Connors, George Bailey be the one chosen to be visited by an angel, and Ebenezer Scrooge get to see his past and future Christmases; because the story had to happen to someone otherwise there'd be no story. For all we know, this sort of thing happens all the time to different people, we just don't see it because, well, this story's about Calvin and Ruby.
    • Reminds me of the Trope Finder entry I posted a while ago but never got any response on. The three examples you provided, to my knowledge, fit well into that, though I'm not sure if this does. If things like that happen all the time, how would that not result in a world where even in just the part they show, it's obviously very different from real life beyond what happens to the main characters?
    • I think you may be taking what I said a bit more literally than I intended; I just meant "happens all the time" as a casual way of saying "this may indeed have happened to other people, but we're just seeing it happen to these particular people". I didn't intend it to mean "this is happening to literally everyone in the world at the exact same time", just that within this fictional universe it may be more common than just Calvin and Ruby's experience while still being largely rare in the broader scheme of things. The ultimate point is just that if we're watching a fantastical / Magical Realism story like this, we have to take it on a certain degree of faith that for some reason these unusual events have simply occurred to the people we're watching for whatever reason, otherwise there'd be no story.
  • Essentially, the Anthropic Principle. You want to watch a story about an author bringing their fictional character to life? Then it's got to happen to someone. Why did it happen to these people? Because if it didn't you'd either be watching the story happen to someone else or you'd be watching a really boring story about an author writing a story and nothing else happening. Why did it only happen to these people? Because it wouldn't be special or noteworthy otherwise, and this was the story the creators wanted to tell. Put simply, you have to be willing to accept that within the world of this story these events can occur but they can't necessarily happen to everyone, and that for whatever reason they happened to these characters instead of someone else. And if you can't accept that, either find a way of dealing with it or move on to something else, those are pretty much your only two options here.

• If anything Calvin writes about Ruby becomes reality, what exactly are the limits? Why hasn't he exploited this in ways that would be beneficial for both of them? What if, for instance, he wrote that Ruby suddenly acquired Reality Warping powers for no reason at all, which she immediately used to give Calvin the same abilities she had? There seems to be a ton of missed opportunities here.
  • Because the point of the story is Calvin is that selfish and rather small-minded to start with, and that his gradual realisation that exploiting Ruby in this fashion is awful and monstrous even if he thinks it's for seemingly 'beneficial' reasons. Especially since Calvin using Ruby to give himself god-like powers is only beneficial to Calvin; it's a hugely selfish thing to do.
    • What? But Ruby gets the powers too; how's that not beneficial to her? I wouldn't call it exploitation; they'd be making the most of their situation to the mutual benefit of both of them. And to everyone else as well, if they decide to, say, create a perfect world for everyone. There's no way you could possibly call it exploitation if she agrees to it of her own accord, and why wouldn't she?
    • The whole point of Ruby's story is that ultimately she can't agree to it, not really; even if Calvin gives her god-like powers, she's still under Calvin's thumb because Calvin is the one writing and controlling her. If she disagrees, Calvin can just go ahead and give her those powers anyway if he wants, thus rendering her consent and agreement practically meaningless. Ruby is essentially Calvin's puppet; no matter how powerful he makes her, ultimately Calvin will always be the one pulling her strings, and any power she has is still bound by those limits (especially if he then goes on to give himself more power through her, which just increases his control). Giving Ruby godlike powers is just creating the illusion of Ruby being powerful; at the end of the day she still can't do anything that Calvin doesn't want her to do, because until he releases her she's just an extension of himself and his wishes. And it's exploitative if Calvin is only giving Ruby more power to make himself more powerful, because he's ultimately only doing it to benefit himself, not her. Plus, given how controlling he can be and how much he resents it when Ruby does something that suggests some sign of independence, Calvin would probably hesitate before giving her any kind of power that might end up threatening his control over her.
    • Also, wouldn't being selfish to start with mean he's more likely to do something exploitative?
    • Yes, but I did say 'small-minded' as well, to be fair (although in hindsight that might not be the best choice of words; 'repressed' or 'restrained' might be more accurate). I think it's hard to argue that Calvin isn't at least a little bit selfish and self-centred throughout the movie, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to plunge straight into A God Am I mode. He doesn't really want god-like power over the universe, he just wants his perfect girl to love him, that's all I really meant. He might well have started going down this road if he didn't have his moment of clarity of just how big a dick he was becoming but you don't have to have a god-complex or be an all-powerful tyrant to be selfish or exploit someone.
  • Also, why would Calvin need to write a convoluted way of getting Ruby to give him reality-warping powers? He's just written a fictional character into real-world existence; he's arguably already got reality-warping powers in some way. Perhaps that's just the limit of them?
  • And also, as with the point about Anthropic Principle above, this simply isn't the story the creators wanted to tell.

• So, uh, does Ruby have, like, a social security number? Can she pay taxes? She has "history" sure but...could she actually fully exist in our society? She says she wants to get a job at a coffee shop early on; how would that work? Would they even hire her? She would have so much trouble navigating the real world. Good thing that's not what this movie is about, hah.