Calvin's Use Of Magic Realism In The Film Ruby Sparks

The film, Ruby Sparks, is about a genius novelist named Calvin Weir-Fields whose fictitious character comes to life. In the beginning, Calvin writes about his dream girl and he falls in love with her; dating her in reality. This can be taken as an allusion to Pygmalion, as his creation had also became real. In the film, Ruby Sparks, the girl seemed to only exist in Calvin’s book at first. However, one day, she came to life. Through Ruby Sparks’ sudden manifestation, Calvin contemplated his sanity. However, by seeing Ruby interact with strangers and proving herself to be a “real person,” Calvin finally admitted to himself that his creation had actually come to life. To explain Ruby’s existence to his skeptical brother, Calvin said the following:

Calvin- “I know that it’s a lot to take in but you have to believe me, she’s real. I don’t know how or why, but she’s here and she’s real, and I like it.”

In most cases of magic realism works, elements of fantasy and the supernatural are blended well into a realistic setup, passing off as something completely ordinary to everyone within the work. However, in the film Ruby Sparks, the main character denies the act of magic realism at first. This denial makes the idea of it waver, as both Calvin and the viewer of the film find themselves in disbelief. Despite this, with the progression of the plot, Calvin is convinced of the idea of Ruby coming to life as a miracle, and the viewer can reassure themselves that Ruby Sparks is in fact a magic realism film. To add more to this statement, there is a scene where Calvin shows Ruby his book and explains to her that she is merely but a figment of his imagination, thus adding more to the magic realism