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Carlos Elias

Mrs. Storer

English 3 Honors American Literature

January 24, 2020

Respect Before Love

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one’s

self-respect.” In the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World directed by Edgar Wright, the main

character Scott Pilgrim must regain respect he lost from a terrible relationship. The new girl of

Toronto, Ramona Flowers, is the crush of Scott Pilgrim, who is in dire need of an intimate

relationship after his devastating breakup with his ex-girlfriend Envy Adams. However, in order

to date Ramona, Scott must physically battle against the League of Evil Exes, a group of

Ramona’s previous ex-boyfriends. This league is controlled by Ramona’s most powerful

boyfriend Gideon, who Scott needs to fight at the end of the movie. Although Scott Pilgrim

mistakenly believes throughout the movie that being in love is what he innately needs to improve

his life, the numerous battles he fights against Ramona’s ex-boyfriends unravel his subconscious

need for something else to fill this void. His respect for himself and others is what turns out to be

the thing that is necessary to enrich his life.

In the beginning of the movie, Scott believes that getting into intimate relationships is the

only way to improve his confidence that was torn by his last breakup with Envy Adams. In one

of the earliest scenes of the movie, Scott sees Ramona for the first time in a dream, and he finds

it necessary to find and date her in person. Scott consciously believes that Ramona can fill the

gaping hole that is missing from his life. “You’re not alone,” she says in Scott’s dream, “You’re

just having some idiotic dream.” Scott replies, “Does that mean we can make out?” (Wright
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00:10:00-00:10:30). Scott’s reply to Ramona’s comment clearly expresses the state in which

Scott is currently in, a state lacking the sense of respect. It is also essential to notice how the

dream is set in a dry, hot desert. This desert symbolizes Scott’s search to quench his thirst of

redemption. This is important because Scott is unable to realize that there are other things that

are necessary in order to improve his life, not just the emotionless love he is looking for. Scott’s

comment on making out shows the respect he not yet realizes he needs. Scott’s longing for love

goes back even before Ramona. Earlier in the movie, 22-year-old Scott dates a 17-year-old high

schooler named Knives Chau. Scott’s relationship with the high schooler was his first attempt to

patch his confidence. In a conversation with Ramona, Knives explains to her how she first met

Scott. Knives explains, “So I was on the bus with my mom…” Knives was not able to finish her

story because she got distracted. Ramona then disappointedly responded by asking, “Is that

seriously the end of the story?” (Wright 00:28:30-00:29:30). Even though there was more to the

story, the sudden halt in the narration symbolizes the lack of an intimate connectivity between

Scott and Knives. This interrupted conversation is important because it displays the amount of

deep connection Scott’s relationship actually has, which is little to none. Overall, Scott made the

conscious belief in the beginning of the movie that these relationships are good for him, even

though all of his friends and even himself might think otherwise.

During the rising action of the movie, Scott shows how his lack of respect is the one thing

that is missing in his life. One day after defeating an evil ex-boyfriend at a club, Scott gets into

an argument with Ramona about her evil ex-boyfriends. At the club, Scott drunkenly asks

Ramona, “Hey, just out of sheer curiosity and concern for my mortal well-being, is there anyone

at this party you have not slept with?” (Wright 01:18:00-01:19:00). In the scene, it is critical to

notice how Ramona is wearing all blue, which could reflect Scott’s self-piteous state at the
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moment. This scene is important because it shows how the lack of respect towards Ramona is

only making Scott’s life worse. This sense of self-pity from Scott signals to him that something

is missing from his life within all this violent chaos. Instead of trying to find a solution to this,

Scott foolishly blames it all of his problems on Ramona. After this heated argument, Gideon

grabs control of Ramona and is keeping her hostage in his underground dance club. In Scott’s

first battle against Gideon at the club, he fights using the Sword of Love, a sword that Scott pulls

from his chest in declaration of his love for Ramona. In a courageous battle to save his crush,

Scott is faced with defeat against Gideon. Laying on the floor, the camera looks up to Gideon,

displaying the power he has over Scott (Wright 01:32:00-01:35:00). This is important because

Scott realizes his love for Ramona isn’t as powerful as he thought it was, since he had no respect

for himself, let alone for others. The love he supposedly had for Ramona could not be justified

due to the lack respect Scott displays. In reality, he is just another evil ex-boyfriend waiting to

happen. It was Scott’s own mistakes that made him realize the true thing he needed in his life.

It is only during the final battle of the movie where Scott consciously believes he needs

respect in order to improve his life. During his second battle against Gideon, Scott fights for

himself instead of out of love for Ramona. Before this second clash, Scott has a talk with

Gideon, and Gideon asks, “You want to fight me for her?” Scott replies to him by saying “No, I

want to fight you for me.” All of a sudden, an anonymous voice declares, “Scott earned the

power of self-respect!” (Wright 01:39:00-01:42:00). After a long and intense skirmish, Scott

eventually defeats Gideon with the Sword of Self-Respect. At the end of Scott’s successful fight,

the camera now looks up at the protagonist as he is standing over Gideon. Not only does this

scene symbolizes the power difference between the two characters, it also symbolizes the change

of Scott’s approach to the betterment of his life. Scott finally decides to change his way of living
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and pursue his goal of self-improvement by respecting himself. This is important because Scott

embraces the subconscious need for respect he previously ignored in the movie. After defeating

the villain, Gideon’s ghost reveals he has one final weapon, Nega Scott. This surprise opponent

is Scott’s reflection of his negative personality. Scott tells his peers at the club, “This is

something I have to face myself” (Wright 01:45:00-01:47:00). In the end, Scott and Nega Scott

walk out of the club peacefully, planning to have brunch later. This friendship with his darker

side represents the comfort Scott has with himself due to his newfound self-respect. Because of

this, Scott walks out of the club with a new life ahead of him, one that has forgotten the pain

experienced in the past. In the end, Scott was able to consciously decide that respect is the

ultimate way for his life improvement.

Scott was merely a young millennial trying to find a will to live that was previously lost in a

hurtful relationship. Even though Scott tries to fill this void in his life with love, it was self-

respect that was necessary for this void. Scott knew love was not the answer, but it was until the

very end of the movie in which he chooses to believe so. Through Scott’s developing sense of

respect for himself and others in the movie, one can learn that respect should be put before all

things including love.