Sarah Silverman Breaks Down Her 'Complicated' Relationship with the Internet: 'It Is a Gateway Drug'

In "Ralph Breaks the Internet," the titular video game character is introduced to the online world for the very first time in his life, an overwhelming experience to say the least.

While it's a whole new world for Ralph and Vanellope, navigating the internet is something star Sarah Silverman knows all too well, and it's a relationship that's ever-evolving.

"It is a gateway drug," Silverman responded when broadly asked about her own experience with the Internet at a recent press day for the film. "For a comedian, it's a great place to try out jokes or like places where you just have a funny thought and you want to put it out there or whatever."

But that's shifted of late, as Silverman said the internet "became the place where I take in my news." She added: "Now, I wantonly look back on the times when I was funny on it."

Though she did applaud its many good qualities, Silverman called out the "terrible" aspects as well.

"A lot outside misinformation. This new world of chaos. And lack of knowing what is true I would attribute to the Internet," she explained. "But also learning truths about other people that I would have never known. Culturally. Like waking up to my own white privilege had a lot to do with the Internet for what it's worth. But yeah. It's a very complicated relationship, the Internet, that we all have. And we have to try to find a healthy balance."

For costar John C. Reilly, he said he hopes children come away from the new movie with questions about how social media affects them, especially in an age where people are constantly chasing likes on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. In the film, that's represented by Ralph seeking "hearts" on videos he posts online.

"I think this idea of chasing after anonymous love -- in our movie, these hearts -- or this idea that kids are reaching out for acceptance from people they don't know," he said. "And how that's ultimately kind of an empty feeling. I hope that kids come away with that 'aha' moment that I just described. Which is like, 'Why do I do that? Why do I want to do that?' Because that's the first step to really understanding a situation like that."

Reilly added that he found it "really exciting" to see some of these issues explored in a Disney film in a "really real way."

The stars were all also asked if there's anything they'd like to get back to from the pre-Internet days -- and their answers really proved how much things have changed in the social media age.

"Kids going outside, being home when the lights come on," said Taraji P. Henson. "Go outside and play. Use your imagination. How about that?"

"I don't remember phone numbers anymore. I couldn't tell you any phone number besides my own," Jack McBrayer responded. With that, Henson added that she didn't even know her own!

"I miss a time when we were all -- even though it's wonderful to have all these choices of what we focus our attention on -- it was a very good thing to have something that we... an objective truth," answered Reilly. "Instead of all these versions of what's going on in the world depending on what sites you visit. I think the human race could use a unifying way to communicate again like that."