Food for Thought

 
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An animated film about rats let loose in a restaurant kitchen may not sound like the most appetising premise. For the makers of Ratatouille, however, it was a recipe for great success. Winning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, this was one of the most charming films of the year, proving that Pixar really can make any animal look cute. Remy (Patton Oswalt), the hero of the film, is a young rat with a taste for fine food. Dissatisfied with the garbage his colony typically eats, Remy spends his time sniffing out more inspiring ingredients, and reading a cookbook by the famous but recently deceased chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett). However, Remy’s forays into the world of haute cuisine soon lead him into trouble and he finds himself hungry, homeless and alone on the streets of Paris. Here Gusteau appears to Remy as a figment of his imagination, and urges him to make the most of his new situation. Remy then finds his way to Gusteau’s restaurant where his adventures begin in earnest. On the same day that Remy arrives, Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), a young man with no discernable talent for cooking, turns up at the restaurant and is given a job as a cleaner. When Linguini starts to ruin a soup, Remy feels compelled to remedy the situation. The rat rescues the soup and it is hailed as a culinary masterpiece resulting in Linguini being promoted to chef. However, Linguini has spotted Remy’s intervention and recruits him to help him recreate his unexpected success. An unlikely partnership is born. Remy controls Linguini puppet-style by hiding under his chef’s hat and pulling on his hair. In return, Linguini offers him food, lodgings, and the chance to live out his dreams of creating beautiful dishes in a Parisian kitchen. However, not everyone is happy about the successes of Linguini and the restaurant, and the dangers of the health inspector and the food critic are a constant threat to everything Remy and Linguini have worked for.

As with almost all films aimed at children, Ratatouille is full of positive messages. On a superficial level it may be hoped that Remy’s enthusiasm for cooking, and the realistically and deliciously animated food, might inspire children to be more adventurous in their eating habits. Gusteau’s motto, ‘Anyone can cook’, is also developed as a statement about tolerance for those who are different. This is illustrated in Ratatouille by Remy’s success in overcoming the human prejudice against rats to be acknowledged as a great chef. However, it is also an empowering credo for anyone who feels that their background, experiences or situation might disqualify them from achieving their dreams. ‘Not everyone can be a great artist’, the film tells us, ‘but a great artist can come from anywhere’. With this in mind, Remy is encouraged to cultivate his talent. It’s not easy being a rat who wants to be a chef, as Remy discovers. But he eventually learns that it is better to accept who he really is rather than pretending to be somebody else. Remy might have had an easier life if he had simply conformed to the behaviour of the rest of his colony, but he would have missed out on some great adventures. Ratatouille makes it clear, however, that being ourselves is not the only important thing; we also need to trust and work with others. While Remy turns his back on his colony for a while, he is eventually only able to fulfil his ambitions with their help. Likewise, Remy and Linguini learn that their partnership can only work when they both work together and help each other out.

These are all fairly obvious themes and common to many children’s films. There is a more surprising positive message to be found in Ratatouille, though. Despite the hero of the story being a rat, the film emphasises the value and dignity of humanity. Even when confronted by the age-old enmity between his race and humans, Remy maintains his admiration for our creativity and engagement with the world: ‘I know I'm supposed to hate humans, but there's something about them. They don't just survive; they discover, they create.’ It is this distinctly human quality that Remy aspires to, and finds lacking amongst his own kind. The Bible affirms humanity’s creative impulses. In the creation narrative there is a clear distinction between the animals and humankind. The Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God. We have value and dignity, and we can participate in the act of creation. When so many animated films cast humans as the evil enemies of cute creatures, Ratatouille’s affirmation of the unique and creative status of humans is a welcome surprise.

Some of the ideas in Ratatouille have less positive aspects to them, however. Remy is not content with the life he has and is determined to change things for the better. This is obviously not a bad thing; in fact it is very important that people do not just accept the way things are but instead try to improve things in our world. However, when our happiness is based entirely on fulfilling our ambitions and potential rather than on the things we already have, this can become a problem. The psychologist Abraham Maslow defined the final stage of psychological development as self-actualisation: ‘A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy. What a man can be, he must be. This need we may call self-actualization.’[1] Maslow’s ideas have had a big impact on our society and the way we view happiness. Many people feel that they cannot be truly content unless they have achieved all that they might be capable of in life. This attitude is evident in the film in Remy’s desire to be a great chef, and also in female chef Colette’s determination to succeed in a male-dominated profession. ‘Ratatouille celebrates the passionate, sometimes aggressive pursuit of excellence’, the New York Times observes.[2] While he is an intelligent and loyal character, Remy is defined by his culinary success rather than his personality traits, and there would be no happy ending to the story if Remy did not achieve his goal of being a chef.

The problems with promoting self-actualisation as the goal of our lives are that its focus is on self rather than others, and it may lead us to be constantly pushing for more, instead of being happy with what we have. Maslow himself writes that: ‘when a need is fairly well satisfied, the next prepotent ('higher') need emerges, in turn to dominate the conscious life . . . Thus man is a perpetually wanting animal.’[3] If we subscribe to this way of life, there is a danger that we will end up always focusing on improving our situation, and never happy with where we are or spending any time thinking about the needs of others. It is telling that the mentor figure in Remy’s life is simply a figment of his own imagination. The implication is that there is no higher authority to look to than our own ideas and desires. The Bible, however, suggests a different path to contentment. Paul, one of the early followers of Jesus, writes: ‘I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am’ (Philippians 4:11-13, The Message). Paul’s happiness and sense of fulfillment come not from his situation or realization of his potential. Instead, he is focused on God rather than himself, and this enables him to be content no matter what his circumstances are. His ambitions are concerned with knowing God and being like him, rather than with doing or gaining anything in this world: ‘I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord’ (Philippians 3:7-8, NLT). It is a good thing to strive to do our best, and to make the most of our talents and dreams. But if we want to escape the rat race, we need to rest our happiness on someone who can satisfy us much more permanently than our own ambitions ever could.

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