Line #8 Fridge/Ratatouille


1	[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
2	* Colette briefly references the hardships of being a female chef, and how it's forced her to have to be especially harsh in order to be taken seriously at all in such a field. These tidbits of her life explain a lot more of her backstory and actions than you may think.
3	** She has a strong belief in Gusteau's motto: "Anyone can cook". This is very likely fueled by her own perseverance and eventual success at becoming a chef, and could even be what motivated her in her earlier years and brought her to the restaurant in the first place.
4	** She aids Linguini (and later Remy) because she doesn't want them to have to face the same obstacles she did.
5	** [[spoiler: When she quits upon discovering that Linguini is a fraud, she spots one of Gusteau's cookbooks behind a shop window, with his famous quote as the title. This fuels her decision to return and help Linguini because, aside from reminding her of Linguini and Remy's cooking aspirations as compared to her own, it reminds her of her passion for working at the restaurant and how far she had come to get to that point.]]
6	* A minor one is how suited Remy is to being a head chef. Not only does he have his highly developed sense of taste, but he also is rather good at directing and giving orders. The brilliance behind this is the fact that his dad is the leader of their pack. Naturally, Remy would've inherited his dad's talent for leadership.
7	** And as a bit of a StealthPun, he was able to pass Linguini as a master chef by puppeteering his body from underneath his toque...sitting on top of his head.
8	* Anton's food-induced {{Flashback}} hails from Marcel Proust's concept of "involuntary memory". Quoth ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time#Themes In Search of Lost Time]]'':
9	-->No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. ... Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it? ... And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it. And all from my cup of tea.
10	** It's actually a very well-known concept in France, used in common speak through the expression "''C'est ma madeleine de Proust''" (it's my madeleine of Proust).
11	* It's also brilliance that Remy distinctly chose a simple, but immaculately prepared, dish for Ego. Ego's the judge, jury, and executioner of restaurants all over Paris. He's probably been served the fanciest, most complex dishes the kitchens can cook up in an attempt to impress him. Ego is expecting this. Ego will not be impressed by any over the top attempt at culinary wizardly ''because'' he is expecting this. But give him the simplest, most wonderful "peasant food" in the world and that is going to subvert his expectation enough to pay attention.
12	** What's more, Remy chose this dish because, in a way, he is himself a peasant. Notably, both he and Anton came from humble beginnings.
13	* Many chefs, including Thomas Keller, who was the adviser on this film, are aware of, and have talked about, the extent to which our taste in food is bound up with memory. Creator/AnthonyBourdain noted in one of his books how, if you ask great chefs what their favourite food is, it'll probably not be some brilliantly avant-garde meal they've had but something simple that they had as a child, which brings back good memories. In the film, Skinner is all about creating bland, reheatable versions of classic dishes that can be eaten by people in a hurry, and which don't have to be prepared with care. Nobody's likely to associate those dishes with happy memories. Ego is zonked by Remy's ratatouille not because it's specifically a peasant dish, or even a simple dish, but because it brings back his memory of a time in childhood when his mom's ratatouille had the power to cheer him up.
14	* Colette's professional cooking instruction includes the decree, "You cannot be Mommy." But in the end, what wins over Anton is a meal that reminds him of what his mother used to make when he was a boy.
15	** And this part is some excellent attention to detail as the concept of "French restaurants" like Gusteau's was started after the "Révolution française", by former chefs that had served royalty, as a way to make a living after losing their job, and were sold as "a way for peasants eat like a royal for a day" kind experience. Of course, the cuisines will have to be much more "high end" than "the way mommy makes it" and Remy's strategy is closer to the concept of the menu of an Italian bistro or Chinese restaurant (or to be more accurate, like a local Taiwanese diner around the corner).
16	* Anton Ego's reference to Chef Boyardee is surprisingly significant; like Gusteau, Chef Boyardee (real name [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Boiardi Ettore Boiardi]]) was also a well-known and successful chef in his home country who was reduced to a face on prepared foods after his death.
17	** In fact, had Skinner succeeded with his franchise, Ego's scathing review might have been seen as an unintentional prophecy.
18	* The inconsequential fighting/kissing couple that Remy briefly sees in the beginning actually does mirror Linguini and Colette's first kiss (although Colette's reaching for pepper spray is more subtle). In fact, that first couple may have been where Rémy got the idea.
19	* Overlaps with FridgeHorror a bit, but remember how Gusteau made a big spiel in one of his interviews of how important it is for a creator to accept failure. So why does an unfavorable review end up literally killing him? Because creative people are their own harshest critics!
20	* Even though Skinner seems to get the last laugh at the end by [[spoiler:getting Gusteau's closed down for failing a health inspection]], he did get his comeuppance, in a way. From the public's point of view, Skinner knew that his restaurant had a rat infestation but covered it up, and [[spoiler:when he lost the restaurant to Linguini, he called the health inspector on Gusteau's just to spite him.]]
21	** What's more, it doesn't change things for Skinner. Yes, he [[spoiler: still got Gusteau's shut down. But at the end of the day, Linguini still has Colette, Remy still has his passion for cooking, and Ego still provides our heroes a new restaurant, but all Skinner has is nothing except for his petty revenge and the bitter truth he's just [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory1 a sad, strange little man.]]]]
22	* If you compare Anton's body in the last scene of the film to how he looked during the rest of the movie, you'll notice that he seems to have gained a bit of weight. And when you notice that, you can't help but remember what he said earlier in the movie.
23	-->"I don't ''like'' food, I ''love'' it. If I don't love it, I don't ''swallow''"
24	* Ego becomes a small business investor after losing his credibility as a critic. In other words, he takes up a job that ''centers'' around the discovery and defense of the ''new''.
25	* Ego's initial order at Gusteau's is for "perspective." Remy's dish caused him to rethink his position and importance as a critic and rocked his preconceptions to his core. He did get that perspective he wanted.
26	* Having the rat restaurant right on top of the human one means they can recycle food waste from cooking for the humans.
27	* As mentioned on the main page, Anton Ego's accent is British, even though his flashback shows he's from a provincial part of France. It's quite possible that his accent is a form of TranslationConvention - Ego might be speaking with a smooth, cultured, standard Parisian accent that he adopted later in life to match his CausticCritic image. In real life, France has a history of attempting to stamp out regional accents and foreign influences on their language, which fits perfectly into Ego's snobbish, critical background. Additionally, Colette sounds more French Canadian than Parisian-French, which (if true) adds another layer to her fight up through the world of ''haute cuisine''.
28	* Aside from getting a few bewildered stares, Linguini doesn't really get that much flak or ridicule from any of the other chefs for acting strange with his interactions with a hidden Remy (save for Colette, but that's more from deviating from her instructions). It actually makes sense that they're so accepting of it, as each of them has their own little quirks and unorthodox backstories, so a new addition to the kitchen who randomly spasms and acts like he's being pulled around like a puppet (which, in this case, he ''is'') wouldn't be too out-of-place compared to the other odd individuals.
29	* When driving by a store window, Colette notices Gusteau's cookbook, "Anyone Can Cook," in a display next to some other cookbooks. The other cookbooks have plain, solid-colored covers, the kind that barely anyone would notice in a store. They were probably written by other professional chefs, and only other professional chefs would specifically seek them out. But "Anyone Can Cook" has a big, colorful cover and a gingham pattern, like the kind of cookbook you would find in a bookstore or home kitchen, marketed to anyone. Because Gusteau wanted to share his love of cooking with anyone willing to learn from him, regardless of their age or experience.
30	* The 1961 Chateau Latour that Skinner gives to Linguini is an exceptionally rare vintage. That one bottle would likely sell at auction for several thousand dollars, yet he uses it to attempt to loosen the tongue of an unappreciative amateur. Skinner had started off giving Linguini cheaper wine, but he is so obsessive that throwing away thousands of dollars on a whim is nothing to him.
31	* When Linguini and Collette present Remy to Ego as the chef who prepared his supper, Ego's reaction is different from every other character in the film: he smiles at the idea that it's a playful pun, but he never shows the same panicky, disgusted reaction as everyone else. Whether because the meal legitimately changed his mind or because he has a wider perspective, Ego was one of the few people Remy ever met who did not automatically associate rats with disease.
32	* Remy gets into an argument with Gusteau about the importance of a garbage boy to the kitchen. Since Gusteau is just a figment of Remy's imagination, this is an internal conflict Remy is having with himself -- he looks down on this kid because of his job and presumable lack of any important contribution to cooking, but he knows he shouldn't.
33	* Even though he's already been fired and put through the wringer by Skinner, Linguini's stopped by Horst when he tries to leave the restaurant. It's not because he's angry, though as sous-chef he'd have every right to be. It's because he realises that something's up. Someone doesn't ask for the head chef just because they don't like the soup. Horst, the man who hired Linguini to begin with, realises that there's a possibility that they can save the kid's job.
34	* Ego's SignificantWardrobeShift at the end of the film, in addition to marking the change in his character, is a genius StealthPun. Ego spends the majority of the movie in [[DarkIsEvil black]], with only the occasional bit of [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack purple]] to break up the pattern. But in La Ratatouille, he's wearing a warm brown ensemble with matching beret. Brown is an earth tone--not only is Ego CloserToEarth after sampling Remy's cooking, he's returning to his ''roots'' by remembering his love of food!
35
36	[[AC: FridgeHorror]]
37	* If rats and humans have the same life expectancies in ''Ratatouille'' as in Real Life, then the [[MayflyDecemberFriendship friendship]] between Linguini (human) and Rémy (rat) cannot last for more than a few years. What will [[LethalChef Linguini]] do after he no longer has Rémy to be the cooking genius?
38	** Well, that's assuming that both Linguini and Colette don't write down his recipes. While Linguini might not know what the ingredients are (even after working in a kitchen for what's at least a few weeks), Colette would, and considering that Colette was willing to observe how Remy made the ratatouille, it's not much of a stretch for her to write down the recipes so she could make them if something happened to Remy.
39	* Pet rats and lab rats exist in this universe, where presumably all rats are sapient. Imagine what that must be like for them, either being experimented on or kept in a cage for no reason.
40	** This is actually addressed in the film's accompanying short film "WesternAnimation/YourFriendTheRat". In this short, Remy says that lab rats are "helping advance science." He also mentioned pet rats and didn't appear to send any negative connotations about it. In the movie, when one of Emille's friends called Remy Linguini's pet as a joke, he didn't seem offended (only annoyed that his brother invited friends over again).
41	** Additionally, actual pet rats don't ''hate'' their cages, because their cages are their home and their territory. A rat that's allowed to free-roam will often rush back to its cage if it's startled or upset.
42	* Rats, like pretty much any furry mammal, ''shed''. Remy probably left hairs in all those dishes and meals he scurried through in his first visit to the restaurant kitchen. Even if he's an extraordinarily hygienic rat, they're still ''hairs'', which would be objectionable from ''any'' source, humans included.
43	* Remy bites Linguini, who then says, "Oh, you're hungry?". So, Remy was trying to ''eat'' Linguini?
44	** Probably not. Rats do bite out of annoyance, though, a rat bite can still get someone sick.
45	*** Probably not Remy, though. Infections from bites usually come from the fact that animal teeth contain bacteria from their last meals (along with anything else they've had in their mouths). The movie takes a second to address that Remy has a better understanding of hygiene than other rats (understanding the importance of hand-washing, for example). If would make sense if he found a way to clean his teeth, too.
46	* Anton Ego spends most of the time looking pale and cadaverous, and writing caustic reviews of restaurants. How can a restaurant critic be so mean? Because, as he says himself, he doesn't ''like'' food, he ''loves'' it, and if he doesn't love it, he doesn't swallow it. Ego's enormously high standards mean that he presumably doesn't even digest most of the meals he has to eat in the course of being a restaurant critic, so no wonder he a.) looks pale and unhealthy and b.) is perpetually in a bad mood. His love affair with food is largely unrequited.
47	* Since rats are sentient beings in this universe, the entire human race, by seeing rats as filthy vermin and trying to kill any they find with means including poison, is guilty of an attempted ongoing Holocaust.

Context Fridge / Ratatouille