An Unusual “Tail”

Hopefully most everyone has seen the Disney Pixar movie Ratatouille (if you haven’t, you really should watch it). Today, I was glancing at the shelf my roommate and I keep our movies on and when I saw Ratatouille, I instantly thought about the gender roles portrayed in the film. The basic premise of the movie is about a rat named Remy who, much to his peers’ disapproval, dreams of becoming a chef. His family and friends criticize and frown upon his dream and claim that rats aren’t supposed to cook, they are supposed to steal food from garbage cans. However, this trash disgusts Remy and he dreams of fancy foods with many diverse flavors. At a near death experience, Remy befriends a garbage boy at a restaurant. It is through this new friend that Remy is able to pursue his dream of cooking. One thing about Remy that caught my attention was his physique. Most male Disney stars are very muscular, strong and fearless. Remy, on the other hand, is somewhat skinny, and, at the beginning of the movie, timid. In my opinion, he is a little goofy looking, and has a nerdy voice. I wonder what the significance of creating such a character is. What messages are the creators trying to send to the audience? One message I get from this movie is that modern society is more accepting of different and unique people.

I think this movie is a prime example of modern gender roles. If Ratatouille had come out 50 years ago, I think the plot would be drastically different. For example, I think Remy would aspire to be a successful businessman, or perhaps star athlete; but I would never ever picture him wanting to be a chef. After all, isn’t cooking for “women”? Indeed, this used to be the case. In today’s society, however, gender roles have been exceptionally widened. It is perfectly socially acceptable (in fact, respected) for men to become chefs. Although Remy’s dream comes true, which follows the typical Disney format, Ratatouille is definitely an atypical story; but it is, without a doubt, a product of modern society.