Preset:
This paper serves as a final for my Film Criticism class I took in 2023. We were to choose a movie and create a final essay that consists of a Narrative Analysis, Scene Analysis, and a Contextual Analysis. I chose to write about Ratatouille and it's ties to Immigration. This paper was written with the guidance and support of Professor Stephen Charbonneau.
Remy: The Rat, The Cook, The Immigrant
Ratatouille, created by Brad Bird and produced by Pixar studio, tells a story about a rat and his passion for cooking as he becomes a renowned chef in France. Through simple eyes, this film is seen as a children’s film with unrealistic values and “just a fun time for kids.” After a deeper investigation of its story and character, Ratatouille reveals a story of immigration and success. Ratatouille symbolizes Remy as an illegal immigrant journeying through the eight stages of immigration. It communicates his frustrations with identity in his speech “Why do I need to pretend,” which is positively received by immigrants as it highlights the struggle of finding and establishing identities.
Remy can be compared to an illegal immigrant as he experiences the eight stages of immigration. The first four stages consist of a desire for change, the preparation to migrate, the departure to the new country, and the transit to the new country. Remy starts off as a rat living on the outskirts of what could be a nation outside of France, dreading the lifestyle his father Django establishes for the rat clan: Stealing food away from the kitchen to feed the brood. He reasons that the kitchen is dangerous to hunt from as it risks the discovery of the clan. Remy is charged with the job of Poison Checker thanks to his gifted smell but is unsatisfied with the job. He disagrees with his father’s technique to feed the clan and compares being a rat to being a thief who steals “let’s face it, garbage.” He suggests to his father that they could steal from the kitchen as it provides better quality food. Django refuses this, creating Remy’s desire to live differently from the pack. He begins to venture into the kitchen and realizes he loves cooking. He becomes infatuated with the French cook, Auguste Gusteau. He invites his brother Emilie to experience this with him and learns about Gusteau’s death on a Special airing on the TV. As the special ends, the once-sleeping elderly lady in the house wakes up and sees Remy and Emile.
Interestingly, the lady could symbolize an ICE agent finding an illegal alien. The film supports this by showing Remy occupying the attic with the brood. Now strapped with a loaded shotgun, the lady begins to shoot towards the brothers. Emile accidentally leads her to shoot at a hanging lamp the colony lived over, and an attic full of rats falls to the first floor.
Django evacuates the clan, directing them to boats made for this type of situation in preparation to migrate somewhere safe. Remy fights the stream of rats leaving to get to the cookbook and barely catches up with the clan. As Remy floats on the cookbook, the elderly lady shoots at the family, separating them in the sewers, and the departure continues. This division of families alludes to many accounts of immigrants escaping dictatorships such as North Korea or Nazi Germany during WWII. The transit to an undisclosed location is rough on Remy as he hurtles a waterfall at the end of the sewage pipe, repeatedly submerging in deep waters. He finds the cookbook in the distance and swims to it as the water resides. Remy arrives starving and lost in a random location in the sewage system. He waits for a while and mourns the loss of his family. His subconscious takes the form of Gusteu and advises him to “go up and look around.”
From this point, it introduces the second half of the eight stages: the arrival to the new land, the accumulation of a new location, the immigrant’s reception to the new area, and finally, their establishment of a new identity. Remy hears a party upstairs and finds a table with bread, tempted to steal a crumb. Gusteau reprimands him, reminding him that he is stealing like a rat. He leaves Remy and tells him, “Good things come to those who love to cook.” Remy puts down the crumb and continues to climb up the building until he finds Gusteau’s restaurant. As he rises to the rooftops, he reveals they have been under Paris, France, the whole time.
After panicking about a botched soup being made, he falls into the restaurant and gets caught as he tries to escape, having fixed the soup ruined by Alfredo Linguini. This sets forth Remy’s involvement in the kitchen.
Secretly spared and partnered with Linguini, he accumulates their relationship by teaching Linguini how to cook by controlling his actions with hair stands. Remy’s reception is undermined as food critic LeClaire credits Linguini as the cook for her soup and sees Linguini as a promising revival for Gusteau’s. Remy parallels racial instances where credit is exploited to hide a product's true history. Aunt Jemima, now renamed The Pearling Company, faced backlash in the states and demanded change for “racial equity” as the black woman on the cover originated from a racist background. Many protested as this erasure of Aunt Jemima’s past showed the company’s removal of Black history for the sake of politically correcting the brand. Linguine is challenged to create a new dish with co-cook Colette Tatou, deviating from a disastrous dish made by Gusteau. Despite opposition from Colette’s desire to make the dish as worded, the night becomes a success, and Linguini is credited with a particular order on the menu. Linguini is instructed to clean the kitchen the whole night, and Remy reunites with his thought-to-be-dead family.
The final stage challenges Remy with his relationship with Linguini, the rat clan, himself, and Anton Ego. After talking to his father about human behavior after seeing a store displaying many hanged rats, he returns to a sleeping Linguini in the kitchen, expressing Remy and Linguini as the first of many to change humans' relationship with rats. Colette comes soon after, and Remy controls Linguini, who is half asleep. She confesses her love, and Linguini snores; she slaps him, offended, and the two talk outside. Linguini almost reveals Remy as Remy trips Linguini to kiss Colett, and the two begin their romantic relationship. Linguini deviates from Remy and, in turn, gives Emile time to ask Remy for food. Remy finds Linguini is Gustou’s son in papers withheld by Head Chief Skinner while finding a key to the food storage. The public learns about Linguini’s identity and reasons it as Linguini's culinary skills. Anton Ego arrives and challenges Linguini to prepare a dish for him to be criticized for a later night. Remy and Linguini become cross with each other, and Remy reveals the kitchen to his clan. During a heist to steal from the restaurant, Linguini humbles himself to Remy, not knowing of Dijango’s presence. Linguini discovers the family and feels betrayed. Now refusing Remy’s assistance, Linguine kicks Remy and the clan out of the restaurant. Skinner catches Remy and gives him time to think about the meaning of his identity as a rat and cook.
Coming to terms with the fact that he is both a rat and a gifted cook, he escapes from Skinner’s prison and returns to the kitchen with the help of the rat clan to amaze Anton Ego with a version of Ratatouille that hits close to home for the critic. After the health inspector walked into operations in the kitchen that night, the restaurant discontinued for good. The health inspector resembles law enforcement as if the comparison to Remy is to be one of an illegal immigrant, which could signify the accurate closings of restaurants that hire illegal immigrants to work in them. In 2023, a new immigrant law was passed in Florida that searched for illegal immigrants throughout the state. As reported by FOX 35, Mexican Market and San Miguel Mexican Grill closed down, with Jose Sivira explaining why. “The problem is the customers," Sivira said. "The customers are Mexican people from Guatemala, Venezuela, Columbia, and El Salvador. All of those countries they try to move to other states. So, the businesses are closing."
Remy, Colette, and Linguine open a restaurant; the film ends with Remy being realized as an actual chef and the rat clan with their own space in the same restaurant living off Remy’s blessings. Ratatouille takes length to fully flesh out how Remy started as a mere rat living in an attic and became one of the most renowned chefs in France through his alliance with Linguine. In 2020, Benjamin Jones states, “In both these cases, says Jones, “the rate of founding businesses is 80 percent higher among the non-U.S.-born than among the U.S.-born.” Immigrants come to new countries to find better opportunities like Remy's. Moreover, his involvement in the new land positively changed everyone he met. It creates a better life for Linguini and Colette, humbles Anton Ego, gives Ego critical influence to change his mentality of food criticism, and improves the lives of the rat clan. Complimentary, Ratatouille also touches on the mentality many immigrants face once in a new country: Imposter syndrome.
Remy’s self-motivative dialogue, “Why do I need to pretend,” addresses an immigrant’s struggle to analyze their identity in a different country. Throughout the film, Remy makes a balance of choices that lean towards his being a rat and his cooking. Remy’s prospects came from rat behaviors such as scouring down cracks and navigating difficult areas such as the kitchen. His talents enhanced his opportunities to do better in these locations as well. Towards the film's climax, he is captured by Skinner before making up with Linguini. Now, in a cage, Remy thinks about his life. Gusteau asks Remy if they have given up and settled to “await a future in frozen food products.” Annoyed, Remy reminds Gusteau that he is free. Gusteau clarifies to Remy that he is free because he is the figment of his imagination.
Remy vents to his subconscious that he is “sick of pretending.” He vents about needing to present as a rat to please his father, as a human cook through linguine, and even that Gusteau is not dead, giving himself advice he already knows. “I know who I am! Why do I need you to tell me? Why do I need to pretend?” Gusteau puts his hand on Remy to comfort him, “But you don’t, Remy. You never did.” He disappears soon after as Remy’s family comes to save him. This self-talk by Remy alludes to an immigrant’s motivation for success. While being the son of a Brasilian family, I have understood that my success is thanks to the suffering and trials faced by my family, which brought opportunities I may not Have had if not for them, influencing where opportunities have presented themselves. The same could be said for Remy; had he not acted like a rat in the kitchen, he wouldn’t have partnered with Linguini, creating his journey as a cook.
Observing outside the film, perspectives from interviewed immigrants revealed positive reactions as the movie touched on immigrants' struggles when establishing their identities. Priscila Anderson, a Brazilian immigrant working as a guidance counselor in Massachusetts, analyzes Remy's speech in a form created for the paper. “Remy was at a low point in his life where he felt that all of his hard work at becoming a chef, assimilating with the life of humans, taking risks, and hustling had failed him. He was living the immigrant dream of making life better for himself than that of his parents and grandparents. After his monologue, he realizes nothing stops him from continuing his dream of being a Chef. What was cool is that the people he wanted to disassociate from were the ones who came through for him and rescued him from his lowest point. They had a part in him believing in himself once again.” Anderson notes that, like an immigrant, Remy has been dished out with many trials throughout his journey. He gets to live out his desire to be a cook but at a price that was warned about by his family. In turn, his family gave way for Remy to confirm his identity as a rat and a cook as they came to rescue him. Another response from the form, made by Chandrika K, spoke more about accumulating in a new country. “As an immigrant, I feel that once you reach the new country, you start building a new identity acceptable to people around you. In becoming a new person, it’s easy to overlook what you want and feel. Remy is talking about that struggle in this scene. However, his inner voice tells him he already knows what he is and should stick to it. While it’s understandable that we need to adapt to a new country and culture, it’s also important to not forget your roots. As a person of color, this need to mingle with the local culture is intense because we are sometimes seen as token immigrants. We have to match with the token identities. For example, Indians and Chinese are doctors and tech professionals. Children of immigrants also need to figure out their identity. Would it be easier if society accepts us to have identities that we want instead of what society expects?”
In response, ratatouille does its job of deviating Remy from what society expects from a rat. At the film's beginning, he walks on two paws instead of all fours. When asked, he says it is for sanitary reasons when he cooks. During his conversation with his father, he addresses that “change is nature” when he rebels against his father’s ideals of what it is to be a rat. He changes drastically from the film's beginning to live out his life in Gustou’s and is humbled throughout the journey as his character is fitted and refined.
In conclusion, Ratatouille reveals a deeper, more complex look into immigrants' struggles and hardships. By symbolizing Remy as an illegal immigrant journeying through the eight stages of immigration, it highlights his significance through the different situations and people he impacts throughout the film. It communicates his frustrations with identity in his speech “Why do I need to pretend,” which is positively received by immigrants as it highlights the struggle of finding and establishing identities. His being at the point of his final capture stops him and makes him reflect on what has happened so far and forces him to understand and come to terms with who he is as a rat and what his ability to cook does for him. Looking away from the film, immigrants shared positive reactions to the movie as it communicated the struggles immigrants face when their circumstances reflect their character. The only thing left now is to cook, live, and learn.
Post Script
This postscript is to communicate how writing this essay has been. Now finished on December 9th, I have found this paper to be an interesting challenge on how to write about a film you have seen many times before. I found myself understanding more with every rewatch, every note, and feed back I have gotten about the topics I have written here. I enjoyed this paper and find myself interested in writing more about different topics in media and might continue to do so. Addressing the topics, I have found it appropriate as it has led to more talks between my family about what it means to be an immigrant and how blessed we have been to live in the States, where opportunities have shown themselves despite the loud minority expressing against them. A personal thank you to Professor Stephen Charbonneau for having everlasting patience with my bumbling in class as we talked more about how to look at a film and the connections they have to the real world. The class participation was a highlight as I felt more connected to others who shared the same interests as films and discussions did not dilute the passion. Thank you, from all my heart.
Works Cited:
Hansen, Connor. “Businesses to Close on Thursday in Response to Florida Immigration Law.” FOX 35 Orlando, 1 June 2023,
“Ratatouille Immigrant.” Google, docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeabvXNE_PCPXjLfchbrjtNFn5ZTkP-1SzKC5CEAp0ce6E6dg/viewform. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023.
“Ratatouille - Why Do I Need to Pretend? -Pretend to Be a Rat -Pretend to Be a Human -I Know Who I Am.” YouTube, 8 Feb. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs309_aoNcI&list=LL&index=19. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023.
Benjamin F. JonesGordon and Llura Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship; Professor of Strategy. “Immigrants to the U.S. Create More Jobs than They Take.” Kellogg Insight, 5 Oct. 2020, insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/immigrants-to-the-u-s-create-more-jobs-than-they-take. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023.
“Aunt Jemima.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima#Rebranding_of_2020%E2%80%932021. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023.
Shannon Schumacher, Liz Hamel. “Understanding the U.S. Immigrant Experience: The 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants - Findings - 10217.” KFF, 18 Sept. 2023, www.kff.org/report-section/understanding-the-u-s-immigrant-experience-the-2023-kff-la-times-survey-of-immigrants-findings/. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023.
Bird, Brad, and Jan Pinkava. Ratatouille. Buena Vista Pictures, 2007.
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