Remy The Rat, Defender Of Artistic Excellence

“‘Ratatouille’ puts itself forward as an egalitarian fable, with a recurring motto, ‘anyone can cook,’ that’s embodied in Remy and the pack of rats that help him pull together a climactic feast. But it’s in one sense a defense of discrimination: of a discriminating palate. … When Remy is told that ‘food is fuel’ and instructed to ‘shut up and eat your garbage,’ these are statements not merely of ignorance but of apostasy.”