Ratatouille: learning to trust your own taste

The question behind the dish

Remy wants to cook, although being a rat makes a Parisian kitchen an unlikely place for him. That is the premise Pixar gives for Ratatouille. Without revealing its twists, it offers a less fantastical question: how much does a creator’s name affect our willingness to enjoy their work? It happens with food, but also with films, albums and recommendations that arrive carrying an enormous reputation.

It helps to distinguish taste from explanation. Saying that you loved something describes a valid experience; explaining what you enjoyed makes it easier to share. Was it contrast, rhythm or surprise? No vocabulary turns a personal preference into a universal truth. The interesting part is being able to disagree without treating that disagreement as proof that somebody failed to understand. That distinction improves conversations after dinner and after a film.

Try it before assigning a score

For your next film, try writing three observations before checking any scores. You do not need to produce a review: note a scene you remember, a choice that puzzled you and an emotion that shifted as you watched. Then compare your notes with a critic’s response. It may reveal something you missed, but it does not have to replace your own experience. Criticism works better as a conversation than as permission to feel.

It is also useful to recognise when an expectation became too loud. Perhaps you wanted an easy comedy and found a more uncomfortable story, or expected solemnity and were surprised by humour. That does not automatically mean the film was marketed badly or that you watched it incorrectly. It simply means you arrived with an idea already in place. Naming it helps separate what happened on screen from what you brought with you.

Leave room in a recommendation

Ratatouille can be a starting point for that exercise, not a rulebook for deciding what deserves a high score. When recommending it, explain the conversation it opened for you rather than promising everyone the same reaction. Saying it made you think about how you judge creative work is more useful than insisting nobody could fail to be moved. Having your own taste is not about being contrary. It is about paying attention, finding words and allowing others to do the same.