Romans and Ratatouille

I don’t remember a time in my life before Ratatouille. To be fair, the now-classic
Pixar film released only a few months after I turned 3 and I imagine I was more focused on
building blocks or finger painting than remembering anecdotes for a blog post I’d write 18
years in the future. By the time I was in elementary school, however, the movie was already a
constant fixture in our house.

If you’re unfamiliar with the plot, Ratatouille tells the story of Remy, a French rat
whose greatest wish in life is to become a professional chef just like his late idol: the chef
Auguste Gusteau. After Remy and his family are evicted from their attic home, Remy is
separated from them and journeys to Paris through the sewers, eventually finding himself
atop Gusteau’s restaurant. Remy eventually befriends Alfredo Linguini, the restaurant’s
garbage boy, and the two become a world-class cheffing duo as Remy “pilots” Linguini by
pulling strands of his hair. Toward the end of the movie, Remy and Linguini must cook a dish
for food critic Anton Ego. Remy chooses to cook ratatouille, which reminds Ego of a pleasant
childhood memory when he eats it. It’s a hit! Ego writes a glowing review and praises Remy,
but when it's revealed that Remy is a rat, Gusteau’s is shut down. Fortunately, with an
investment from Anton Ego, Remy and Linguini are able to open a new restaurant and prove
that—just as Gusteau once said—anyone can cook, even a rat.

So, what does Remy’s story have to do with this week’s readings? Well, this week we
opened Romans and while I read the first three chapters I couldn’t help but notice some
similarities between Paul’s letter and one of my favorite childhood films. Paul makes it very
clear in Romans 1-3 that his commitment is to both the Jews and the Gentiles when it comes
to spreading the gospel. This is best seen in Romans 1:17, which says: “For in [the gospel]
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall
live by faith.” What Paul is saying is that faith is what matters, not being a Jew or a Gentile.
It’s a radical rejection of the tribal manner in which most ancient peoples viewed themselves
and their neighbors, instead opting to place importance on an individual's relationship with
God through Christ rather than their ethnic or cultural background. Shakespeare’s classic line
“a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” or our more modern idiom “if it walks like
a duck... then it probably is a duck” both get at the same thing: that someone’s essential
nature matters much more than their external characteristics. In Romans, that essential nature
is one’s faith. In Ratatouille, it’s Remy’s culinary gifts.

In both cases, there’s significant pushback despite that essential nature. Gusteau’s is
closed down because Remy is a rat and in Galatians 2:11-14, Paul highlights Peter’s
hypocrisy when he forsakes his fellow Gentile Christians out of fear of what certain Jewish Christians might think. Ultimately, Romans and Ratatouille challenge cultures of hypocrisy
that overvalue the external, while completely ignoring the content of one’s internal identity.

These articles follow our church-wide reading plan. To read with us, click here.