What I wanna know is whether he ever explained any of that. Let’s put it into list form:
Linguini (seemingly) acts like a butt-tard when Colette is pouring out her heart to him; she smacks him.
Colette almost runs off (weren’t they starting the work day, though? Was she planning to stay home that day and go home and eat Ben and Jerry’s and cry and watch sad movies?); Linguini stops her and reveals that he is, in fact, completely fruity loops.
They kiss and Colette allows this to happen despite being a seemingly tough-as-nails girl-power type who doesn’t take no crap from no freaky banana sandwich who hears voices in his head.
They start dating seemingly with no questions asked about any of it and Linguini’s schizophrenia never brought up again.
Something seems… amiss.
And, on the subject of things that will never be revealed to us and which I’m really just using to make fun of the characters and be sarcastic, why didn’t Linguini know about the hair thing? If he wouldn’t have figured that out early on just by brushing his hair or whatever, I’d think at least the fact that he probably had lines around the block to beat him up during his childhood would have revealed that at some point. (And provided endless “Stop hitting yourself!” opportunities for the aforementioned bullies.)
Maybe it’s some latent superpower only rodents can unlock.
Also, ditto on Remy just sitting around and waiting to starve to death. Aside from Colette, the mean I.Q. of the characters in Ratatouille seems to be like, 85, though, so whatever. I’m still curious as to why Linguini would even consider putting Remy in his pants. I can only assume he was going for a Darwin Award, which requires either losing the ability to reproduce, or dying, both of which would have occurred in that order if Remy had had some kind of disease, and he very well could have. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
kageri - I’m serious; I was laughing pretty hard back there…and over here. (snigger)
Ha! Yeah, what the heck? There’s no way that Linguini ever did tell Colette about his “tinylittlechefwhotellshimwhattodo” problem from the time they smooch until the moment when he reveals his big secret, because she didn’t flinch at all until the latter situation unveiled its cloak in broad daylight. I suppose that Linguini may have explained the situation in minor detail after the “mush” sequence, perhaps, and just admitted that he was sleepwalking and nothing more.
Yeah. I dunno… (snigger)
Puh-ha! Let’s not get into the subject of the pants. I can only imagine what Remy would bite if he let him go into his… Alright, I’d better back outa’ here.
Yeah, that can of worms is staying firmly closed. (And it would be really awkward to explain to the paramedics.)
That could be it. There are people who do all kinds of weird crap in their sleep, like they fall asleep in their bed and they wake up and they’re in their car at the gas station, but he definitely would have woken up (and did) from the SLAP OF DOOM. Then he’d have no excuse except for being crazy. Which he kinda is, and I mean that in the fondest way possible.
I guess it’s all cartoon technicalities, though. Characters become conveniently dumb for plot points. We know Colette is too smart not to notice that Linguini randomly fell on top of her and that’s why they kissed, and we know that allowing him to do that, putting down the mace, and never asking about it despite most of her personality being about how her suspiciousness over men because they always have ulterior motives or whatever, is rather out-of-character for her, but she did anyway for the plot.
In defense of Remy for the book thing…
The guy had lost his family and friends. So, for hours, it wouldn’t be all that weird for him to be depressed. More so, he probably just waited and hoped they would show up.
And at a point, his coinsience (in the form of Gusteau) tells him to go up and look around.
kageri - Yeah, we may never know the secret of certain characters’ dumbfoundedness in films. Meet the directors we should and ask them all the questions… (heheh)
Aha! I wondered that, as well. Why the heck would Colette just let it slide that Linguini involuntarily plopped on top of her for no apparent reason? Perhaps she figured that the guy was already pretty crazy enough to do something such as that, but still…
Nexas - If I was Remy I would have searched around for my family and friends after I had lost them in an attempt to locate the poor souls. I mean, where was Remy’s sense of adventure?! Although I know that he was simply waiting for his close relatives to return for him, I think I just found it a little unusual and out-of-context/wack for a seemingly ambitious and “no nonsense” entity to suddenly give up during a very crucial moment of his life. Make sense, it does not. He may have been malnourished to the point that he thought himself too weak to explore the “hidden caves” further, but seriously, it was just ridiculous for him to just…lay on the sewer floor like a pitiful loser. I wonder if he would have died down there had Gusteau not given him some warm-hearted inspiration and a piece of his mind? (Of course, it was really Remy who was imagining Gutsteau the whole time, but that’s not the point. )
Well mostly I think he was more thinking, as he said, “waiting”, hoping to not miss them if they either came back through where he was, or simply passed by. Afterall, he didn’t know if he DID or DIDN’T pick the same route his family went through, so he probably was worried he’d miss them (literally).
Probably wasn’t awhile, he was probably just grieving but came to his senses later, funny enough…through the mention of food
The plot doesn’t mention it, but I think what happened with the second restaurant is they were open about the idea of it being a rat-friendly place. I imagine they make no secret of the rat being a chef, but the food is so good that some people are willing to go there anyway. I see it as being a very modestly-successful restaurant, but probably not as popular or fancy as Gusteau’s was.
I like to see this as an analogy for the movie itself. A lot of people just… on the face of things, don’t like rats. They don’t accept rats; rats just creep them out and they don’t want anything to do with them (my grandmother was a hard sell for this reason). Colette, Linguini, and Remy with their new restaurant are asking that people overlook that initial quality that would drive people away, hoping that people will believe in food made with quality, care, and soul. After all, if they just tried it… they might realize it didn’t matter that the food was cooked by a rat. Similarly, the writers of Ratatouille hope that people are willing to look past the “rats in the kitchen” squeamishness that may be the first impression, hoping that people will believe in the movie made with quality, care, and soul. Both Ratatouille and La Ratatouille are productions dealing with similar challenges, and the success of the restaurant at the end of the film is paralled by the eventual success of the movie.
As much as I hope that’s true…I highly doubt that any of the resturant patrons of La Ratatouille knew of Remy or the seperate rat colony in the “upstairs”. It’s just not human nature to accept something out of the ordinary. Yes. Those such as Linguini, Collete, and Ego do, albiet at different times and with a different perception on things.
However…given the fact that those in France dedicat themelves to fine foods, and given that the time needed to build up a sizeable reptuation, Remy’s acceptance MAY have been publically accepted…
Like Kyr, I would like to accept it…but humanity is just too stubborn.
Nexas - Hmm. Well, I can see what you mean concerning Remy waiting a ridiculously long amount of time for his family so as not to miss them at any point, but still… Exhausting your heart out to the point of starvation is just ludicrous in my eyes. If ya’ gotta get up and eat, get up and eat.
Nexas - Ha! Yes, that’s for sure. However, it’s precisely this trait that should have made him determined enough to explore anything above his head, non? Perhaps it’s just me…
I highly doubt that a rat would cower in the shadows for that long of a period, unless it was extremely timid/fearful or was completely trapped. Due to the fact that a majority of city rats are sewer-dwellers, and are decent swimmers and climbers, it would have been all too easy for a real rat to perform the same action that Remy exercised and simply shimmy up the pipes and onto the roof.
Oh, but parden me. Sorry about that. I get kinda touchy when the subject is on rats. Heheh.
You know maybe we’re thinking a bit differently…
Perhaps this really WAS Remy’s first time out on his own. I mean he knew the farm, it was home. And from what little we saw, he didn’t stray far from it and even had Emile with him several times.
Maybe it was a combination of things. Lost your family. Your alone. Probably your first time alone in a world. You just had a human nearly blast you to pieces, so you fear is up. Striking out on your own is not easy to do. Especially if you come from an extended (and in Remy’s case, VERY extended family), it kinda removes security you have.
Maybe Remy was honestly just scared.
Nexas - Ahhhh! I see your point now! I can’t believe I was so stupid as to not see that before… Heh.
Yes, I’d be pretty freaked out myself had I almost gotten blasted through the roof and drowned a good number of times. Being a home-body just ties the not in the string, too, sooo…voila’!
I think there’s sort of, in Remy’s case, a mixture of natural instinct versus common sense. On the one hand, as a rat, he’d want to get some food and sort himself out, but on the other hand, as a ‘human’ so to speak, he’d want to do what Nexas said and wait for his family.
Though, I must say, Remy does handle losing everyone pretty well. You can see that he’s obviously depressed for a while, but once this has passed, he’s determined as ever to just get on with it and see what’s out there in the world. Remy’s one tough cookie.
When I saw it in the theatres, the scene where Remy was waiting for a sound, a voice, a sign, something, I could hear some kid behind me saying, “Poor mouse.”
Not stupid Mitch, it’s ok ^^ I have a great ability to understand a person’s actions and their feelings for those actions ^^ If I hadn’t I wouldn’t defend for…well…you know heh heh.
Ha ha…Guesteau as a form of “imaginary friend” heh heh…reminding Remy that griefing shouldn’t last forever
Thanks so much for saying this. Couldn’t have put it better myself. I think Remy is so traumatized by the whole thing it just takes him a while to pull himself together. AND… I don’t know where else I’ve said this, but Remy was so traumatized that he ended up hallucinating a ‘person’ and having conversations with thin air. It works, for the movie, but on the realistic level, if you were a psychiatrist and this guy came in who was just shot at, repeatedly, lost his home, family and all his friends (as he says in the movie) and has now started talking to an ‘imaginary friend’, how would you assess his situation? Thought so.
(snigger)
