Ratatouille By Myself

All summer I’ve been wanting to see the film, Ratatouille. My teenage daughters weren’t clamoring to join me, and my husband called it a cartoon – so Friday night I just decided to go by myself. I’m sure I was the only adult there without a child to join me, and one of the best parts was listening to the delightful sound of children laughing. It is a terrific film, incredibly creative and fun.
Imagine the pitch meeting of Brad Bird, the writer/director genius behind the film, as he proposed to the suits the concept of a rat who becomes a superb Parisian chef! I really would love to have been in the room for that conversation. I’m reminded that sometimes an artist or team of artists have a vision that makes no sense to others, that sounds like it could never attract an audience, and yet is rooted in a terrific story that should be told. I don’t know who the powers that be at Pixar or Disney are who gave the go ahead for the making of this picture. Surely the reputation of the team of Bird, Jon Lassiter, and others contributed to the yes. But all creatives should take heart in seeing the success of this film that on paper sounds absurd.
The art we propose for church doesn’t always fit into neat little boxes that make sense either. Artists, over time, must earn the opportunity to be heard as they pitch their concepts and advocate for their visions. We only gain the opportunity to take risks as we come through with powerful stories and delightful moments. Surely there are times our risks will fail. But I also hope there are serendipitous experiences on Sunday mornings, not unlike Ratatouille, where we are all surprisingly moved by something that should not really work in the real world of objectivity and the measurement of results.