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Yessssss. All the yes. Great thoughts, everyone.

This is something I’ve been passionate about for a while, but have only taken fairly small steps to addressing in my own work. I need to get on it.

One of my latest projects, though, actually featured a ‘whole’ family— father, mother, and son— who throughout the story (despite clashes, differences, and disagreements) supported, challenged, and protected each other no matter what they went through or how far apart they were. One point that hasn’t been made yet is how parents are often cut out because they’re seen as stereotypes (boxes) rather than people. I’m firmly convinced the one reason my little family of three turned out well is because the father and mother were the hero and heroine of the previous book. I knew them both as people before I knew them as parents. Though years had passed and they were both wiser, their flaws carried over as well as their wisdom and they didn’t become the cardboard cut-outs parents in novels so often are.

Let’s see… one parent/child relationship that actually really surprised me was Remy and his dad, from Disney’s Ratatouille.  (Yes, I watch animated movies. No, my brain is not mush.) For those of you who haven’t seen it, Remy is a rat. Who dreams of being a chef. His dad does not approve. They begin like any other dreamer child vs practical parent relationship, their conflict getting worse and worse throughout the story, until finally Remy snaps and cuts ties with his family altogether.

The one reason that movie stands out to me and is definitely a re-watcher, is it didn’t stay that way. Towards the climax, disillusioned with the world and heartsick over broken dreams, Remy all but gives up. His dad was right. No one can change who they are, or how the world thinks of them, all on their own.

Enter dad and the entire rat clan. “We’re not cooks, but we are family. Tell us what you want us to do, and we’ll see it done.”

Both of them were wrong, and they both went through arcs that enabled them to see that and learn to lean on each other. A movie that could have been another shallow ‘follow your dreams despite the stodgy traditionalism of boring parents’ became a tribute to family and strength in numbers. Follow your dreams together.

*coughs* Probably the only time you’ll ever see someone waxing eloquent over a movie about a rat.

@daeus-lamb AND YES, CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY. *cries quietly*

@msqueen8 @gabbyj @rosemarylouise @raemarie