Gabe Silverstein
November 28, 2022 • 6 min read
The Power of Changing Perspectives
Ego’s revelation moment
Intro
In the Disney-Pixar animation, “Ratatouille”, the film’s famous critic, aptly named “Ego”, walks into
the film’s French restaurant “Gusteau’s”, and demands to be served “a little perspective” — “do you have
a good wine to go with that?”. Confused, the waiter rushes back to the kitchen asking what to serve.
In life, we all crave new perspectives and experiences, yet oftentimes, feel stuck in the status quo or
trapped in the never-ending chase for new pleasures or experiences. However, it is possible (and quite
important) to enjoy the present experience in a refreshed way by gaining a new perspective.
People often adopt a “suit of armor” — a personality, archetype or sense of self that we’ve developed as
our own at an early age. It might be difficult to “escape” this suit of armor as time progresses.
However, recognizing one’s patterns of behaviors, and the potential reasons behind them, is the first
step to change. In doing so, one can look at life with a different view and better understand how they
became the person they are today, and change who they are tomorrow.
Delicious Ratatouille — Photo by Amirali Mirhashemian on Unsplash
Shifting perspectives in Ratatouille
In the film Ratatouille, the critic is named “Ego”. A pun on the ego of critics,
but it also shows that
his experiences and perspective are centered around him — “locked” inside his own perspective. However,
when he’s able to shift his current understanding of food, he’s able to gain a new sense of self and
thus change his perspective.
When “little chef”, Remy the Rat intuitively decides to serve Ratatouille as the dish for Ego, the other
chef is confused. “Ratatouille, it’s a peasant’s dish, are you sure?”
Upon serving the dish to Ego, he himself is confused. However, upon taking a single bite, he is
immediately transported to a scene from his youth. He had just fallen off his bicycle and was hurt. His
mother made him a bowl of ratatouille, healing and lifting young Ego’s spirits. A single taste reminded
him of his past, and thus reset his perspective and judgments. It allowed him to connect to his past,
and where he came from. It allowed him to return to the clarity of his youth with refreshed, open eyes.
In youth, everything is new. Later in life, however, many often “lock in” life’s struggles or
limitations, personalities, habits, or remain locked into their “Suit of armor”. Without self-awareness
of where one came from and where one is going, one’s perspective can be lost, and their direction
becomes blurred. One’s perspective can also sadly get lost forever, locked away and sealed tight.
This would be forgetting the events and experiences that made you, you.
Many indeed need an “Ego” moment to gain a new perspective. Ego was only able to change his perspective
when he connected to his youth by eating a bite of his childhood favorite dish. Some are only able to
change their perspective after a traumatic disease or event. We don’t have to wait for a “life-changing”
event to happen to us. We can change our perspective on our own, at any time!
Shifting your perspective yourself — The Beatles
We don’t have to rely on a third party event to provide us with a fresh perspective, we can create one too. A rather famous example is The Beatles. The band was at its peak in 1966, and they were working on a new album. However, the pressure to make more “Beatles songs” was so great, the band felt trapped in writing songs that were characteristically “Beatles”.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Credit: PBS
Paul McCartney describes this in a 2018 interview on NPR.
“We’d been the Beatles for quite a while. And when you made a record, you knew you were making a Beatles record. And so you imposed certain parameters on it. You thought, well, we can’t get too far-out because people will just go, what the hell’s going on?”
Instead, Paul “had this idea to just change our identity and make ourselves think that we were kind of
another band. So it meant that, well, now anything goes. We don’t have to think like the Beatles. We can
think like whoever this other band is. And the name came out of ‘Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band.’”
All of a sudden they were no longer The Beatles.
They were liberated, both individually and as a band, to create whatever music they’d like. By creating
music under a new name, they created a mental tool to “free themselves” of their characteristic image.
They were thus able to adopt a fresh perspective and thus create completely new music.
They “tore up the script” and rewrote their story of who they could be. It was a wild success and an
excellent example of the power of changing one’s perspective.
Be careful when you change your perspective
I think it is important to observe the other side of the coin: there’s a risk of
changing your perspective
if not done properly. You do not want to copy someone else and adopt all their perspectives and persona.
You
do not want to change core aspects of yourself to please others.
Essentially, you can change your perspective to gain insight in yourself and improve yourself — but
don’t
lose sight of your roots of who you are at your core. I think this can be summed up in a quote by author
Oscar Wilde:
“Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde
You can change your perspective for the better, and improve your qualities, life outlook, and become a better you — without losing sight of who you are.
You are not alone
A quick mental trick can help provide a new perspective. For a moment, imagine other people in the world
living their own unique lives. Some have good days and some, not-so-good days. Someone in France is late
to an art rehearsal, someone in Australia might be on a Jeep roaming the vast desert, or a student in
Colorado just finished a 20-page paper on llamas...
I think you get the idea. Step out of your shoes for a moment and take a step back from your own life.
Have comfort in knowing everyone is living their own lives through their own eyes.
It’s so easy to lock ourselves in through our eyes and our limited perspectives, but it’s important to
realize you are not alone. There is comfort in knowing you are not alone in your struggles — there is
comfort in that shared human experience. This itself can broaden your perspective in life.
Conclusion
You can change your perspective by realizing that your circumstances do not
define you. In a TED talk, life coach, Toya Webb describes this: “What is the story that you keep
telling yourself? Whether it’s destructive or productive, know that yourself is always listening”
At the end of Ratatouille, Ego dictates his final review of the “Gusteau’s” restaurant after gaining a
new perspective. He realizes the work of a critic is relatively easy, requires little risk, and “thrives
off the work of others”. Ego states that “There are times when a critic really risks something, and that
is in the discovery and defense of the new”.
It is often easy to play it safe by maintaining the status quo, or sticking to “what works”, but as it
says in the film:
“Anyone can cook but only the fearless can be great”.
- Auguste Gusteau
Creating something new is much more difficult and risky, yet ultimately, and infinitely more rewarding.
Wrap up
In life, it is important to always remind yourself of where you came from, who you are, and where you
are headed. In doing so, you can have a fresh and clear perspective of your life mission.
You “free” yourself from any limitations you may have brought upon yourself, consciously or not — and
allow yourself to become whatever you put your mind to.
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I really appreciate it!
Originally published November 28, 2023