Innovative Nonprofit Art for Animals' Sake Lays Bare the Deep Roots of Rat Phobia

SAN FRANCISCO - March 5, 2016 - PRLog -- One famous 1968 novel in particular kindled rat phobia in a generation. Ratman’s Notebooks and the successful film based on it, Willard, ushered in a new era in which evil, man-eating animals run amok – not only swarming rats but rabid dogs, subterranean cockroaches, and anything else writers and filmmakers could conjure up to strike the thrill of fear into the hearts of audiences.

If there was skepticism at first that animals could be compelling villains, it evaporated with the 1975 record-breaking blockbuster release of Jaws.

What makes Ratman’s Notebooks and Willard so fascinating is not only the story’s timing but its psychological portrait of evil. The much-abused anti-hero, Willard, is justifiably seeking a way to escape his tormentors when he saves some rats from extermination. Ignoring what the story assumes should be his “natural” rat phobia, Willard befriends the animals and stumbles upon his ability to control their behavior. Who among us hasn’t dreamed of getting revenge on the people who mistreat us? We may condemn the brutality of Willard’s methods, but some empathy for him remains. It is the cunning, brutal rats that we struggle to relate to. By the time the murderous rodents, led by the rebellious rat Ben, finally turn on Willard, we aren’t surprised to learn that they were the agents of their own bloodthirst all along. In fact, by the time Willard scribbles his secrets as he awaits his demise behind a wooden door, having become deranged, listening to the rats whose lives he saved gnawing through the wood, we can’t help but be on his side once again. If only he hadn’t been foolish, lonely, and desperate enough to ignore humanity’s well-founded rat phobia!

But of course Ratman’s Notebooks didn’t conjure rat-aversion; it isn’t that simple. Popular horror books and low-budget horror films are horrifying, in part, for their contrived plotlines and eye-roll-inducing dialogue. Writers tend to take the easy way out with stock villains like Nazis, Soviets, vampires, and aliens. Interestingly, moviegoers perceived rats and other animals to be particularly plausible threats. Despite the fact that most of us snicker at the idea of body-snatching extraterrestrials, a recurring comment in reviews of Willard is that the movie “gave me nightmares.” Why? In real life rats don’t hunt, kill, or eat humans. The rats in Ratman’s Notebooks sell movie tickets precisely because of preexisting prejudice while making that same prejudice ever more insidious. In other words, rat phobia isn’t “natural” so much as it is naturalized. Against such a profitable smear campaign, what’s the poor rat to do?

People who became rich on the gravy train of rat phobia and other negative animal stereotypes rarely regret the consequences of their actions. Peter Benchley, author of the novel Jaws, surprised many when he apologized for his negative portrayal of Great White Sharks and the decades of avid shark hunting it unintentionally caused.

In 1971, the same year the movie Willard was released, a book that would start the turn the tide of pop culture rat phobia was published by Robert C. O’Brien. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH was eventually translated to the big screen, too. The Secret of NIMH touched on weighty issues such as animal experimentation and wildlife conservation while entertaining audiences with its memorable characters and stunning animation.

Gradually other films emerged to challenge rat phobia. In 1988 two films starring rodent protagonists, An American Tale and The Great Mouse Detective, captured our imagination while subtly introducing issues that affect real-life rodents such as being separated from their families and being sacrificed to advance science. With 1999’s Stuart Little, the movement became mainstream. Stuart Little starred A-list actors Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, and Michael J. Fox and followed the title character, a plucky young rodent, in his quest to be accepted as part of a human family.

The 2007 hit Ratatouille followed the adventures of the adorable sewer rat Remy and went even further. Remy dreams about becoming a chef. With nothing but talent and perseverance, he has to overcome a snooty, prejudiced Parisian restaurant industry. The film throws the trope of rat phobia on its head, juxtaposing the hard-working, idealistic sewer rat with the petty, conniving humans around him. Unlike with Willard, here we’re on Remy’s side all along. The people who hate him just for being who he is seem anachronistic, embarrassingly so, caricatures from an era when we still turned a blind eye to that sort of discrimination. We can’t help thinking: Good grief, just let the rat live his life! Feeling outrage over the effects of rat phobia on Remy’s well-being might seem insignificant in the face of the long, gruesome, self-referential canon of villainous fictional rodents. But it signals a rapid, perhaps paradigm-shifting change of heart since the poor rat’s reputation hit rock bottom with the release of Willard only a few decades ago.

Art for Animals’ Sake is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit fostering empathy for all living beings through unique art programming. To learn more about The Rattie Uprising, a traveling contemporary art show deconstructing rat phobia and celebrating these intelligent, sociable animals, visit http://www.artforanimalssake.org/. The Rattie Uprising will open in San Francisco on May 20, 2016.