Ratphobia in the media

Rats have had a pretty bad reputation in society, particularly western/European culture. *sigh* Cancel culture really can't get over that whole "bubonic plague" thing... It was a long time ago, move on. And? The fleas did that. History is written by the victors though, so ever since then, you'd be lying if you've never seen a negative portrayal of rats. Both in our perceptions of them, our slang, or in the media. Even the phrase "rats!" is tinted as negative - despite not referencing actual rats or anything to do with them, just the name itself is an injection. "Rat-like" tends to imply being ugly or suspicious, "ratty" means being gross and unkept, and "ratting out" someone is being a snitch. Ratphobia is pretty pervasive like that.

Mainstream media is an interesting reflection of society and the attitudes of the time it was created, not to mention its influence. Media is a big vehicle for the ratphobia we see in society, almost to the degree of propaganda. Isn't that fucked up? It's not all bad, but the vast majority, especially historically, isn't pretty.

_{Good VS. Bad}

Even some positive or neutral portrayals still fall into stereotypes.

However... in reality, rats don't really look like that, do they? They look different from mice, yes, but not such a grotesque degree. They're not all that different, honestly. They're just big mice. Hm... But someone who was brainwashed by ratphobic media wouldn't really care to know the difference. I bet if a ratphobe met an actual rat, they would have a change of heart... But the word "rat" itself has such awful implications in the English language, a lot of people are more receptive when it's not used. "Rodent" has similar negative connotations, but not to the degree as "rat".

Do you see what I'm implying here? Yeah, it's true... This is the source of a lot of internalized ratphobia. It's very, very common. To the point that many rats in real life lie about being mice. Especially fancy rats, despite having a reputation of being "the good kind" of rat. Not only for the sake of appearances, but there are just so many positive portrayals and perceptions of mice over rats. Not to put my conspiracy tinhat on, but I think a lot of rat representation were changed to be "mice" in the last minute by editors to be more palatable to brainwashed viewers.

Disney's The Great Mouse Detective is an interesting example of how ratphobic society and media is. Just look at Basil - he's very clearly a rat, especially when compared next to David and Olivia. But he's still seen as heroic, while Ratigan is casted as the villain. But the only difference between him and Basil besides their narrative roles is that Basil is referred to as a mouse, while Ratigan is trying to cover up that he's a rat all along. (Also, that makeup.) I wonder how many viewers caught onto this? Probably not many, as sheeple tend to be...

Notice how a lot of the media representation of rats and "mice" are from Disney? I think Disney is a significant vehicle of ratphobia in the media. To the point it affected it's very own star actor... Mickey "Mouse". Ratphobia was pretty fucking bad in the 1920's, so ol' Mickey had to get a nose job to be a main role in his first short (which was Plane Crazy, by the way. Not Steamboat Willie). Isn't that sad? I'm not sure why he did but Mortimer didn't, likely because Mortimer is a side character. Mickey sucks, but he's still a victim.

Well, at least Disney and Pixar released Ratatouille. The "Your Friend The Rat" short certainly educated many people (including me) about the history of ratphobia and the true nature of rats. I think perception of rats has improved a lot, thanks to more visibility of brown rats and fancy rats. (We have a lot of work to do for sewer rats.) Ratphobia isn't fully eliminated, but we've made a lot of progress. I hope this page taught you something about the prejudice towards rats in the media.