Find one representative example from popular culture (music, art, literature, etc.) of synesthesia and write a blog post explaining how synesthesia is present in this cultural artifact, what the significance of it is, and give your opinion about your views on this artifact now that you have a better understanding of synesthesia is. Reference the reading in your response to make your case. Your reflection should be two paragraphs in length.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXoJjgxMj9M
When thinking up examples of synesthesia within popular culture, a specific movie immediately came to mind: Disney’s Ratatouille. In the movie, a rat ventures into the streets of Paris with the ambitions of becoming a world renowned chef. Throughout the movie, Remy (the rat), is shown to posses the unique trait of synesthesia. When tasting food, he is shown to experience the different tastes as colors and shapes, a strong example of synesthesia. As stated in “Synesthesia, a Neurological Phenomenon”, “In the area of genuine synesthesia, the scientific literature most frequently describes colored hearing, in which spoken word s, letters, numbers, voices , or sounds activate visual impress ions like colors and/ or figures , so-called photisms.” Remy’s synesthesia is even unique among those with the trait, as “The perception of photisms is less frequently triggered by taste, smell, or when a person feels pain.”
I believe the representation of synesthesia within popular culture and movies such as Ratatouille is a fun and creative way of shining light on a relatively unknown trait within certain people. There might be a tendency to classify it as a mental illness, however as it does not severely interfere with one’s life, to classify synesthesia as so is unfair for those with it. By normalizing synesthesia amongst our community, I believe we can open different avenues of creativity for those with the trait, and open a dialogue where it can be further studied and understood.