Finding beauty in what others find ugly

"I find Beauty in dirt. A future non-fiction piece for me but for now, I will respond to this prompt by sharing my recent conversation with a beta reader:

“The critters in your novel can't be rats. Mice, even feral cats, not rats. They're disgusting. They carry diseases. I'm pretty sure it was the Bubonic f***king Plague,” she said.

“That's why I chose rats–to challenge our culture's misconceptions. I find them beautiful,” I said.

“Yuck. Lice. You can't hold them. They bite you. They bite children. Everyone hates rats,” she said.

“Again, that's why I chose a rat,” I said.

“Why would a sixteen year old girl be curious about rats? They're boy crazy,” she said.

“She’s crazy about one boy AND intrigued by rats,” I said.

“People poison rats.” she said.

“I know, they're too beautiful to poison, too intelligent,” I said.

50% of my novel's beta readers were repulsed by how I gifted my protagonist a fondness for rats. The other 50% liked it. I revised. I softened the narrative. Did I succeed in finding beauty in what others find harmful? I don't know. 

Did I succeed in finding beauty in the following 50 word flash fiction piece from Vine leaves Press? A piece that would make some readers cringe. It was written by Dave Sydney and titled RALPH'S DILEMMA:

Ralph's Dilemma

They were in a dark alley. The masked gunman and Ralph. It was the conventional question – your money or your life? Was this some kind of trick? Did Ralph have any money left? Not after the divorce settlement with Sheila. Then, too, he didn't have much of a life either.

I loved this piece. I found it beautiful.