Friday, September 14, 2012

Classic Christmas.. Rudolph

In the 1964 classic Rudolph the red nose reindeer, what I think is one of the best versins of this show... Saddly shock set in as I noticed some things.... Why I Can No Longer Allow My Son to Watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: * Santa doesn't like Rudolph as a baby because he's different. What's wrong with being different? * Dad- Donner- makes the red nose black to fit in because Santa (aka The Man) doesn't approve. Why doesn't the mother deer speak up and tell Dad and Santa to leave her kid alone? * Donner wants his son to conform. What kind of sheeple message is that? * The Elves: the guy elves are stereotypically tall/skinny or short/fat and all of the girls look exactly the same. No color! No diversity! What's up with that? * Plus- the boy elves are segregated apart from the girl elves and get better jobs. Classic example of the glass ceiling. *And- what's with the uniforms? Everyone is dressed exactly the same as everyone else. Communism-much? *And- what about the violence??? Poking fellow elves with feathers? Carrying concealed scissors? *And- talk about workplace harassment! Just because Herbie wants to be a dentist and doesn't like making toys, he is verbally abused and is forced to stifle his creativity in order to conform to the union of elves! *Then, during the Reindeer Games- the girls (does) are only allowed to watch; they cannot compete against the bucks. This reeks of sexual discrimination! *Of course, Rudolph is the best flyer; but then he is laughed at and BULLIED by the other deer b/c he has a red nose. This is borderline racism. Where is the NAACP or the ACLU? *And, horrors, Santa- The Man- tells Donner that he should be ashamed of himself for bringing out his "special" son to compete against the other bucks. Maybe Donner should have had his wife take a test during her pregnancy and have it aborted for being imperfect. *Of course, here comes the heroine, Clarisse, to sing to our distraught hero about "there's always tomorrow where dreams can come true". Sounds like a message of hope and change to me. * Herbie starts to practice dentistry without a license and, rather than get fined or sent to jail, he is fired and, along with Rudolph, decides to run away rather than face the hardships thrown on them by society. This teaches kids that it's ok to run away. * So, who do they run into for mentoring? Yukon, the alcoholic, gun-toting, animal abusing, nature destroying, greedy capitalist. Now there's a role model for you! *Oh, more running away! Rather than face their problems head on, they run from Abominal Snowman. *Oh, more sexism! Donner tells his wife that it is "men's work" to go after their son. She should stay home. *And let's talk about the Island of Misfit Toys. First of all, who made the toys? China? India? Cheap Labor? Who? *And, if Santa's Elves made them, why did they just get dumped off on a deserted island? Why were they abandoned year after year? What kind of a loving Santa would just keep on rejecting toys and reindeer that aren't perfect? Doesn't Santa know that there are children who are different? Special? Of different colors? * And, what about when Rudolph sneaks away from the Island? He leaves the door open and is probably responsible for global warming! *As the story nears an end, we see that, in order to be accepted, Rudolph has to succumb to the institution and become a tool for those in power by accepting a place in bondage and giving up his freedom! All for The Man! Now, really, is this the kind of message that we want to be promoting for our children? I don't think so!

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