Tag: Rakin and Bass

Growing up I had the opportunity to watch all the holiday Rankin and Bass specials.  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was always a family favorite.

My siblings and I would put on our PJS. My mom would make pop-corn. My dad would sit in his chair reading the paper.  For one hour we basked in the glow of 27 inches of television glory. The holiday spirit filled the room. Our excitement for Christmas ramped up to a 10 on the HO HO HO scale.

When I had kids of my own, I made efforts to share those experiences with them. I wanted to make memories with my own kids. I tried to recreate the spirit of seasons past, just with a bigger television.

Yet as an adult I realized something. What an awful group of characters make up the cast.

Examples:
* Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was a petulant brat.
* Donner was an awful father who made no effort to hide his shame and disappointment.
* Mitzi was a subservient wife who refused to stand up to Donner.
* Hermey was cruel. He practiced dentistry by pulling the teeth out of the Abominable Snowman. The snowman represented no harm at the time his teeth were removed.
* Yukon Corneilus was a representation of corporate greed and participated in crimes against humanity.
* Santa Claus was a selfish, inconsiderate, intolerant ass.
* Comet was a typical win at all costs coach.
* All the other dear were jealous bullies.
* The toys on the Island of Misfit Toys all needed therapy. They needed to grow some confidence and develop some self-worth.

Clarice, along with King Moonracer, were the only characters with redeeming qualities.


What lesson is a child supposed to take from this Rudolph Story?
Feel like you don’t fit in, so run away?
Don’t want to do what is expected of you, so take it out on others?
If someone doesn’t live up to your standards, bully them. Make them feel worthless until they do hard to self or others?
Anyone with a unique characteristic isn’t worth having around UNTIL you can exploit their gifts for your own selfish gains?

I get it. You watch Rudolph and see a plucky Reindeer who proves his value to the community that mistreated him.

I watch Rudolph now and see a bunch of a holes who ostracized a newborn deer. They rejected him because he was different. They changed their minds when they discovered they could use him for the same thing they hated him for. 

I want to see the happy in Rudolph again. Now that I have grandkids, maybe I will.

I will not be holding my breath.