Meme Monday – Rudolf and Santa

This is the year when it all comes out, I guess, when we finally get to talk about what jerks Santa and the other reindeer are in the TV show, and to a somewhat lesser extent, the song. I saw Nance discuss it on her blog, in a discussion with her husband. I’ve seen it on Facebook several times. And now there’s a meme. Well, actually, I’ve seen a couple of memes about it.

Just like #Metoo and #BlackLivesMatter, though, isn’t the reality that it has NEVER BEEN OK? NEVER? Hasn’t it always been shitty how poor Rudolph was treated?

Hasn’t it always been shitty that every woman you know has been sexually harassed at some level? Maybe not at work, but on the street or the grocery store or school or walking the dog? Or all of the above?

Hasn’t it always been shitty that every person of color you know has been harassed for their color at some point? Followed in a department store to ensure they are not shoplifting? Pulled over and questioned by the police? Denied a job or a loan or whatever? Threatened and treated as ‘less than’ so many times, over and over and over again? All of the above?

And then we have Rudolph. The story resonates because we all feel it. We all know what it feels like to be treated like shit, to be scared for our life/our dignity/our job/our safety. And you know what? It sucks.

So, here we are. In the Rudolph story, especially the TV special? Santa’s a dick. (And so are all of the other reindeer.)

3 Comments

nance

December 14, 2020 at 6:06 am

So true. This is what a white, patriarchal society built on colonialism does to you. Toss in the American Puritan influence, and you’ve got a really toxic mix.

When I taught American Literature to my tenth grade honors kids, I told them it was subtitled “White male guilt literature”. And I challenged the boys to Do Better.

I just read an article online about the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special that takes it to task because Franklin, the black character, sits all alone on one side of the table. Everyone else, who is white, sits all crowded on the other side. Charles Schultz’s widow had to defend her husband and say that he didn’t draw the special; it was the animators who made that choice, and that her husband would never have stipulated that. Many people rushed to Schultz’s defense.

I don’t recall ever watching that special, so I never noticed it. But…wow. What the heck?

nance

December 14, 2020 at 6:10 am

Here’s a really good article about it, J., with a cogent explanation.

https://shadowandact.com/theres-more-to-franklin-than-just-being-the-black-kid-in-a-charlie-brown-thanksgiving

J

December 14, 2020 at 6:34 am

Thanks for that, Nance…we watch every year, and usually I am too grumpy at Peppermint Patty for bullying Charlie Brown to pay attention to poor Franklin on the other side of the table. I don’t know why change has to be so damn gradual. I liked the article though, and Shultz wanting to be careful to get it right when he brought in Franklin. I found it interesting that Franklin sat at the same side of the table in an earlier special, so perhaps this was the network or whomever reacting to it. Still, as you say, what the heck?

nance

December 14, 2020 at 6:06 am

So true. This is what a white, patriarchal society built on colonialism does to you. Toss in the American Puritan influence, and you’ve got a really toxic mix.

When I taught American Literature to my tenth grade honors kids, I told them it was subtitled “White male guilt literature”. And I challenged the boys to Do Better.

I just read an article online about the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special that takes it to task because Franklin, the black character, sits all alone on one side of the table. Everyone else, who is white, sits all crowded on the other side. Charles Schultz’s widow had to defend her husband and say that he didn’t draw the special; it was the animators who made that choice, and that her husband would never have stipulated that. Many people rushed to Schultz’s defense.

I don’t recall ever watching that special, so I never noticed it. But…wow. What the heck?
nance

December 14, 2020 at 6:10 am

Here’s a really good article about it, J., with a cogent explanation.

https://shadowandact.com/theres-more-to-franklin-than-just-being-the-black-kid-in-a-charlie-brown-thanksgiving
- J
  
  December 14, 2020 at 6:34 am
  
  Thanks for that, Nance…we watch every year, and usually I am too grumpy at Peppermint Patty for bullying Charlie Brown to pay attention to poor Franklin on the other side of the table. I don’t know why change has to be so damn gradual. I liked the article though, and Shultz wanting to be careful to get it right when he brought in Franklin. I found it interesting that Franklin sat at the same side of the table in an earlier special, so perhaps this was the network or whomever reacting to it. Still, as you say, what the heck?