Back to the movie, ever since this has come out in the 70's or 60's,(I'm not sure when, I can't decipher that "MCMLXV" stuff on the credits), most people near a TV have watched the show over and over. I love everything in it, from the little poodle pulling Yukon Cornelius' sled, to the "Charlie in the Box" on the Island of Misfit Toys. I also find myself repeating Rudolph's catch phrase, "I'm coot! I'm coot!", you know, 'cause I am.
The music is so memorable. I find myself singing "Why am I such misfit? I am not just a nitwit!", or "Have a holly, jolly Christmas! Its the best time of the year!". The funny thing is, this year I realized this show was actually really subversive for its time. I'm not kidding. This year I realized that Rudolph could have been written by some Liberal-Arts Sociology Professor. Let me explain...
Rudolph and Hermes don't fit in. They are misfits. I love the part in the first part of the show when the elf-boss mocks Hermes for wanting to be a dentist. "Who ever heard of an elf that didn't like to make toys?". It's like he is saying "There is only one kind of elf-you are wrong for wanting to be different", it's classic social-conflict theory. Both Hermes and Rudolph are alienated from the group because they don't submit to its wishes, or they don't appear like everyone else. They in turn, leave the group and make their way on their own and in the end overcome the group stigma and become valuable on their own terms. This is classic sociology theory, when people are unable to submit to the mores of societies, they have to find alternate methods to gain status and resources.
The island of misfit toys is kind of the climax to this thought. Santa finally determines that misfits can be main-streamed throughout society and will be great toys because of their "different-ness".
To take this even farther, Santa doesn't want to be fat, but he is pushed into overeating by other people's images of what he is supposed to be. "Eat, Papa eat! Whoever heard of a skinny Santa?", his wife tells him. He's got food issues I tell you! He could be like a bulimic trying to get in a size 0, except exactly the opposite.
You can even see feminist thought in how Rudolph's girlfriend and his mom strike out on their own to join the search party, even though it was dangerous for women.
With all this in mind, I have formed the skeleton of a thesis and I will start continuing research on a paper I have decided to call "Themes of Alienation as Seen in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". I have checked out the academic search engines, I will be the first to present this ground-breaking research.
Or maybe that's just the egg-nog and cookies talking, I get kind of goofy when I get all sugared-up. After all, it's just a bunch of puppets...
Merry Christmas.
Johnito.
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