like a fire

So I was watching a Christmas classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer the other night with my girls ad was shocked. I guess the last time I watched it I was probably five or six and didn’t get the significance of what was being said. This is truly awful kids programming.

Santa is just a modernistic (in the worst use of the word), pushy, legalistic, jerk. There is one line where the elves are singing for Santa and he listens to them. Afterward, in the course of about three seconds, he says, “Well, it needs work. I gotta go.” and slams the door behind him.

Rudolph’s parents are also driven to shame Rudolph into conforming by making him wear a fake nose. Santa then shames them further. What made anyone think this was a good idea? All the authority figures are as degrading as possible.

Even worse, Rudolph is understandably bitter towards the world and expects everyone he meets to hate him and abuse him. This is a counselor’s nightmare Christmas.

After saying all this, it was the highest ranking series special of this medium. How gives these rankings I wonder? Rankin, Bass and special adapter Romeo Muller should seriously reconsider their skills in writing.

The only thing I can see in this movie is a place for it in the garbage can. It was funny in a sick sort of way to point out all the emotional un-health, but it is so painful that I soon lost interest even in that.