Every year since I was a baby, I have spent endless hours
watching and listening to old Christmas movies and songs. Now, I have a movie
routine that I have to accomplish each year. I must watch “A Charlie Brown
Christmas”, “A Year without a Santa Claus”, “Santa Claus is Comin’ to town”,
“The Muppet Christmas Carol” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”.
These movies always find a way to put me in the Christmas
Spirit. However, I realize my perspective while watching them, has gradually enhanced
throughout my life. Of course, I have grown up to notice many things that I have
never noticed before. I mostly recognized the positive messages portrayed to
the audience to teach people morals and values, which never occurred to me as a kid. But now I realize one movie’s "positive" message in particular has a few flaws. This movie is, “Rudolph the Red Nosed
Reindeer”.
Rudolph is a reindeer who is born into a family, where he is
destined to fly and pull Santa’s Sleigh. This is an honor,
because Santa is the spectacle of the North Pole! But, there is one
problem….Rudolph is born with a glowing red nose. Santa sees this as an issue because
he is different than the rest. When the other reindeer find out about his nose,
they make fun of him and ban him from reindeer games, only for his small
abnormality. As a result of humiliation, Rudolph runs away.
After Rudolph leaves, he grows up to learn that being
different is special and that he should not feel the need to conform. By the
end of the movie, he returns to the North Pole. On Christmas Eve, Santa is
ready to take is sleigh out with the reindeer. However that night, it is
impossible to see from the fog! So, Santa asks Rudolph to be the head of the
sleigh to guide them through it. This demonstrates that Rudolph is still worthy
of pulling the sleigh even though he is unique. Also, no one should look down
upon those who are perceived to be “abnormal”. A very delightful message
indeed.
But here are a few flaws I see…
First of all, Santa in our society is someone who is seen as
a role model for kids right? He is a kind, a caring and a selfless person. So
why does he have a problem with Rudolph’s nose in the first place? He is the
most powerful person in the North Pole and could definitely encourage others to
spread the kindness and accept Rudolph. But instead, he chooses to discourage
him, and allow bullying.
Then by the end we think, “Yes, Santa finally sees Rudolph
for who he is, looks past his differences and lets Rudolph pull the Sleigh!”. However,
I recently noticed, when Santa asks Rudolph to lead the Sleigh, he is thinking
simply how his Nose will help him and he is treating Rudolph like an object. He’s
not emphasizing the worth of Rudolph’s character, but instead, only his nose. In
addition, Santa doesn’t even apologize for treating him unfairly in the past.
So, the message I see is, people can get what they want if
they objectify others if it’s for a “good” purpose. Also, people don’t have to
apologize for their wrongdoings.
A very negative message indeed...
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