Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer teaches an awful message

The idea of the poor, ridiculed reindeer with a shiny red nose originated with Robert Lewis May, a copy editor of Chicago-based Montgomery Ward. They assigned him to create a children's book they could freely distribute in their department sore. May's brother in law, Johnny Marks, adapted the story in 1949 into the familiar song we sing every year:

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say,
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
You'll go down in history!"

The most well-known version of the pathetic character is depicted in the 1964 stop-motion film by Rankin/Bass Productions, which used the song rather than the original booklet for source material.

A page from the original R.L. May booklet... a worthwhile read

Both the original booklet and the song, however, teach an awful message: It is ok to ridicule and exclude someone who is different. You only need to love them if they are somehow proven to be useful to your selfish needs.

Perhaps a lot of people relate to Rudolph. Many have been ridiculed, feel like they don't fit in. They like to see him succeed in the end and be loved.
But I just can't accept the idea that Santa Claus, who is supposed to love everyone as much as Jesus does, allow such an attitude to permeate the North Pole.
He would not allow such rampant bullying.

Let's look at this attitude a different way:
Suppose Rudolph had been born with black fur instead of a red nose. All of the other reindeer would have hated him because he was black. They would have decided they loved him only because it was discovered he was really good at stealth work, getting presents to their intended destinations in the dark.

We can see that as racist and absolutely wrong.
Yet not at all different from hating someone just because they have a shiny red nose.

We can not love individuals only when they serve some selfish need of ours.
We should love individuals for who they are, who they want to be. If we are to be any kind of happy, we must celebrate others' differences and help them reach their true potential.

Maybe we could change the song a little bit:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.

Olive, the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
She never let poor Rudolph
Join in any of her games.

Then one sunny afternoon
Santa came to say,
"Olive, with your attitude
Come and get some therapy."

"We can't exclude anyone.
We need to love them all.
Everyone is different
Be they big, tall, green, or small."

A few months ago, @casandrarose wrote an article for a positivity challenge. In this article, she related her experience of working with an individual bound to a wheelchair, physically and mentally unable to do much of anything. This individual, whom she calls Walter, must have others take care of him at all times, as he has no use of his hands or legs. He can barely coordinate eating and breathing without choking.

Is this person deserving of love? Does he have to be proven useful in order for you to accept him as a worthwhile human being? All this man wants in the world is to be proven useful, to have the capacity of doing something, anything, for someone else.

As it turns out, @casandrarose has him help her take out the trash; his clenched hands have proven quite useful at grasping trash bags, and Walter's smile shows a soul well aware of his surroundings. She also told me recently that he is very good at having lunch dishes set on his lap so she can return the dishes to the other clients' lunch boxes. Walter has been proven useful because @casandrarose first loved him.

I posit a challenge for you good hearted steemians: Find someone who is different, who holds different opinions, who has a different background from yours, comes from a different culture, maybe even someone your parents may not want you hanging out with, and write about them. This is different from @williambanks name in lights challenge, as you are to choose someone who is different from you. Also, this person does not need to be a fellow steemian. Write about them, find their point of view, find beauty in their difference. You do not have to agree with them, only understand them. We can call it #lovedifferent .

And if you do sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with your children, remind them that being mean to anyone is never acceptable.

If you understand someone, you can't help but love them.

Historical information courtesy of wikipidia
Images courtesy of
A Totally Serious Critique This is also an interesting article about the show.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer original manuscript

How are you getting that this is about race? Did you read the entire article or just see the word race and suddenly decide you were done?

The fact is that rudolph was isolated and ridculed because he was different and those around him were ignorant. What she's explaining is that IF he had black fur instead of a red nose, people would see the problem immediately and the entire story would be banned by now.

Instead we're sending the wrong message here.
It's ok to hate someone who's different as long as they aren't also useful in some way to the group.

She's right about this. People need to be loved and valued for who they are, not just what they can do, or what value they provide.

So give the article a re-read and take her up on the challenge because it's about overcoming yourself to find something to love in others, no matter who they may be.