There was a time when if something offended you, you absolutely had the right to look away, walk away, change the station, etc. Guess what? We still have that option. But it seems far easier for people to scream, stomp, shake their fists, and demand removal over something that they don’t like. Suddenly, everything is offensive.
Take the recent move by a Chicago radio station banning the 40’s holiday classic song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. According to many, this song is about rape. Let me pause to laugh and laugh at the absurdity. Yeah. It’s quite okay for artists today to sing, glorify even, about rape, violence, and drug abuse. Or movies with these same elements. And video games giving players extra points for crimes committed, rapes, and murders. But a song from an era that had strict moral standards where women were becoming more independent and gentlemen were dignified and their chivalry meant women had value to them? I call foul.
This week’s link of the week comes from Bored Panda and is what the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is really about from the perspective of a former English teacher. Let me say she nails it.
https://www.boredpanda.com/baby-cold-outside-metoo-song-explanation/
This is the version of the song that I’ve grown up on. Love me some Dean! *swoon*
Just for fun, check out the clip from the 1949 movie “Neptune’s Daughter” where Ester William and Ricardo Montalbán sing the song and then there is the role reversal with Betty Garrett and Red Skelton.