(The American Dossier,John Katz,Editor)
It takes more than a trendy social media driven #movement to make a difference... So here we are 9 days away from commemorating the birth of Jesus. Or from a more legalistic PC secular perspective 9 days before the mall “Holiday Claus “ persons file for unemployment and the Easter/Spring Solstice bunnies awake from their slumber.
Lest we forget the true meaning of Christmas,this time of year always brings the absurd and often dividing news stories. My personal favorite so far have been about the School Principal who banned Candy Canes because they look like a letter J for Jesus and The #Metoo movements outrage over the song ‘Baby its Cold Outside’ ’lyric “Say, what’s in this drink?”
Don’t get me wrong its is about time that public outrage has finally surfaced in regards to mistreatment of women. However with this recent criticism of a song from the 1940’s by #metoo one could wonder if this # movement will become just a fashionable trend that will come and go because of divided focus.
As there are still very good aspects of #metoo movemen , we hope it does not evolve away from its true mission and intent in that it draws attention to facts and taking action. As for art forms such as songs are best left freely open to interpretation. Especially since intent of the writer was not to promote mistreatment of women but to express personal emotion.
Unfortunately much like the evolved unfolding of what has happened with being able to simply say ‘Have a Merry Christmas’ We have evolved into a generation of fear forced to censor joy and hope. Christmas is about inclusiveness in celebrating the birth of Our Savior not about coming out of the red on Black Friday or censoring emotion.
Not to take away from the generational mistreatment of women ‘Baby its Cold Outside ‘ is simply a song from simpler less corrupt more morally scrupled generation. Its intent and inflection in the lyric was innocent in that it was written by (in emotion/inflection of the song's writer) a husband to his wife remembering their dating days and how as much as they did'n’t want to end their date .
This duet is a emotional conversation between two people in call and response form. Every line in the song features a statement from the man followed by a response from the woman . While both want their night to continue, the woman says she "ought to say no, no, no, sir" and return home, because of what family and neighbors will think.’ It was about maintaining modesty and yet expressing their emotion of love.
As clarified by ABC, Susan Loesser the daughter of songs writer Frank Loesser says she can’t help but smile every time she hears it.
"My mother considered it their song,” Susan recalls. “That's why she was crushed when he sold it to MGM for ‘Neptune's Daughter.’"
The movie is a romantic comedy from 1949.
"But it won the Academy Award and she got over it,” Susan says.
Now, fast forward 70 years, the song is getting attention for a very different reason.
Radio stations began pulling the song, as critics argued the lyrics promotes rape culture.
The uproar centers on the particular lyric, “Say, what’s in this drink?”
It's a line that stands out, especially in the context of the #MeToo movement.
But Susan says the movement, "doesn't get it."
"I just think it's a mistake to attack this particular song,” she says. “It's not a date rape song. It's a flirt song, and they're both into it.”
Perhaps a the lesson we can learn and perhaps from this song and generation from the past that there is no shame of having fun and being reminded of living in moral virtue. in regard to both the true meaning of Christmas and romance.