Rudolph: A Sad Christmas Story
Even though Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a beloved story to many, the moral in the story should not be so beloved.
The story of Rudolph, in short, is that he is an outcast among reindeers. All the other reindeers make fun of him because he has a bright, red nose and he is pretty depressed. One Christmas, it was very foggy and santa couldn’t see. He was about to give up and not give out presents when Rudolph came by. Santa saw Rudolph and put him at the front of his sleigh to light the way. All the reindeer that previously hated him, loved him and was praised as a hero. The End.
From what I can see, the moral of this story is: Only make fun of someone if they’re not important. All of the reindeer bullied Rudolph, and only stopped because he became one of “Santa’s reindeer”. But would if Santa would have never found Rudolph? Would the other reindeer treat him as an equal? Treat him with respect? Probably not. They would have kept treating him as if he was second class, just because he was born with a genetic malformity.
Now you might be thinking “What’s the big deal? It’s just a story. So what if the morals aren’t the greatest?” The problem with the morals being bad is that we tell children this story all the time. I must’ve heard the story of Rudolph 200 times. There are hundreds of songs about Rudolph. I have the words to the main song memorized. I think if we’re going to spread a story so that every child in the country knows it, we should at least make it a story that sets a positive example to young ones.
You sometimes wonder how such great parents have such rotten kids. Personally, I think bullies are born from stories that encourage bullying people different than you, like Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Liked it
-
Post CommentColleen Patricia Williams
On December 28, 2008 at 5:39 pm
One of the shining moments of my life was when my two middle children were 11 and 8, and they were watching that show. At the part where Rudolph was first discriminated against, my kids turned to me in outrage, and my oldest boy said “MOM!!! Santa is a bigot! We should boycott Christmas!!”
Today they are all grown up and they all stick up for what’s right. We are multiracial, yet we look all caucasian. They have not rested on that, and neither did I. My youngest son has Tourette’s Syndrome. He knows how it feels. It was not other kids, oddly enough. It was his teachers in school that made his life Hell. Because he was different.