In the the story of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Santa Clause is nothing more than a fascist dictator. He runs an entire empire on slave labor and then complains when he has to work one night a year. He berates Rudolph's father for giving birth to a child with a disability and tells him he should be "ashamed of himself." Mrs. Clause is constantly trying to fatten him up, presumably to try and kill him with heart disease and make it look like an accident.
The story of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is a tragic story about the horrors of Stockholm Syndrome. The elves live horrific lives that are a constant routine of building toys for no compensation. They desperately try to please Santa by performing a song for him, which he immediately dismisses and walks out of the room, leaving behind a group of devastated elves who spent countless hours practicing a song for this ungrateful old asshole.
To work for Santa means that you are utterly stripped of your identity. You must fall in line with the rest of the workers. The punishment for becoming your own individual is exile, which in the North Pole would almost certainly mean death because it's constantly winter there.
Hermey the Elf tried to doing something better with his life. He wanted to become a dentist, which was met with a wave of scrutiny and mocking from the other elves. This must mean that they never see a dentist or a doctor. There is no way in hell that Santa provides his workers with a proper benefits package so we have to assume that they can't afford health care on their nonexistent salary. Hermey was willing to look at their teeth for free and he was mocked and basically forced into exile.
Rudolph never had a chance to even try and be accepted for who he was. As if Santa wasn't enough of an old asshole, on the day of Rudolph's birth he informs his parents that their son will never make the sleigh team with a glowing nose. He said this to them in the first 10 minutes of bringing their first child into this world. Before Rudolph even had the ability to open his eyes Santa basically told the parents to give up on their disabled child because he will never make it in life.
Donner, Rudolph's father tells his son that he needs to cover his nose in dirt to be accepted. When Rudolph gets old enough to practice in the reindeer games he accidentally reveals his glowing nose to the horror of the gym teacher and fellow classmates. The teacher tells his students to inform Rudolph that he can no longer take part in the reindeer games, even though the douchebag is standing right next to him and can explain his prejudice to a child himself. Santa tell's Donner he should be "ashamed of himself" for trying to cover up Rudolph's nose.
I'm not going to recap the entire movie because you all know it, but eventually Rudolph leaves his home and family with Hermey the elf and meets another bunch of misfits who are not accepted by people. The one misfit toy I can't figure out is the doll. She seems to be totally fine.
Fast forwarding to the end of the movie Rudolph returns to his hometown on a foggy Christmas Eve. Santa, who doesn't even want to make an attempt to fly through the fog on the one night a year he has to work is ready to inform everyone that "Christmas is canceled." He doesn't even consider the fact that the fog is probably not covering the entire planet and he could most likely fly through it until he gets to clear air. What is the real danger? He's flying in midair. What the hell is he going to hit?
Finally, Santa notices Rudolph's shining nose and realizes he can use it to his advantage to get through the fog. There's a couple things I find wrong with this. First of all I assume that Santa never uses lights when flying in the dark and is able to see somehow. Have you ever turned your high beams on during a foggy night? It almost makes it harder to see. I don't see how Rudolph's shining nose will help them see in the fog. The second issue is that Santa only accepts Rudolph now because he needs them.
Santa asks Rudolph "Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" What Rudolph should have said is "go to hell old man." What he really did is actually guide the sleigh through the fog like a chump. THEY'RE JUST USING YOU RUDOLPH CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?
Recently there have been calls to ban Rudolph because of it's negative message. I don't think a ban is necessary. That is exactly what fascist Santa would want. Instead we need to show this movie more and present it as an example of how not to treat people who are different.
Rudolph took the high road in the end when he really should have taken the low road. He should have steered that team of ungrateful ingrates into the side of a mountain.
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