Briona Bargerstock – Staff Writer

bnb5387@psu.edu

Photo Credit: The Boston Globe

Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a stop-motion film that debuted in 1964. For those who have not seen this classic, it is a tale of a reindeer that was born with a red nose rather than the traditional black nose of his parents and fellow reindeer peers. His family attempts to hide his nonconformity, but when that ultimately fails he is ostracized and not allowed to participate in traditional reindeer activities. This led to him running away, which is the main plot of the movie. On his journey, Rudolph finds a rad tag team of misfits that he calls his friends. The film ends with a beautiful scene of accepting oneself and finding purpose despite not fitting in with everyone else.

This is a beautiful message for children, but I wonder if this message remains true today. It would seem that bullying has not disappeared since the debut of this film, rather it seems to have risen with the implementation of things such as cyberbullying. Children are now no longer able to escape bullying because bullies can follow them in all forms of their life. The aspect of Rudolph being cast out for having a physical trait that is different from others is something that sounds like it would still be prevalent today. Bullying on things such as race, sexual orientation, gender, and ability are the main points of contention for bullies. It is a message that I feel would resonate with children today.

As a biracial woman, I know that as a child I deeply resonated with Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, and it is still one of my favorite Christmas movies. There is something about him having to face adversity when everyone is rooting against him that serves as a good representation of anyone who has had to struggle due to a factor they could not control. I know I was bullied in school for being different from all of the other children because I went to a predominantly white school. So, in many ways, I felt like Rudolph who was cast out and forced to embrace my differences as I got older. Unfortunately, not everyone is a Rudolph and many children who are cast out do not go on to accept themselves and their differences.

This film has aspects similar to segregation, which makes some wonder if this is a piece commenting on segregation and the harm that it can have on youth. With the film’s debut in 1964 and the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, it does not seem like much of a stretch. This point plays into the representation that I was speaking about. The film represents the harm segregation was doing to black children in the 60s, or at least that is what many people see this film as doing, working to shed light on a topic many people did not have a strong awareness of. This message is still very relevant today in an age where things such as gender expression, sexual orientation, and race are something to be proud of. This film can serve as the representation needed for individuals who do not understand the harms of casting individuals who are proud of those traits out. I hope to see Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer airing for many more years for that very reason.