Reindeer Games, Indeed

i was taking pictures for a special event at the give kids the world village today; 8 busloads of employees from the gap outlet stores came in for 4 hours to do as much work as possible. i was to go from site to site and snap pictures of the volunteers as they painted, landscaped, cleaned, and had fun - to put up on both the gap and gktw websites. i love helping out there whenever i can and today was awesome - with one little exception.

i forgot that on thursdays, it's "christmas" in the village.

now, i was not staying for the festivities, and its not like i mind 900 yards of sparkly garland and fairy lights. given the chance, i can't say my own home wouldn't be festooned with said things. the problem was the music. i'm not a big christmas person, and i never really have been. i can't explain why exactly except to say that for some unknown reason, the holiday makes me sad and kind of depressed-feeling. it's not winter that does it, just christmas itself. i have no idea why this is. must be a past-life thing; who knows? anyway, i can stand the decorations and whatnot, but what bothers me the most is christmas music. more than anything else, it's the music that sets off the sadness. (again, i have no idea why.) as i've grown older, i've found it's easier to be agitated than to be sad, and so my depression due to christmas music has turned to annoyance. true story: the only "holiday" albums i find acceptable to listen to without wanting to hurl myself out a tenth story window are barenaked for the holidays by bnl, a christmas together by john denver and the muppets, and the nightmare before christmas soundtrack (which is not really a christmas album at all). and while i know "christmas is coming" by miss piggy, scooter, and gonzo is somewhere on the playlist, most of the hour-long bgm loop is filled with non-acceptable music. at some point, whilst photographing the gap volunteers, "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" came on and i actually listened to the words and the story. i mean, of course i know all the words from elementary school plays and family sing-a-longs and all that (complete with random shouted parts in the middle), but i actively listened today and came to this conclusion:

"rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" is a stupid and wildly inaccurate song.

why? because it's a song about this reindeer who's weird and awkward and all the other reindeer make fun of him because of it. they call him stupid names that make no sense (really? pinnochio? his nose glows not grows... typical of bullies) and don't let him play monopoly. (they couldn't make him the banker? no one really wants that job anyway...) then suddenly one christmas eve it's foggy. the other reindeer complain of bad visibility and refuse to fly. "woo-hoo!" they're probably thinking, "we're off the hook this year! we don't have to lug the fat man and two gazillion pounds of toys around the world!" and then here comes rudolph, showing that, however improbably, his little red nose can light up enough sky for the rest of the 'deer to safely maneuver their way to every rooftop the world over.

"but all the other reindeer loved him!" you may cry. "they all shouted with glee!" well, sure they did; they were in front of their boss (i.e. the one that feeds and shelters them and orders grooms to keep them pampered all year long so they'll be ready for the one night out of the year that they actually have to do something) and the boss is ecstatic over the light-up nose. that means that they too must be ecstatic. but do you really think that's going to last? that deep down they're not thinking, "that little twerp! he's a big fat loser and now he'll go down in history? people are going to cheer and sing trite seasonal ditties about him? that's not fair!"? look, as a high school teacher, i am an astute observer of the social food chain and the consequences of stretching beyond your label. now, if rudolph had been smart, he'd have included some of the alpha reindeer in on the scheme. make it look like (to santa, at least) that it wasn't all him - that only with the help of the bigger, bad ass 'deer could he help. but he didn't; he made the classic outcast mistake of jumping in and saving the day - and making it obvious that it was something the others couldn't do even though they constantly professed that they were stronger and better and faster and less shiny.

look, if you love this song (and/or the classic stop-animation movie inspired by it), i'm not trying to take that enjoyment away from you. if it's a great story to you, and you can teach your children and nieces and nephews and what-have-you about the importance of one person, and how even if you don't seem to fit in, you can make a difference - then good on ya. those are lessons every child should learn, and learn well. i'm just saying that after the deliveries were over and santa popped back into oblivion for another 364 days, rudolph probably had an even rougher time of it because the other reindeer felt they had to remind him of his place. i just think they could have been a little more realistic with this scenario, that's all.

or maybe i just think too much about trivial things and over-analyze. a lot...