'Baby, It's Cold Outside'

Some people are frothing this holiday season after some #MeToo people pointed out that the holiday classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ is a little creepy. These people are furiously offended that some other people are offended by things that don’t offend them. Confused? Extremists are always confusing.

Well, the song is a little creepy, if it’s judged by today’s standards. Certainly, a song written about the boy-meets-girl cat-and-mouse mating rituals of post-war American culture would never become popular today. But it’s perfectly appropriate for 1949, the year it first became a hit. So, now it’s become just a nostalgic look at a Christmas past.

But I’m fascinated by those who are in an uproar over the controversy. It started when a listener to a radio station in Ohio suggested that the station stop playing the song because of its implications of an over-aggressive male, which just isn’t appropriate in today’s culture. It seems no one noticed the song wasn’t being played, until the radio station announced that it was banning the song. Well, suddenly this song became the Most Important Song Ever Written. Radio show hosts, television personalities, and newspaper columnists were beside themselves with outrage over the ban.

I’ve seen no evidence of a politically-motivated ban of the song, which I would expect from some #MeToo-style organization looking to highlight the issue of sexual assault and harassment. And such a campaign would have been a pretty good strategy by activists who understood that a press release from their organization, denouncing the song as sexist, would stimulate dialogue about the issue and bring it to the forefront of a national discussion.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, we have folks who feel it is entirely unhypocritical to spend a lot of their time and energy being upset that someone else may be upset. It’s not about the song. It’s about how too many people have absolutely no empathy for or understanding of another’s opinion or perspective. I’m left to wonder: Why is it OK for them to criticize someone else for criticizing, but it’s not OK for the criticizers to criticize in the first place? There’s been very little discussion about the issue of sexual assault and date-rape. It’s all been anger and venom for those who dare to point out that the song is, in fact, a little creepy.

One of the greatest movies of all time probably wouldn’t have become popular if it had been released today. The Sound of Music? A middle-aged man with seven children dumps his age-appropriate fiancée for the hot, young nun who is nanny to his children.

Would audiences stand for such themes today? Probably not. Other themes make that movie great: patriotism, faith, honor and respect, and terrific music. But the overshadowing theme is, well, a bit creepy. The movie broke box-office records in 1965 and is immensely popular even today. But if it were a new movie this season, it would certainly flop. (For the record, in real life the Captain stayed married to Maria till death did they part).

This year’s great controversy over the lyrics to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” may have backfired. The song hasn’t been banned. In fact, sales of the song as performed by various artists like Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Barry Manilow and Michael Bublé, among others, is the highest seen in years. The message from some people that the song is creepy has been overshadowed by the people who are complaining that there are more important things to worry about than some seasonal, old Christmas song. I’m sure we’ll find something new to complain about after the holidays, when we won’t hear the song again for 11 months.

Baby, it is cold outside. Be kind. Stay warm. And have a very Merry Christmas.‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who hosts the talk show Harry’s Gang on CAT-7. Reach him at [email protected].