(no subject)

[stormdog]

So much recent acrimony about "Baby it's Cold Outside" has frustrated me.

It doesn't have to be good or evil. People aren't, for the most part, talking about 'killing it off', whatever that means. I just happen to think that it doesn't belong in the canon of ubiquitous holiday muzak. People can't seem to grasp any position other than there being nothing wrong with it or it being the embodiment of all that is wrong in pop culture.

Comments

[stormdog]

"Let It Snow" is definitely a better choice in that theme!

An example I used elsewhere to explain my problem with the popularity of "Baby It's Cold Outside" is Meatloaf's "Bat Out of Hell." There's a lot of adversarial gender relations there, and sex being used as a bargaining chip in relationships. Those are horrible things to base real-life interactions on. But I do like the album and play it regularly in the car as I drive.

The underlying problem for me in both cases is that the songs are an obfuscated discussion about something that should be discussed openly; attraction, sex, and consent. There's a place for that kind of art, and it explores things that are relevant to people's lives. That's what art, in part, ought to do.

But I think neither Meatloaf nor "It's Cold Outside" are well-suited to being played as background holiday muzak. I'm happy to hear that people are choosing not to play it anymore.

[acelightning]

When I was a teenage/early-20-something girl, stories like the ones Meat Loaf tells in Bat Out Of Hell and Paradise By The Dashboard Light often happened in real life - girls were taught that "boys only want one thing", and that it was their duty to refuse, no matter how persuasive the young man's arguments were, so they could eventually get married in a proper virgin's white gown and veil, to a nice boy. People really used to believe those things, and behave in those ways, fifty years ago. I mean, society is pretty fucked up about sex now, but it's a whole lot better than it was.