BABY IT’S BAD OUT THERE!
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The #MeToo movement has successfully gotten the winter song Baby It’s Cold Outside banned from play on many radio stations around the country. How ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ Went From Parlor Act to Problematic. I am agast. Not that I don’t applaud the group for using this song as a discussion starter to show the messages deeply engrained in our culture that promote sexual aggression. But really, this is another case of a ‘one issue’ group forcing a modern cause célèbre on a song written decades ago that merely reflected acceptable mores of a different time. Furthermore, their mores were much stricter than ours are today. We must stop this ‘retroactive censure’ overlaying our own modern sensibilities (which are less than ideal) over a piece of art taken out of context. ‘Say, what’s in that drink’ most likely meant ‘is there some alcohol?’, not ‘does this contain a date rape drug?’.
“We’re all kind of mystified,” said Susan Loesser (daughter of the composer of the song). “The #MeToo movement, which I approve of, has really overstepped in this. You have to look at things in cultural and historical context.”
Have you listen to Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines? Not only is this song one of many which is sexually offensive, and explicit, this melody was stolen; a court decided it infringes the copyrights of Marvin Gaye. But it was still played on the radio – so that we can decide for ourselves whether we want to listen to it or not.
“Do we get to a point where human worth, warmth and romance are illegal?” Tucker Carlson
I believe in uncensored access to all information and creative expression in any form. It is a fundamental principle of our nation. If someone doesn’t like the message of a song on the radio – switch the station(!) just like I do whenever I hear one of the many rap songs with both the ‘f-word’ AND the ‘n-word’ in it. By all means, start a dialogue about the issues the lyrics present. But don’t prevent the rest of the country from listening and making their own judgment.
