Be Useful or Die

An alternative perspective on having a Red Nose

The holiday song and the 1964 classic movie telling of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer have become synonymous with the Christmas season. So much so that we mindlessly find our self retelling it to our children or humming to the song as it plays on the radio or over the speakers as we do our holiday shopping. But the Rudolph story is not the only thing that we have assimilated into our collective consciousness; we have also assimilated the supposed lessons found within it, the apparent take away that you shouldn’t make fun of others, lest they become in positions of power and the envy of all. For the story of Rudolph is not much a story about his nose as it is a lesson for the reindeer that initially made fun of him.

Some may have a different read on the story, that it is a story of perseverance and overcoming. Rudolph, by being the unique reindeer he is, was, eventually, recognized for being ‘special’. As such, we should never be ashamed of the things that make us different and ‘unique’. but is this a correct interpretation considering that Rudolph was less recognized for his uniqueness but rather recognized for his utility to Santa? and that only once Rudolph was ‘anointed’ by the power figure in the story did his uniqueness become an asset?

The classic 1964 movie telling of events, where Rudolph is given an even more tragic backstory, supports this idea. In that recounting, even Santa distanced himself from Rudolph by automatically disqualifying him from flying his sleigh at birth. This is a major divergence from the passive role that Santa plays in the song. Here, Santa was actively involved in making Rudolph out to be like a leper.

This news devastated Rudolph’s father (like a child not cutting the sports team is seen as a stain on the family) who forced him to hide his uniqueness until eventually it was revealed and he was ridiculed for it, pushing him to run away from home.

All of the other reindeer

Used to laugh and call him names

They never let poor Rudolph

Join in any reindeer games

Concession Bargaining

It was only until Rudolph found allies on the Island of Misfit Toys that he chose to return home. Upon his return, his family and Santa were apologetic, ashamed of their previous treatment of ‘misfits’ and promised to be better people. This seemingly profound transformation is then topped off by the fact that Rudolf becomes indispensable as he, or rather, his nose, is needed to fly through the thick storm.

Although this seems to be a happy ending, the question here is should we take this as a final indication that Santa et al will now be more understanding of misfits in general, or have they just made temporary concessions to these special misfits? — especially because they have proved to be useful. What is to say that the same thing won't happen the next time a reindeer with a different ‘mutation’ surfaces? Will they too need to prove their exploitability to be accepted?

In reality, then, Rudolph’s story, if anything, can be taken as a limited win for the specific characters involved, and did not help create a change in the system that had initially alienated Rudolph and his friends. Even worse off, by folding himself into that very system, that is, by agreeing to become the lead reindeer, Rudolph cut himself short of making any transformative changes. This can be seen as a master move by Santa who, by promoting Rudolph and making other small concessions, successfully put an end to Rudolph’s revolt.

All of this leads to only one conclusion. Rudolph turned his back on misfits to secure his own personal gain and acceptance.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve

Santa came to say

“Rudolph, with your nose so bright

Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Power and Acceptance

The role of Santa as the antagonist in this story becomes even clearer when we notice that Santa did nothing to stop the bullying Rudolph was experiencing before his ‘epiphany’. This is not to say that he encouraged Rudolph’s bullying, but he did shame Rudolph’s father for trying to pass him as ‘normal. It was only until Santa, the locus of power in this story, accepted Rudolph that others followed suit or rather ‘fell in line’. This means that Santa remained in his original position of power that allows him to haphazardly discriminate against others.

This goes even further to prove that Rudolph’s story has nothing to do with accepting your difference, but only reinforces the idea that the only way to be accepted is if you find a way to make your difference useful to those in power; useful enough that it supersedes the competition.

Here, it’s worth thinking about what would have happened if Rudolph’s mutation did not make him more useful and he was not brave enough to revolt? Surely the name calling would not have stopped and Santa would have done nothing to stop it. Rudolph’s was left with one option, revolt and the building of a unified front with other ‘misfits’. This indeed is the only way that any sort of deviation from the norm has become acceptable not just in the north pole, but in all of our societies. If anything, then, is this not the only worthwhile lesson we should take from Rudolph and his red nose?

Then how the reindeer loved him

As they shouted out with glee