Christmas entertainment continues to be under fire; last week, the classic Rudolph was called out by the Huffington Post for being “racist, sexist and promoting bullying”. Earlier this month, the mainstream media and leftists take aim at another Christmas classic — the tune “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”.
Originally created for the film “Neptune’s Daughter” in the 40s, the version most of us are familiar with was recorded by Dean Martin in 1959, according to Fox News. The song was also featured in the recent blockbuster “Elf” and has also been performed by Idina Menzel, Michael Buble and other singing duos.
The song is too much for some in the time of “#MeToo”, with a handful of individuals and groups calling for it to be banned from the radio and other venues.
“I do realize that when the song was written in 1944 [by Frank Loesser], it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong,” WDOK’s Glenn Anderson said, speaking at the end of November. “The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place.”
With this announcement, the Cleveland-based station was the first of many to publicly declare they would not be playing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. Other stations rushed to follow suit, speaking out on the radio, on social media and to the mainstream media about this issue and hoping to provoke coverage and controversy.
This call for banning the tune worked on the radio, but had unintended results.
While listeners would no longer be able to hear the song on the radio, it was still available for sale in iTunes, Google Music and on Amazon, in addition to other venues and locations. Sales for Martin’s “Baby It’s Cold Ourside” soared over 54 percent higher than last year’s — and the song was streamed more than eight million times, according to Billboard.
Dean Martin’s daughter Deanna also performs the song.
“It won the Oscar for ‘Best Original Song’ in the 1949 film ‘Neptune’s Daughter.’ It’s been recorded by dozens of the world’s top recording artists for over 60 years, including my dad Dean Martin,” she said. “This song is included in his very successful 1959 ‘Winter Romance’ album, and I’m very proud that it has become an evergreen favorite that is played every holiday season.”
In just a few short weeks, the backlash went even further than anticipated; buyers flocked to purchase the Dean Martin original — but also purchased other versions of the tune. The version from the movie Elf, performed by Zooey Descanel and Lion Redbone was up over 50 percent as well; another version by Meghan Trainor and Brett Eldridge soared up 36% in the same time period. Other versions saw similar increases, marking a heightened interest in the forbidden holiday classic.
~ Patriotic Freedom Fighter
