Christmas is approaching, and buying a Christmas-themed CD to give away is not a bad idea: there are many choices, not expensive, and it fits the festive atmosphere. However, in today's physical music products have long declined, buying CDs and giving them away does not seem to be a good idea, after all, how many people have CD players on hand? But whether it is a shopping mall or a restaurant, a café or a bookstore, the Christmas-themed song is still the background sound of this season, sounding everywhere in the city, just like the Chinese dolls near the Spring Festival or Andy Lau's "Wishing you prosperity".
However, under the influence of the #MeToo movement, an entertainment radio station in Ohio took "Baby, It's Cold Outside", a classic Christmas song that has been played for nearly 70 years, from the playlist because the song seemed to hint at and even glorify a date rape. "Our world has become more sensitive, people are easily offended, and although the song was written in another era, it is no longer suitable for play at a time when the #MeToo movement is giving women voices." The radio host wrote on his blog. The incident caused widespread discussion on social media.
Composed in 1944, "Girl, It's Cold Outside", sung by Ricardo Monterban and Esther Williams in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter, the song won the best original song at the 22nd Academy Awards the following year.
Poster of "Luoshui Immortal"
"Girl, It's Cold Outside" is a male-female duet song that, according to the BBC, "depicts a man who persuades a visiting female guest to have another drink with him and spend the night with him without risking going home in bad weather conditions". The woman's line in the lyrics is "What's in this glass of wine?" （What’s in this drink？ And the man's inconsiderate response to "there is no car on the street anymore" was seen by critics as suggesting an ongoing or impending date rape. For example, an article published in salon.com in 2012 reads the lyrics like this: The woman explicitly says no, but he still wants to capture the other party with charm, until a certain moment," the woman exclaimed: 'What's in the wine?' Did he pour too much wine into her, or did he drugg her? The author leads us to think, and then gives his own conclusion: "At this point, everything is too obvious, he is the predator, and she is the prey."
Stills from "LuoShui Immortal", "Girl, it's cold outside". Esther Williams on the left and Ricardo Montalban on the right.
Did the song really sing a date rape and be played as a Christmas song from the 1950s to the present?
If we listen to the song, or at least look at the lyrics in its entirety, we will find that things are far from as simple as the critics want us to believe. The song begins with the woman saying "I have to go", and the man's response is "but it's too cold outside". The woman said, "This evening has been so very nice," but if she doesn't leave, "My mom is going to worry," "My dad is going to walk around the house anxiously," and "so I really have to go back quickly." But in his save, she said, "But maybe just half a drink more," but as soon as the wine was poured, she began to worry about her neighbors again.
In fact, the woman's worries do not only come from the consideration of her parents and neighbors, she then reveals in the lyrics that she must consider how her brother, sister, and unmarried aunt will judge her behavior. You know, "I have to say: "No, no, no, sir", so that "at least I can say (to others) that I tried. And he, while praising her appearance, repeatedly stated that it was cold outside, and if she braved the wind and snow to go like this, I was afraid that she would be sick.
Stills from "LuoShui Immortal"
In her concerns and his retention, "the hospitality I received was so warm," she said, "maybe I could smoke another cigarette." But the judgment from others is her lingering shadow, "There's bound to be talk tomorrow," or you can lend me an overcoat, she said. In the end, she seemed determined to stay, as they both sang together that "it's really cold outside."
If the song describes anything, it's certainly not a date rape. The song reflects the push that a good girl must make in a similar situation in a society where women are not considered to be able to express their sexual desires or satisfy their sexual needs autonomously. Despite the warmth of his hospitality, even though tonight was a very good night, she could not offer to show that she wanted to stay. She was going to move out of the worries of her mother, father, brother and sister as a reason she had to go; she could not even directly accede to his request not to leave, but to say that she had to take into account the views of her neighbors and people. She needs to say "no, no, no" repeatedly. That way, she was able to say, "I tried to reject him, when people accused her of staying overnight."
Esther Williams
As for "What's in this glass of wine?" (What's in this drink)" If you listen to the corresponding passage of the song, or interpret the lyrics in the context of the whole song, you know that this is neither an exclamation nor a question. She's not questioning "What's in my wine!" Instead, he said in an almost childish tone, "What have you given me to drink?" Find a reason or excuse for the accommodation you may choose next.
Wang Xiaobo has a description in "Love in the Revolutionary Period": X Sea Eagle asked me, "What books do you like to read", I replied that I like to read "Mao Xuan", X Sea Eagle asked: "Seriously, what books do you like to read?" I replied that I really like to read Mao Xuan. So X Seahawk had to ask "what book do you like to say fake" in order to know what book "I" really liked.
So if there's really something wrong with the song "Girl, It's Cold Outside," it's not that it depicts or glorifies a date rape, it's that it reminds us that in a society where women can't actively express their sexual desires, they have to say "don't want," even though they actually "want to"; and if that's the case, it's hard for them to make it clear to each other when they really "don't want to."
Beijing News reporter Kou Huaiyu
Edited by Dong Muzi Proofreader: Xue Jingning