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Yes, the ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ Victory Matters
Townhall.com ^ | December 22, 2018 | Christian Toto

Posted on 12/22/2018 11:16:33 AM PST by Kaslin

Conservatives are used to losing culture war fights.

Remember when ABC finally served up a show that treated Trump Nation with some respect? Months later “Roseanne” was gone, a victim of one God awful Tweet.

Or how the right-leaning “Last Man Standing” nearly snared an early retirement after it didn’t get big enough ratings for ABC.

That didn’t happen with “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” The 1944 yuletide classic came under assault, again, but this year felt different. The #MeToo wave, a worthwhile movement hijacked by the Left, targeted the film for cultural extinction. And Social Justice Warriors have more muscle than ever before.

Just ask Kevin Hart.

It looked grim for this yuletide favorite. And we’ve seen this story play out over again.

Beloved ‘80s movies? Now deemed problematic.

Modern comedies? They must walk the woke line or face the PC Police.

A funny thing happened with “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” though. A handful of stations yanked the film, fearing the usual SJW outrage. It should have ended there, even if those “offended” by the song were tiny in number. The Vegas odds surely leaned in that direction.

Instead, radio audiences fought back.

Hard.

The stations in question quickly backpedaled, putting the song back into regular rotation. A Denver station said the response in favor of the song hit 95 percent of respondents.

Need more? One station went so far as to play the number nonstop for two hours. It was a deliberate thumb in the eye to the monster that is PC Groupthink.

Right-thinking souls won. What made it official? GQ, a consistently leftish site, waved the white towel

The magazine’s op-ed, titled, “The "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Discourse Is Boring as Hell,” tells the story. You barely have to squint to read between the lines. 

Oh my god, I am so bored of the “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” discourse. Play it or don’t. It’s not a grand political position!

The article provides the necessary context behind the song, admitting it’s not remotely “rapey.” Then, in the next gulp of air, suggests it still could trigger a listener. 

I’m all for erring on the side of making sure more people feel supported and included than not, and if the song is triggering and traumatizing then by all means, let’s not play it... 

But what you think about “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” represents just that—not that you’re more woke or more reasonable than those who disagree with you, not that you’ve aligned yourself with larger political strands. Just that you heard the song and, for all the reasons we are either drawn to or repulsed by art, landed somewhere.

Game. Set. Match. 

The irony here is that magazines like GQ could be making similar arguments in any number of other PC Police cases. Just look at the uproar over the “racist” Clint Eastwood movie “The Mule.”

Guarantee you won’t find GQ rushing to the screen legend’s defense. 

The “racist” scenes in that movie are nothing of the sort, or simply reflect an old timer using language made popular decades ago. 

Few, if any, liberals will rally around this screen icon, though. Eastwood made that impossible several years ago when he accurately mocked President Barack Obama as an empty chair.  

Once again, movie fans are fighting back against PC film critics. “The Mule” earned $17.5 million during its opening weekend, a handsome sum for a movie featuring an 88-year-old star. That’s even more impressive when you consider the film opened in 2,588 screens. Most wide-release films earn well north of 3,000. 

“Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” for example, played in 3,680-plus screens last weekend –its sixth weekend of release. 

Podcaster Adam Carolla offered a smart battle cry against the PC movement recently on his podcast. “You retreat, they encroach,” he said of these humor-free scolds. 

Carolla is right. And, for once, fans of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” refused to retreat. And we’ll be hearing the song over and again for years to come. Let’s hope we learn the right lessons from this small but important cultural win.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: christmas; music; pc; songs
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To: Kaslin
I think we’ve all been missing the obvious:

”How can it be cold outside, with all that global warming going on?"

21 posted on 12/22/2018 2:01:32 PM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion
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To: Fiji Hill

And Dodie Stevens was only 14 when that song was released.


22 posted on 12/22/2018 2:03:12 PM PST by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: HartleyMBaldwin

About 25 years ago, I met Dodie Stevens at a party in the home of a rock and roll historian, disc jockey and teacher who is a friend of mine.


23 posted on 12/22/2018 2:09:31 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion
Simple: There is no global warming.

That's how!!!

24 posted on 12/22/2018 2:24:37 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNiAOSKFNR4


25 posted on 12/22/2018 2:28:28 PM PST by PAR35
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To: Fiji Hill

That’s pretty cool. Hard to remember how young she is, given that “Pink Shoelaces” was released when I was not yet 4 years old.


26 posted on 12/22/2018 2:30:42 PM PST by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: Kaslin

“and if the song is triggering and traumatizing then by all means, let’s not play it... ”

No. Change the station, twinkle toes.

L


27 posted on 12/22/2018 2:42:13 PM PST by Lurker (President Trump isn't our last chance. President Trump is THEIR last chance.)
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To: Kaslin

I wanted Roseanne gone after she had a kid cross dressing.


28 posted on 12/22/2018 3:29:23 PM PST by minnesota_bound
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To: minnesota_bound

What do you expect from that idiot?


29 posted on 12/22/2018 3:30:44 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: HartleyMBaldwin

Ha. Yup.


30 posted on 12/22/2018 5:38:36 PM PST by JennysCool
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To: Kaslin
What?

Libs are scandalized about double entendres in a SONG??

Poor babies...

31 posted on 12/22/2018 6:38:33 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: FrankR
I’ve heard it countless times - but it has never been associated directly with Christmas.

'Specially in Australia, where they've moved Christmas to a much warmer month.

32 posted on 12/22/2018 6:46:50 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HartleyMBaldwin
Are you pointing out a proposition or a preposition?
33 posted on 12/22/2018 6:48:53 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Kaslin

Boring = We lost.


34 posted on 12/22/2018 10:21:26 PM PST by YogicCowboy ("I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on mine." - J. R. R. Tolkien)
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To: FrankR

While I do not consider it an authentic Christmas (as in, Christ Mass) song, I know it to be nominally associated with the Christmas holiday season - at least in urban California.

I am a semi-professional chorister, and I sang in a secular Christmas-season concert nearly ten years ago. The seasonal repertoire included this song, with a different duet for each verse.

I personally do not recall ever hearing it on the radio except during the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas period.


35 posted on 12/22/2018 10:33:25 PM PST by YogicCowboy ("I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on mine." - J. R. R. Tolkien)
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To: G Larry

These were good, checked them all out. Fun and funny!


36 posted on 12/23/2018 6:52:25 AM PST by thirst4truth (America, What difference does it make?)
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To: Kaslin

Not really sure defending a song that just plain sucks should be considered a victory. Really, feminist complaints aside, the song BLOWS and the world will be a better place when it’s forgotten.


37 posted on 12/23/2018 6:55:30 AM PST by discostu (Every gun makes its own tune.)
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To: FrankR

You are correct, it shouldn’t be referenced to Christmas.


38 posted on 12/23/2018 7:53:03 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
You’re just saying that to be obstinate, you science denier!

39 posted on 12/23/2018 11:58:17 AM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion
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To: Kaslin
Remember when ABC finally served up a show that treated Trump Nation with some respect? Months later “Roseanne” was gone, a victim of one God awful Tweet.

Indeed, apes may never forgive her for comparing them to Valerie Jarret.

40 posted on 12/23/2018 5:31:07 PM PST by Impy (I have no virtue to signal.)
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