Like many I grew up on the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Of course as a child I didn't clearly understand some of the words which is why instead of going down in history he went down in Listerine. I always disliked the other reindeers because they were so mean to Rudolph. As an adult I can clearly see that the story is one about bullying. Rudolph was different so he was called names and shut out of their activities. It took Santa needing him before he was accepted.
We are much more aware of bullying now then we were 50 years ago when the cartoon came out. At the time the song came out the message was prove you are worthy and then we will accept you. Someone "important" has to vouch for you. The problem of being different and being bullied is as prevalent today as it was back then. That we are still seeing so many suicides among young people proves we really haven't learned much in the last 50 years.
Today when I hear the song I realize what there is about the song that has disturbed me since I was a child. Why didn't Santa step in earlier? Why did he ignore the bullying until he needed something from Rudolph?
I still think the song has worth because in the end it does teach us that being different is okay. It does remind adults that they need to be aware of bullying. He may be a little late to the game but Santa does teach the other reindeers the lesson that being different isn't a bad thing.