Comments on: Is Hermy Gay?

Is Hermy Gay?

lola — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:12:41 -0800

Sixteen serious questions raised by the 1964 holiday classic Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

By: splatta

splatta — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:21:17 -0800

I always wondered why nobody asked "What's wrong with the doll?" on the Island of Misfit toys... (Hint: it's under her skirt)

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:21:24 -0800

I tried watching that last night with my 3-year-old daughter and she wasn't interested at all. It was disjointed and not a feel-good Xmas special. Is there a petition I can sign to have it taken off the air before it does more harm?

By: gurple

gurple — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:29:44 -0800

The man's got a point about Clarice, though. I think Clarice is why we have furries now.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:33:55 -0800

That was actually pretty awesome.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:37:25 -0800

Missing question #17: Why does Yukon Cornelius lick his pickax all the time? He can taste the presence of precious metals? Or does he just suffer from pica?

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:43:29 -0800

Why does Yukon Cornelius lick his pickax all the time? Heh. The answer to this one was actually on BoingBoing earlier today. It makes more sense than you might have expected.

By: reidfleming

reidfleming — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:46:30 -0800

Just yesterday I read that in the original 64 show, the misfit toys were left on the island. Viewers complained, so extra footage (of Santa's rescue mission) was shot and added to the end of the story for 65 and on.

By: dial-tone

dial-tone — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:46:58 -0800

Stop looking for Santa to solve your problems. He's a bastard. As true today as the day it was written.

By: jrossi4r

jrossi4r — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:47:36 -0800

The doll's there simply because no one wants her. In order to live on the Island of Misfit Toys, you just have to be unwanted, not necessarily defective. It's all spelled out in the HOA contract.

By: Guy Smiley

Guy Smiley — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:48:40 -0800

I think Santa's attitude has something to do with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

By: Zack_Replica

Zack_Replica — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:51:29 -0800

I always thought that Yukon C. was trying to lower the temperature of the metal to a point that his tongue would stick to it and he'd suddenly be the centre of attention in order to statisfy some strange need. ("Gets mighty lonely round these here parts, and yer a pretty little thing, ain't'cha, Hermy?")

By: jpburns

jpburns — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:54:24 -0800

Damn! They took the "Hermey is Gay" meme from the comic strip I did last year.

By: ericb

ericb — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:56:52 -0800

Is Hermy Gay?

"[H]ow many Christmas fables (subsidized by General Electric, no less) contain a faintly disguised subtext about being a gay elf? Just one! Yep, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. C'mon, Hermy the elf just doesn't belong, not like the other elves. Dentist is the '60s covert word for being gay. Think about it next time you watch it. Hermy proudly shouts, 'I want to be a dentist!' Huh? And that haircut? Only three people on this planet have that exact same haircut: Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Neutron, and The Dust Devil spokesmodel. It's right out of a John Water's film. You go Hermy!" [Face Magazine]

By: nyterrant

nyterrant — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:58:15 -0800

This special used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:04:58 -0800

"Why does Yukon Cornelius lick his pickax all the time?" Because he can.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:25:10 -0800

WHY IS SANTA SUCH A COMPLETE BASTARD? What? Is Santa supposed to be some kinda saint? wait a minute.. WHAT'S UP WITH CLARICE? She's a hot doe. You want Rudolph should fall in love with some dray horse? Besides the fact that Rudolph has a spectacular takeoff after Clarice tells him he's cute is a perfect illustration of what a female's good opinion can do for an adolescent het male. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE ELVES? My guess? The booze. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE REINDEER? Please. If the guy in the next cube's nose started going all phosphorescent, you'd be a bit freaked, multiculti rhetoric aside. IS IT HERMY OR HERBIE? I like Herbie better. hermy makes him sound like a nebbishy rabbi. IS HERMY GAY? Duhhh. He's a proxy for all the gay showbiz types who felt like misfits growing up. IS YUKON CORNELIUS GAY? Please. My man Corny is boning fine-ass eskimo babes all over the North Country. Next? WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE DOLL ON THE 'ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS'? I never figured this out either and I bought Pips a keychain of her a few years back. Maybe she's bipolar. This is all beside the point. The whole special is an effectively earnest sincere attempt at opposing prejudice against misfits. It'sa product of the late 50's and the impact of it onthe future freedom rider baby boomers who watched it should not be underestimated. Plus, it still makes me misty.

By: dances_with_sneetches

dances_with_sneetches — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:27:39 -0800

Santa is not a bipolar bastard. He's a North Polar bastard. Completely different.

By: bove

bove — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:28:11 -0800

Also from the boingboing link above, the girl misfit doll has psychological problems.

By: Medieval Maven

Medieval Maven — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:28:11 -0800

I love furmation Rudolph! But I'm oddly fascinated with furmation, anyway.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:32:44 -0800

Note to self: If I wake up tomorrow in an alternate universe where everyday is lived over and over ad infinitum, please, please, skip this post.

By: deanc

deanc — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:40:30 -0800

The whole special is an effectively earnest sincere attempt at opposing prejudice against misfits Not quite. What's the actual lesson of the story of Rudolph?

Rudolph's moment of redemption comes not as the cause of any consciousness-raising, but because his difference (superficial as it is) is shown to have utility to the corporate body. He is accepted by his peers not for his own merits, but because circumstances conspired to harness his idiosyncrasy and turn it into profit for his employers. What is the real lesson we take from the fable of Rudolph, boys and girls? Difference will be tolerated and celebrated only if it can be put to the service of the power structure. Otherwise, you're just a wacko, and you can forget about those reindeer games for good. Once again, Santa Claus is portrayed here as an unfeeling, self-absorbed cad -- he makes no intervention in Rudolph's persecution until he needs to save his own ass (at least the TV special got that part right). But does Rudolph get his moment to tell the boss to screw himself; that his hypocrisy won't be tolerated? No, he's the first one tethered to the sled, happy to take the whip of his former oppressor as long as he can feel both useful to the corporation and validated by his peers.

By: Mroz

Mroz — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:47:10 -0800

Yeah, you were the first person to come up with the idea that Hermey was gay.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:48:48 -0800

deanc, that's just depressing stuff from the same type of people who interrupt your cheesburger eating to tell you how you'll be haunted by the cow's ghost. In other words, the killjoy nation: miserable people who want you to be as miserable as them. (seriously, I never said it was perfect. but it was sincere. we live in universe of humans-imperfect beings. expecting them to be superhuman is unreasonable)

By: tippiedog

tippiedog — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:54:28 -0800

I just want to state that my family is sitting in front of the TV at this moment watching Rudolph. Our kids were already patiently enduring our constant cracks about Herbie|Hermie's sexuality. Now, they have to endure my giggling, too.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 18:03:50 -0800

All this hermy-hot-does-and-fur talk unaccountably puts the phrase 'doug winger' in my mind.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 18:38:55 -0800

yea jonmc! I want all my television to be superhuman. Well, at least the christmas specials. Dern miserable killjoys!

By: fungible

fungible — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:06:00 -0800

Very funny. good points all.

By: airgirl

airgirl — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:08:24 -0800

Oh thank you, thank you so much for this. I watched the show last night for the first time in 100 years, and all I could think was, "Jeez, Santa's a DICK!"

By: ericb

ericb — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:14:02 -0800

Yeah, you were the first person to come up with the idea that Hermey was gay. [derail] Yeah -- just as Bill O'Reilly claims he is personally responsible for lower gas prices due to his recent reporting which he claims "scared" the gas/oil companies in doing so. [/derail] "I am the 'Tipping Point.' I y'am, yes, I y'am!!!

By: coriolisdave

coriolisdave — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:36:24 -0800

Dentist = code for gay? Well, at least that finally explains to me the Oral-B "This man is a dentist, so we can't show you his face" toothbrush ads.

By: flarbuse

flarbuse — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:45:44 -0800

Why can't magical reindeer who can fly and talk also strap a decent flashlight to their fucking gear? Can't the elves make them some miner helmets? Is a red glowing light the best way to illuminate things? Is Rudolph taking them straight to Amsterdam?

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 20:36:19 -0800

Is a red glowing light the best way to illuminate things? Yeah, I always had a problem with this, even in just the song. A glowing red nose is great if your purpose is to warn other air traffic of your presence, but you need a high piercing beam if you want to see where the hell you're going. All this hermy-hot-does-and-fur talk unaccountably puts the phrase 'doug winger' in my mind. Oh, I think it's pretty accountable.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 21:07:35 -0800

mr_roboto: Figures, the one day I don't read BB... I always thought that Yukon C. was trying to lower the temperature of the metal to a point that his tongue would stick to it and he'd suddenly be the centre of attention in order to statisfy some strange need. Yeah...

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 22:27:50 -0800

The riddle of the tall elf with glasses has been solved too. It's our own Matt Haughey.

By: First Post

First Post — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 22:29:28 -0800

I watched it last night too. The sound was noticeably draggy in places throughout the show. It made the whole "DIGITALLY REMASTERED!!!" thing seem kinda odd.

By: maryh

maryh — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:37:01 -0800

You can digitally remaster this thing till the cows come home, but that won't make it look any less like it was animated on my ant Del's kitchen table.

By: maryh

maryh — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:52:05 -0800

(That would be my aunt Del. )

By: terpsichoria

terpsichoria — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 01:36:14 -0800

Y'know, for someone who's never seen this whole Rudolph dealie (poor deprived Brit as I am), the images in the link paint a magically crack-addled picture of it. Rudolph drops acid, hits on does and meets a flying lion. I would've loved that shit as a kid.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 01:53:13 -0800

You can't even imagine what you missed. Get this--there's a toy train with square wheels!

By: jpburns

jpburns — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 03:59:26 -0800

O.K. I want you to remember you heard it here first. That tall elf... is actually a time-travelling homage to Ted, the Queer Eye guy... No... really.

By: jpburns

jpburns — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 04:02:05 -0800

Oh... and King Moon Racer is Aslan.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 05:08:56 -0800

WHAT'S UP WITH CLARICE? She's a hot doe. Awesome line, jonmc.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 06:26:41 -0800

My wife and I watched this the other night for the first time in years, and it was nothing like our fond memories of it. Many of the characters are actually quite dysfunctional. :(

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 06:36:57 -0800

All these posts and nobody has a problem with Yukon C. sleeping in the same bed with a reindeer and a young elf?

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 06:44:53 -0800

As I child, I saw a few minutes, found it scary, and changed the channel. As a teen, I saw a few minutes, found it disturbing, and changed the channel. As an adult, I'm looking at this and thinking "Man, it really was as fucked up as I remember it. How could the other kids watch it??"

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 07:40:01 -0800

As a child I hated--haaaaaated--claymation. It seemed unnatural and creepy, so Charlie Brown Christmas=OK, Rudolph=change the channel quick. Now I'm married to a man who loved this and frosty and all that claymation crap. I wouldn't let him play any reindeer games with me until he swore off the mandatory Rudolph viewings. And Clarice can bite me.

By: jpburns

jpburns — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 08:36:44 -0800

As a child I hated--haaaaaated--claymation. Oddly enough.. not Claymation™. I remember seeing the actual "puppets" (stiff-armatured models) that they used in production when I did a NBC New York studio tour back in the late sixties (yes... I'm a geezer). They were displayed in a case, there...

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 08:50:19 -0800

All right then I hated Puppetmation^TM or Evilmation^TM or CreepyChristmasSpecialMation^TM.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:20:33 -0800

Clarice can bite me. Reindeer envy. A powerful and bitter emotion. But who hasn't felt it?

By: First Post

First Post — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:49:49 -0800

If you get the "ABC Family" channel, they are running all those CreepyChristmasSpecialMation classics thru Christmas. "Year Without a Santa Claus", "Rudolph's Shiny New Year", etc. We found these after the Rudolph thing the other night and have been watching since. See what it started?

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 12:06:40 -0800

I love the retro AuntDelMation. It couldn't be more analog. It's got a look you couldn't reproduce today if you tried. This show is all right with me. Year Without a Santa Claus is the truly insidious one, in my estimation. It gives me the chills, with its prayertastic theme and horrible earworm of a song "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand." I only saw it a few times, as a helpless child, and the memory of it still turns my stomach. Second-rate.

By: luneray

luneray — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:08:25 -0800

Year Without a Santa Clause is insidious? Hmm, that was always my favorite of the claymation Xmas specials. Mostly because of the Heat Miser/Cold Miser songs. c'mon everyone, sing along! "I'm Mr Heat Miser/I'm Mr Sun/I'm Mr Green Christmas/I'm Mr Hundred and One/They call me Heat Miser/'cuz whatever I touch/starts to melt in my clutch/oh, I'm too much!"

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:54:52 -0800

You know what? I'm totally wrong. Thanks for that post, luneray -- I love the Miser songs, and also Burgermeister Meisterburger. I had the wrong title. The insidious one I'm trying to talk about was a cartoon, featuring a little family of mice who have to fix some sort of clock so Santa will come back. They live in the house of an annoying, Flanders-type family. I can't think of the name of this one -- but it has a similar "there's not going to be any Christmas this year!" concept.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 22:10:41 -0800

luneray: What part of "Puppetmation, Evilmation and CreepyChristmasSpecialMation" don't you understand?

By: Iamtherealme

Iamtherealme — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 18:03:35 -0800

Ok, because this was bothering me, I have to save others the insanity. The insidious mouse cartoon is "Twas the Night Before Christmas" - I only vaguely remember it, but when trying to remember it, I get an overwhelmingly creepy feeling.

By: Miko

Miko — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 07:39:57 -0800

Thanks (I think) I am therealme. *shudder*. There are so many things to hate about that cartoon. One is that Santa is so vengeful and codependent that an insulting letter would make him stop doing the giving thing. Another is the anti-intellectualism inherent in the idea that the mouse who wrote the letter is 'too smart for his own good' and that too much book larnin' just interferes with one's ability to believe in BS.

By: Dreama

Dreama — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 09:09:46 -0800

This thread reinforces my belief that it's a marvelous thing to not celebrate Christmas.