"those Who bastards down there in their posh little private community talking shit about him all day"

December 21, 2011 9:35 PM

Why "'You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch' Is Hatemongering"

The video in question (YT).

I'll let you decide for yourselves but meanwhile, Merry Fucking Christmas!

posted by bardic (32 comments total)

If you replace every instance of "You" with "I" in the lyrics you have a pretty great NIN song.
posted by empath at 9:41 PM on December 21, 2011 [23 favorites]

The faux ebonics gave this linkbait some street cred.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:41 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Cancer spiders, fuck everything about that.

Those Whos are a bunch of dicks.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:42 PM on December 21, 2011

ha what a great summary of how much I hate christmas things
posted by rebent at 9:42 PM on December 21, 2011

I don't get it. What's the relationship with Dr Who?
posted by taff at 9:44 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Thieves are assholes."

"That's racist!"

Uh, no, that's racist.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:53 PM on December 21, 2011

Seriously, I am still freaked out over cancer spiders. Are they spiders that spread cancer? Are they spiders made of cancer? Are they cancer made of spiders?

Most horrifying mashup since the cobro.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:57 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Tries too hard.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:37 PM on December 21, 2011 [3 favorites]

Unreadable.
posted by weinbot at 10:44 PM on December 21, 2011

Chillwave?
posted by brundlefly at 12:11 AM on December 22, 2011

cool story bro

(Or one more instance where the LA Weekly blogs are pretty bullshit a good 80 percent of the time.)
posted by klangklangston at 1:31 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

A critical analysis on the hyperbolic statements of Dr. Seuss. Someone's half-way through English 101!

This probably belongs in a bad lit quarterly. Or Thought Catalog.
posted by disillusioned at 1:37 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I kept thinking, "what does Pete Townsend have to do with this?"
posted by Mcable at 3:12 AM on December 22, 2011

Terrible analysis. No, really. He wasn't mean because the Who's down in Whoville were talking shit about him. He was mean because he was beneath the Who's notice. It was if he didn't exist.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:36 AM on December 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

Everything funny about this concept, IMHO, is embodied in the phrase "'You're A Mean One Mr Grinch' is Hatemongering" - not even the whole title, btw, just that part of the title - and the rest of the article is superfluous.
posted by kcds at 4:22 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Most horrifying mashup since the cobro.

The...the cobro?

"Are you tryin' to fuckin' charm me, brah? I'll bite your shit right after this Jaegerbomb."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:52 AM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

I stopped reading at You're soul is...
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:59 AM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Anyone else see "Grinch" as "Gingrich" at first glance?
posted by O Blitiri at 5:06 AM on December 22, 2011 [4 favorites]

As far as I can tell, the author of this piece is a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce.
posted by darksasami at 5:20 AM on December 22, 2011 [7 favorites]

For anyone else whose primary reaction was "Dude, I need a print of that Dr. Who themed illustration! Why did they remove the watermark and leave off any credit?", here's the original.
posted by pie ninja at 5:36 AM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Yeah, no comment on the article, but that Who picture is fantastic. Thanks, pie ninja.
posted by painquale at 5:42 AM on December 22, 2011

I pointed this out to my SO recently.

If you just listen to the song, with no other context, it is the most hateful and mean-spirited song that you've ever heard. There's nothing in it to explain the overflowing hatred being expressed. Just attack, attack, attack. Merry fuckin' Christmas you terrible looser?

I'm not being facetious. I don't ever want to hear that song again.
posted by General Tonic at 7:23 AM on December 22, 2011

Loved the Doctor Who illustration, wish I hadn't stayed for the rest of the blog post so much.

I've always liked the swingin' 60s music, but the song always seemed out of place in a children's special. Not that Seuss didn't have his grownup side (cf his political cartoons) but yeah, that's a mean song to be singing to the wee ones.
posted by immlass at 7:52 AM on December 22, 2011

Someone's article didn't get picked up at Cracked.com then?
posted by Appropriate Username at 7:54 AM on December 22, 2011

You're all wrong, you know. You're completely missing the point and misattributing the song, and here's why: Do you really think a puny Who could carry that lovely Thurl Ravenscroft basso profundo? Of course not; it's preposterous to even consider. The song is sung by the Grinch himself. It's his Villain Song, in which he both parodies and embraces the role into which Who society has forced him. This is one thing that the live-action Jim Carrey vehicle got right.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:56 AM on December 22, 2011 [17 favorites]

Faint of Butt, I love you so much right now that I can hardly stand it. But I don't think I'm all wrong. The Grinch's whole issue is that he feels as if he is beneath notice, and he has internalized that feeling. His breakthrough may have been listening to the Whos sing, but the cracks started when Cindy Lou notices him and provokes him into a small act of kindness.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a huge part of my childhood Christmastime celebrations. My parents read it to us instead of A Visit from St. Nicolas and it was a family tradition to watch the carton every year. And yes, the song is mean. Having witnessed my two year old push around his best buddy at daycare this morning, kids can be mean. The song talks about that.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 8:34 AM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Agreed 100%. The Grinch was very clearly serenading himself.

...also, totally unrelated, but has anybody else noticed the similarities between this and Beowulf and Grendel?
posted by Stagger Lee at 9:09 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

That graph on the first page made me laugh.
posted by Bonzai at 10:32 AM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Now, now, this isn't fair to the song. It's not entirely critical of the Grinch. After all, it says he has "garlic in [his] soul," which, any rational person can see, is a positive trait. (Imagine a judge on Iron Chef America in a "Battle Garlic" episode telling one of the chefs, "you have garlic in your soul." What higher compliment could there be?) The song is Fair and Balanced™.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:03 AM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

i feel like Youre A Mean One Mr Grinch presages the Grinch's demented "Grinch Night Ball" song where he feels himself up and minces around all excited about how he's going to party by himself

the Grinch man, the Grinch. sometimes i wonder if he is the Sin-Eater of the whos.
posted by beefetish at 11:31 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Anyone else see "Grinch" as "Gingrich" at first glance?

O Blitiri, with god as my witness, I never noticed the difference between those two names before!

Now, if only there were some physical difference to help me visually sort them out... Wait! I've got it!

The eviller one is popular right now!
posted by IAmBroom at 2:42 PM on December 22, 2011

I love Chuck Jones. I love Boris Karloff. I love Dr Seuss. But, really, this made me feel bad.
posted by SPrintF at 5:09 PM on December 22, 2011