On December 6, 1964 the stop-motion production company Rankin and Bass produced one of its more famous and enduring productions, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." The production is based on the song by Johnny Marks which itself was based on a poem by Robert L. May. And with the creation of and inclusion of "The island of misfit toys," it gave children and adults all over the world, who did not feel or believe they fit into their community and/or the world, a magical place to relate to.
I don't remember the year I first saw "Rudolph." I do know I was a young child. I also know the first time I saw it I already knew enough about myself to know there was something about me; something that made me different from most of the other kids I knew. I completely related to the island of misfit toys. I did not have a name for it at the time; this different thing about me. Eventually I identified this "thing" that made me different as having to do with who I was physically attracted to. Today I identify as a same gender loving man. It is not the biggest part of who I am and I know it is not the weirdest either. It is one of the parts I've needed to work at feeling happy about though. And I know many gay, bisexual and non gender mornative identified men who felt a sense of connection and liberation upon watching this Rankin and Bass production while still in their formative years.
Others were impacted by the island of misfit toys and it inhabitants in other ways as well. Many viewers of the original production were so taken by these forlorn and lovable characters that many complained to Rankin and Bass that Santa was not fulfilling his promise to include them in his annual delivery. In reaction, a new scene for subsequent rebroadcasts was produced with Santa, with Rudolph in the lead, making his first stop at the island to pick up the toys who were then delivered to children around the world on Christmas eve.
Have you ever felt like a misfit either in childhood and/or adulthood? Did this Rankin and Bass production help you make peace with that in any way? Have you realized, like the inhabitants of the island of misfit toys, that all the things that can make us feel like a misfit can also just as easily be experienced as unique gifts we have to offer the world? Care to share any of your story?
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