Baby It's Cold Outside

December 10, 2011

As a friend asked on Twitter today: Has this song always been about date rape?

I used to think it was more like the woman didn’t really want to leave but was sort of talking herself into it.* Kind of like when you’re lying in bed, and you know you SHOULD go to the gym, but you don’t want to, and it’s cold.

*(And, lest anyone misunderstand, I think we can agree that a woman can be legitimately conflicted about whether she wants to stay overnight or leave, and then make a choice to stay, and that such a situation is very different from “she said no but I knew she really meant yes,” which is also a very real and all-too-common situation.)

But now that I’m older and a little wiser/more jaded/more radicalized, I kind of wonder.

I think it all kind of hinges on one line, really: “Hey, what’s in this drink?” Why does she want to know? Is the drink really tasty or is she suddenly feeling woozy?

Seriously? I always thought people were just being funny about this. People really think that it’s about date rape?

Come on, it was written in 1936. What do you really think was in the drink?

The punch is spiked. And she’s not really all that surprised.

It was a simpler time. Spending the night was much bigger deal. It’s a lighthearted song about not wanting to leave the person you love.

Do we have to ruin everything?

9:10pm | URL: http://funsizebytes.com/post/14043714540/baby-its-cold-outside

(No. OF NOTES: 19)

FILED UNDER: My favorite scene from Elf