'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' Bullying Discourse Gets Stirred up Yet Again

CBS aired the perennial Christmas classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for the first time during the 2022 holiday season on Tuesday night. As with every year, families enjoyed the wonderful stop-motion animation and classic songs from the Rankin-Bass production. In recent years, however, the special has also sparked debate over its bullying scenes and this year was no different.

Just as Johnny Marks wrote in the title song, Rudolph was bullied by his fellow reindeer because of his light-up, shiny red nose. They never even let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games. It is not until Santa Claus asks him to use his nose to guide his sleigh on Christmas night that Rudolph earned the love of his colleagues. They shouted out with glee and let Rudolph know he would go down in history.

In the 1964 special, writer Romeo Muller and director, Larry Roemer expanded the story, revealing that Rudolph's bullying was so severe that he ran away into the wilderness. It was only there that he made true friends, including the elf Hermey. His new friends accepted Rudolph as he is. What made Rudolph unique ended up helping Santa, who has been criticized for fostering a hostile work environment by allowing the bullying to take place.