By 12pm on Thursday, 7/22/2021, follow the links in the assignment description, below. Then compose a short essay of 250-300 words that makes specific reference to what you have read and watched, and answers the three questions at the end.
Please post your response both here and in the Discussions section. Then review the posts of your fellow students and, by 12pm on 7/23/2021, respond to at least two of them.
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One notable example of a death by re-examination is the song Baby, It’s Cold Outside. The song was written in the ‘40s by Frank Loesser, who performed it at parties with his wife – it was their signal that it was time for guests to leave. The song was first heard publicly in the 1949 Esther Williams vehicle “Neptune’s Daughter,” co-starring Ricardo Montalban, Betty Garrett and Red Skelton, during which it’s performed twice, by two different couples.
It won the Oscar for best song, and as a result became quite popular, performed by all manner of singers and actors, from Mae West and Rock Hudson to Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. It’s latest round of attention might originally stem from its inclusion in the film 2003 Elf, where it was sung by Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel. There had always been some objection to the coercive nature of the male part, which many people (me, for instance) counter with an argument that the woman actually wants to be convinced to stay, but needs “plausible deniability” to preserve the illusion of her virtue: it was written in a more puritanical time. The case against it, though, continued to gather steam. A Cleveland radio station banned it.
And parody versions, or possibly “corrections,” were made, like this “honest performance.”
And this Key and Peele original on the same theme.
The controversy shows no sign of abating. In 2019, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson released a new version, changing some of the lyrics to include lines like “it’s your body and your choice” and asking why the woman still lives at home with her parents. Something’s new-ish now, though, which is that The AV Club comments reflect a backlash-to-the-backlash, accusing Baby-haters of intentionally misinterpreting the song, or of refusing to consider its cultural context. Which is a central tenet of media criticism – can we view or listen in a vacuum, without considering when the artifact was created, or who created it? Do you consider anything too “toxic” to consume at all? Why? What might get a “pass” even though you know it’s wrong and bad? Why?
REFERENCE:
ANY files supplied
and these links
https://www.newsweek.com/why-baby-its-cold-outside-remains-controversial-recently-got-revamp-john-legend-1475792
https://www.avclub.com/john-legend-and-kelly-clarkson-s-baby-it-s-cold-outsi-1839730169
https://variety.com/2018/music/news/baby-its-cold-outside-song-war-1203080834/
THE ANSWER I WANT TO CONVEY IS THAT THERE IS NO CONTROVERSY BUT I UNDERSTAND THE OUTRAGE
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