Getting heated on ‘Cold’
It’s never really cold outside in Los Angeles. Oh, sure, we have unseasonably cool weather — of the low-in-themid-40s variety — but a normal midwinter evening outside just doesn’t expose us to the same hypothermia threat that not being indoors in a place like Minnesota does.
Judging by the letters we’ve received on the controversy over the Christmas song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” — a duet involving a woman who just wants to go home but ultimately agrees to “just one more drink” with a man who did “a lot of convincing” to keep her with him — the lack of a proper winter in Southern California doesn’t make this holiday classic any less appealing to our readers.
The letters here are also an example of something fairly common among our readers: Often, they write not in response to a particular article in the Los Angeles Times, but just to riff on whatever issue happens to be bothering them.
— Paul Thornton, letters editor
Sherman Oaks resident Frances Terrell Lippman puts the song in context:
When composer Frank Loesser wrote “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” in 1944, he meant it as a lark for him and his wife to perform at parties to indicate to their guests it was time to leave.
When a song is written, it
usually reflects the contemporaneous era’s moral standards. When you think back to many of the suggestive and crude songs written since then, they are so overt and offensive to women, so why not challenge them too?
It’s a form of censorship to advocate banning this 74-year-old song from the radio. How empty and dull the world would be without the talents of Loesser and his ilk of the early 20th century, including the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter and many others.
I believe in the #MeToo movement 100%, but condemning a classic song and composer who isn’t here to defend his creation is censorship. Focusing on this song is totally misguided when there are far more pressing issues that demand our attention.
Mandy Baker of Norco takes aim at other protests:
I can’t believe there are groups of people protesting “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Why don’t these people protest the nudity, violence and profanity in today’s movies and TV shows?
Also, the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals thinks we should stop using phrases like “bring home the bacon” and “all your eggs in one basket.” They want us to say instead “bring home the bagels” and “all your flowers in one bowl.” Seriously? The world is in turmoil. People in California have lost their homes, loved ones and pets in the most damaging wildfire ever — and people are upset by a song?
Whittier resident Edward Jimenez wonders where this ends:
Regarding radio stations eliminating the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” I wonder if “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” will be the next casualty of the political-correctness movement today?