'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' sparks debate over bullying, bigotry

A classic holiday special has some viewers seeing red this year.

According to the Washington Post, critics of the 1964 movie "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" are taking to social media to blast the film, claiming it promotes bullying and bigotry.

The controversy appeared to take flight Wednesday after HuffPost tweeted a video titled "Rudolph the Marginalized Reindeer." The post highlighted what some believe are "problematic" scenes from the movie.

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"Former fans are pointing out Rudolph's father verbally abuses him," the video says, later adding that "Clarice's dad is a bigot."

>> See the video here (WARNING: Profanity)

Some Twitter users made similar observations.

"It's that time of year to really consider the meaning of Rudolph and how in the culture it's okay to bully someone until the thing that makes them strange is useful to everyone else. Always a horrible story," @gadlaw6 wrote.

#RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer It's that time of year to really consider the meaning of Rudolph and how in the culture it's okay to bully someone until the thing that makes them strange is useful to everyone else. Always a horrible story. pic.twitter.com/xDQZf52BYE
— G Davis/gadlaw 🌊 (@gadlaw6) November 29, 2018

"Santa let them bully Rudolph and joined in the shaming until his freak disability became useful," @goggleboi tweeted.

Santa let them bully Rudolph and joined in the shaming until his freak disability became useful. #theview
— Teresa (@goggleboi) November 29, 2018

But fans fired back, arguing that Rudolph's triumph over adversity sends a positive message.

"The true message of Rudolph isn't that weirdness is bad until it can be exploited," podcaster Joshua D. Scroggin tweeted. "It's that everyone has value, and you shouldn't be mean to someone just because they're different. It's a lesson for the bullies, not the bullied."

The true message of Rudolph isn't that weirdness is bad until it can be exploited. It's that everyone has value, and you shouldn't be mean to someone just because they're different. It's a lesson for the bullies, not the bullied.
— Joshua D. Scroggin (@jdscroggin) November 30, 2018

Even public figures from opposite sides of the political spectrum – Donald Trump Jr. and Whoopi Goldberg – seemed to support Rudolph.

"Rudolph's the hero!" Goldberg said Thursday. "What's the problem?!"

Trump Jr., meanwhile, simply retweeted the HuffPost video with the caption: "Liberalism is a disease."

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