#MeTooFar

[Rev. Rye]

Meh, it's a song about a woman saying no over and over again, a man putting something in her drink and not letting her leave, and her still saying no.

I'm okay with radio listeners saying they'd like to hear Christmas music but the messaging in that one has had it's day.

Well, here's a feminist take on the song that actually defends it; Note: read the lyrics sheet. Of all the objections she makes, not one is "I'm just not that into you." Most of them involve society's expectations. At the time the song was written, the line "say, what's in this drink" was less likely to have roofie-related connotations and more "if anyone objects to my deviating from social norms by staying with this man in his home, I can just blame it on the alcohol."

To be fair, there was always something about this song that led itself to more nefarious interpretations: When the song was originally written, it was more a personal piece for Frank Loesser and his wife to song, and he'd introduce himself as "the evil of the two Loessers" due to his playing the man's role. And, after four years of being played at parties as a closing act, he finally sold it to MGM for Neptune's Baby and we can see the two differing interpretations:





The way I understand it, the difference between seduction and rape is the difference between salesmanship and just mugging some poor bugger. In the end of the version with Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban, despite her reluctance throughout much of the song, you can see her relax near the end, showing that, well, the seduction has worked. That said, they could have played up the more daring interpretation, but I strongly suspect the Hays Office would have been on MGM like a ton of bricks if they did.

Betty Garrett and Red Skelton's version, however, reverses the gender roles, and he just gets more and more terrified. Presumably, Betty raped Red after she turned the lights off.