The Dangers of Holding On to Outdated Traditions

Dec 21, 2020

"To live in the past is to die in the present."
–Bill Belichick

What are Traditions?

Traditions are practices and belief systems passed down through generations within a society; these practices often become part and parcel of the society, making each unique and creating a sense of culture and relation between members. Inherently, traditions aren't dangerous, but when they are based on centuries or millennia of discrimination and abuse, they become malevolent Trojan horses, ushering forward hateful belief systems and exploitative behaviors into the future.

In order to understand some common traditions and why they can be harmful, let's explore some examples from a classic Christmas film, Holiday Inn, a 1942 musical starring Bing Crosby (Jim) and Fred Astaire (Ted).

Idyllic Agriculture

After leaving show business, we see Jim at his new farm forking hay, milking a cow, and using a horse to till a field. Though it's presented as hard labor, it reinforces the belief in modern audiences that this is what farm life is like, particularly back in "the good ole days" and on "small" family farms.

Farming is romanticized and idealized today, and we continue to believe that farmers -- especially small, local, family farms -- are similar to the ones pictured in old movies. We don't see CAFOs on the silver screen, not even in modern media, so this idealized version of traditional farms is the only thing we can picture when it comes to farming because that's how it's always been portrayed to us in media, even though it isn't at all realistic.

Animal Abuse

On Thanksgiving, wallowing in self-pity, Jim says to the naked, cooked corpse before him, "You know, you're better off than I am." When he asks his servant who it (the now-deceased animal) is, she tells him the turkey's name -- Mr. Jones, affectionately nicknamed Jonesy -- and Jim expresses sadness, saying he liked that turkey. Though there is some remorse on the surface, in his expression and tone of voice, it's clear that there's not much more than apathy about the turkey's untimely demise, that his death was seen as a means to an end. And from his off-color remark about the creature being "better off" than him, he clearly has no idea what true suffering and fear and pain are.

Today, nearly all farmed animals are factory farmed, and terms like "local" and "family-owned" are mostly used to gloss over the fact that the animals come from factory farms owned by locals and/or family members. Though we like to imagine a time of idyllic, small-scale agriculture in the time of this film, remember that slaughterhouses have existed for centuries, becoming more popular during the Industrial Revolution, and factory farms quickly followed suit and became the norm.

Fur

Though many animal-based textiles -- silk, feathers, leather, wool -- were undoubtedly prevalent in clothing at this time, fur coats feature most prominently. Fur was a status symbol then -- and continues to be so today -- and affluent women often wore fur coats and muffs as a fashion statement, proclaiming to the world that they could afford luxurious products.

While many brands and stores (and even cities!) are finally banning fur, it remains a status symbol, and the more fur you wear, the more affluent you are (or project yourself to be). Full-fur coats are not too popular anymore, outside of the elite, but fur trim remains common, and most of those fur-trimmed coats are stuffed with duck or goose feathers. Brands like Canada Goose are top-of-the-line coat manufacturers, normalizing and glorifying the abuse of animals in the name of fashion.

Horses

Horse-drawn carriages feature prominently in this feature film, ranging from the rural Connecticut taxi to the post-church Easter carriage ride, serving as a legitimate mode of transportation. Today, horses are often used in cities, lugging around an ornate carriage filled with eager tourists. In some cities, the horses are never allowed to graze, living in barns in the cities, and they often suffer injuries and illnesses from being forced to stand on asphalt all day long, in both blistering heat and freezing cold. As with most animals -- and prey animals, in particular -- horses are naturally fearful of loud sounds and strangers, but they are "trained" (abused) until they no longer act on these fears.

Even in more "humane" settings, such as ranches, they are still abused so their owners can profit from people's natural love for and admiration of horses by selling their bodies for rides. Until we recognize that all individuals deserve autonomy, we will continue to abuse our power over them, making them nothing more than glorified slaves. Which leads me to my next point...

Human Abuse

At the inn, all the employees wear blackface to celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday, cementing the idea that blacks are there to serve whites. Imagining how horrible it was for the black actress playing Mamie -- Jim's servant -- and the two children playing her kids, who grew up seeing white people mock them for their skin color and other stereotypes associated with "blackness," is very disconcerting.

White Saviors

Additionally, the perpetuation of Lincoln as a white savior is problematic -- culminated in the song "Abraham" about the freedom of slaves sung by white people in blackface to white people in the audience to celebrate the benevolence of white people -- because Lincoln did think white people were superior to blacks in some ways. He just believed that slavery was immoral and that black people should be afforded some basic rights. This is yet another way in which history is whitewashed to paint whites and white leaders as heroes instead of acknowledging the flaws they may have had.

Thankfully, blackface is taboo today, but we clearly still have issues with racism in this country. Though I'm not calling for a moratorium on all past media portraying blackface -- honestly, I don't think it's my place to do that -- we need to at least acknowledge the problems concerning racism, cultural appropriation, and other related forms of discrimination so that we can move forward as an anti-racist society.

Female Objectification

Finally, the portrayal of women in the film is slightly offensive. Jim and Ted's original love interest, Lila, "falls in love" with basically any man who woos her. She ditches Jim for Ted and then Ted for some random millionaire and then goes back to Ted within the span of a year, as if women are incapable of thinking on their own when it comes to finding a partner and fall in love with any man who gives her the time of day.

As the plot progresses, we see a similar scenario play out with the new love interest, Linda, as her feelings toward the two men flip-flop, and the men compete with each other for her affection. (They even sing about competing over and winning the girl, as if she's a trophy.) She goes from getting engaged to Jim (less than two months after meeting him) to falling for Ted (two days later!) and getting engaged to him, and then back to Jim by the end of the year.

The women have no choice when it comes to their relationships, and it's the men who decide who they want; any time the women have the opportunity to choose, their feelings are only portrayed as superficial. And men "fall in love" mostly based on looks and, in this case, the woman's ability to sing and dance.

What's the Harm?

Though things like blackface and the one-dimensional portrayal of women are largely eradicated in modern media, we need to be able to separate the flaws of the past from the morals of the present. To successfully progress as a society to be the best version of ourselves we can be, we should assess our traditions to evaluate whether or not they align with how we want to represent our society and celebrate our culture.

Ending Animal Use

Animals are still regularly exploited, especially during the holiday season, and it's well past time we take a good, hard look at our traditions -- from their origins to their modern adaptations -- to understand why they were created and to determine if they are rooted in some form of discrimination. Then, we have to care enough to eliminate those with speciesist, racist, sexist, etc. origins and/or fully transform them into cruelty-free traditions that generations to come can enjoy without fear of celebrating the abuse of others.

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