Rudolph: genetic outcast or inverted other?

I think the story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer sends a pretty confusing message to kids. The story itself is nice...but the conclusion sort of undermines it's own premise.

Rudolph: he's a misfit...an underdog. He's shut out of the reindeer games, friendless. Then, when his light-up nose is found to be useful, Santa offers him a job at the head of the pack. Santa is saying, essentially, "Hey, now that you're useful, why don't you join our side?"

Rudolph could have replied with:

"Sorry, but I've learned from experience that hierarchical systems of dominance...systems predicated on exclusion and demonizing the other...are moral wrongs. I'd rather participate in non-competitive groups organized around the concept of inclusion. So, you know. Go fuck yourself."

But of course...resentful little nerd he is...Rudolph jumps at the chance to be leader of the cool kids. He goes from "Those reindeer are mean," to, "Hellz yeah I'm on their side!"

The story throws out it's initial premise so that Santa can transform Rudolph into the hyper-competitive alpha-male he really was all along.

Santa: what a prick.

I'm going to make my own animated holiday special called Profound Mental Exhaustion. It's about a magic, suicidally depressed snowman who, every December, seals himself up in a cave and tries to wait out the holiday season by subsisting on a diet of sleeping pills and booze. It's a story the whole family can enjoy.