Brow Beat

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” Is Made Even More Disturbing in Funny or Die’s New Video

Every holiday season since at least 2010, when Glee gave us its gender-bending version of the musical theater duet, America has debated the propriety of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Is it an outdated but harmless portrayal of consensual courtship, or is it a menacing account of a date rape? Last year’s “feminist approved” video version of the song—in which the woman sings “I really can’t stay” and the man stops the music to say, “It’s totally fine”—would seem to be the final word from the “it’s rapey” camp. But this week, Funny or Die came out with a new take on the song that’s equally funny and disturbing, starring former SNL cast member Casey Wilson and Comedy Bang! Bang! host Scott Aukerman.

Wilson and Aukerman sing the original lyrics from the musical Neptune’s Daughter verbatim, but their physical interactions make it quite clear that this is not a consensual encounter. (The roofies Aukerman slips into Wilson’s drink are the first clue.) Some of the lyrics don’t quite make sense under this brutal interpretation (why would Wilson say “Lend me a comb” as Aukerman drags her violently across the floor?) but others are chillingly on point (Aukerman howling “How can you do this thing to me?” as he prepares to duct tape her to a chair). The video might not convince everyone that “this is a completely inappropriate song,” as Wilson says at the end, but it certainly keeps one of our favorite annual traditions—arguing about a 70-year-old song—alive.