# Lily and The Snowman. Sweet? Or F'd up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390 "2016-12-10T23:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/1 "2016-12-10T23:04:03Z")
[Lily and The Snowman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qehqv13PJwI) has been making its way through Facebook. And everyone keeps raving about what a sweet, touching story it is. Am I the only one who finds this story slightly fucked up? It’s a 2 minute video if anyone cares to indulge me. ---
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/2 "2016-12-10T23:31:35Z")
Nope, not just you! The Mr and I saw this last year at the movies (it was an ad for Cineplex I believe). The poor snowman is a sentient creature fer cryin out loud! Look at how his smile droops when the door closes! It just leaves me sad for the poor thing, and annoyed at the dipshit girl who couldn’t be bothered to care for this magical creature who exists only to make her happy. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/3 "2016-12-11T18:37:46Z")
Never heard of this but I can spare 2 minutes. Okay, that’s pretty fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/4 "2016-12-11T18:46:14Z")
Eh, I’ve seen worse. I was expecting the snowman to be gone, melted, and dead when the woman came back for him. When I saw the OP it immediately made me think of Philip Evergood’s eerie painting LILY AND THE SPARROWS, which is in the Whitney Gallery here in New York. Now THAT’S some fucked up shit. > **[Philip Evergood, Lily and the Sparrows](https://madison.com/philip-evergood-lily-and-the-sparrows/image_65a26661-2cdb-5f90-907a-a8ce7dd958e2.html)** > > Philip Evergood painted "Lily and the Sparrows" in 1939 after glimpsing a little girl in a tenement window. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/5 "2016-12-11T19:11:57Z")
I see why they say that. The snowman is symbolic for the joys of childhood. She leaves them behind, only go tome back to them when she has a child. The snowman isn’t alive and isn’t actually moving. It’s her imagination. Of course, you can assume he’s real, but that does indeed make it cruel. And the short doesn’t present her as being cruel. I don’t like doing that. The story presents itself as heartwarming, and I agree with the underlying message, so I choose the heartwarming interpretation. That sort of thing is always how I experience fiction. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/6 "2016-12-11T20:24:21Z")
The big problem is putting him in the fridge. In my day, kids _died_ from doing that. My father sold them. When he brought and old one back, he made sure to take the doors off the hinges. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/7 "2016-12-11T20:42:07Z")
When she opened the refrigerator as an adult, two gnarled claws made of twigs should have reached out and grabbed her and pulled her inside, as the door slams shut behind her. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/8 "2016-12-11T21:24:44Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Eh, I’ve seen worse. I was expecting the snowman to be gone, melted, and dead when the woman came back for him. > > When I saw the OP it immediately made me think of Philip Evergood’s eerie painting LILY AND THE SPARROWS, which is in the Whitney Gallery here in New York. Now THAT’S some fucked up shit. > > [Philip Evergood, Lily and the Sparrows](http://host.madison.com/philip-evergood-lily-and-the-sparrows/image_65a26661-2cdb-5f90-907a-a8ce7dd958e2.html) Yeah, that’s mightily fucked up. The video, not so much. **Ike** , is it charming or sad that these young’uns are so easily creeped out? Eta: And EVERYTHING Evergood did was creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/9 "2016-12-11T22:06:14Z")
The snowman is Puff, but unlike that bastard Jackie, Lily came back to her childhood friend. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/10 "2016-12-11T22:26:08Z")
Poor snowman! When she brought out him that one last time, he should have made a run for it. Take home message: Christmas magic for you is hell for someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/11 "2016-12-12T00:18:11Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Yeah, that’s mightily fucked up. The video, not so much. **Ike** , is it charming or sad that these young’uns are so easily creeped out? > > Eta: And EVERYTHING Evergood did was creepy. All I can say is, we better not invite any of 'um over for mulled cider and Christmas ghost stories. We could scar them for life. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/12 "2016-12-12T01:11:21Z")
At least she came back. [“When She Loved Me”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElhbTsKsros) StG ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/13 "2016-12-12T02:46:45Z")
I’ll agree its sad and poignant little film, but I don’t think Lily is too unreasonable. This is exactly what happens to everything that’s not supposed to be sentient, that becomes sentient. Puff the Magic Dragon, Isle of Misfit toys, Toy Story Toys – heck, they even kill off Data before any other Next Gen main character. This is the sappy stuff that plays at Christmastime. I suppose the message is, don’t do it to humans. 'Cause humans’ll go postal and stuff you into the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/14 "2016-12-12T02:56:54Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Eh, I’ve seen worse. I was expecting the snowman to be gone, melted, and dead when the woman came back for him. Merry Christmas! [https://youtu.be/HHCZhUZXhZU?t=23m42s](https://youtu.be/HHCZhUZXhZU?t=23m42s) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/15 "2016-12-12T09:32:29Z")
That was a sweet video, I can see how someone _might_ think it was messed up, but I grew up with fairy tales and fantasy stories, and the idea of a snow golem waiting around for 20 years doesn’t bother me. I _am_ bothered that that fridge lasted and was plugged-in for all that time… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/16 "2016-12-12T09:57:47Z")
It’s the Toy Story trilogy condensed down to two minutes. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/17 "2016-12-12T12:22:03Z")
False dichotomy. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/18 "2016-12-12T14:31:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The big problem is putting him in the fridge. In my day, kids _died_ from doing that. > > My father sold them. When he brought and old one back, he made sure to take the doors off the hinges. How did he get the doors off the kids? Ah, the ambiguities of the English Language. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/19 "2016-12-12T14:49:22Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I _am_ bothered that that fridge lasted and was plugged-in for all that time… I, unromantically, had the same thought. “Wait, she keeps a freezer plugged in 24/7 for decades just to store a snowman?” She should have opened it and had to dig through some frozen peas and old leftovers stacked on top of him. I wasn’t bothered by the idea of him in there but then it was obvious where they were going with it so you knew there’d be a happy reunion. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390/20 "2016-12-12T15:07:53Z")
I vote “sweet.” Wonders of childhood and all that crap, put aside for a time but brought out again to share with the next generation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lily-and-the-snowman-sweet-or-fd-up/774390.md?page=2)