The creep of The Nutcracker

What the hell is going on with Godfather Drosselmeyer and what is he teaching our children?

Godfather Drosselmeyer and Clara.
(Image credit: WENN Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo)

Now that the holidays are upon us and the productions of The Nutcracker ballet are coming hard and fast, it's time to ask that age old question: What the hell is going on with Godfather Drosselmeyer?

The Nutcracker has always been a story about a young girl's journey into adulthood and sexual maturity, and as Drosselmeyer creeps around the stage this year, in the wake of Harvey Weinstein and Roy Moore, he reminds us that the journey has always been fraught.

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Blaine Greteman

Blaine Greteman is a professor of English and Writing at the University of Iowa. His work has appeared at TIME, The New Republic, and Slate, and his first book was The Poetics and Politics of Youth, published by Cambridge University Press.