A Charlie Brown Christmas

I've always considered A Charlie Brown Christmas, along with Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, to be the best of the animated Christmas specials. But last week I read a blogger on Deadspin go off on it, titling his post, "Fuck You, Charlie Brown." It seems the fellow showed it to his kid, who promptly got depressed.

Last night it aired on ABC and I watched it again for the umpteenth time, and it is true that this special, which first aired in 1965, is not typical fare. It begins with Charlie Brown frankly admitting his depression, despite it being the festive season. I can't imagine a child character ever copped to being depressed on TV before--did Beaver Cleaver, Ricky Nelson, or any of the Anderson kids ever need a shrink?

But the Peanuts comic strip was always above the heads of most children, appealing to those who had evolved past the stages of infancy. For its nearly fifty-year run, it was a miniature philosophy course, touching on basic human desires in the small world of children. Whether it was Charlie Brown's unrequited love for the Little Red-Haired Girl, his inability to kick a football or win a baseball game, Linus' attachment to his security blanket, or Snoopy's rich fantasy life, Peanuts came close to the abyss in its humor, but always gently.

Charles Schulz clearly did not favor the commercialism, or even the secularism, of Christmas. Charlie Brown's search for the perfect tree had more meaning back then, when garishly colored aluminum trees were popular--I don't think anyone uses them anymore, and real trees are favored by those who have the space, money, and time. But certainly the crass commercialism of the holiday has only gotten worse, as the Christmas season is now an economic factor more than anything.

As for the secularism, as a nonbeliever one might think I disdain the special's call for putting the Christ back in Christmas, exemplified by Linus' touching recital of Chapter 2 of The Gospel of Luke, explaining to Charlie Brown that that's what Christmas is all about. On the contrary, I find it bold and necessary. If it is a Christmas special, a holiday celebrated by Christians to celebrate the birth of their messiah, then why not remind people of that? It does not have anything to do with a certain brand of conservative screaming about the "war on Christmas," which basically is a protest of merchants trying to acknowledge the diversity of their customers by substituting the word "holiday" instead of "Christmas," which I find completely appropriate.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is also very funny. I've gathered my favorite lines: Lucy, revealing that what she really wants for Christmas is real estate, or asking Charlie Brown in her guise as sidewalk-stand psychiatrist if he's a pantophobe--suffering from a fear of everything ("That's it!" he shouts); Sally, asking for help in writing a letter to Santa Clause, asking him to note the size and color of each item, and then declaring, "All I want is what's coming to me. All I want is my fair share;" Charlie Brown noting that the hygiene-challenged Pigpen may be covered in soil trod upon by Nebuchadnezzar; or Shermie, assigned to be a shepherd in the Christmas play, bemoaning, "Every year it's the same thing, every year I'm a shepherd." And I haven't even mentioned (till now) the great music by Vince Guaraldi.

A Charlie Brown Christmas, depressing? I can't imagine how it could be read that way, unless viewed by a child with ADD and completely ill-equipped for self-reflection.