DVD Shopping Bag: Great Pumpkin Issues

Ouch. That is one brutal deconstruction of Shultz's work. I'll have to agree on most of it (though the rock of cocaine & dogfight analysis' are stretching it a bit). Shultz was a severely depressed man. I'm not sure he was trying to send a message that people should act like Lucy, but rather, he demonized her to show contempt for those who would oppress others. Charlie Brown almost comes across as a messianic through his sermon to Linus and the suffering he endures (for us!). Great article, Bob-o.

I still enjoy "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", and "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown". I thought your analysis of the Great Pumpkin was interesting and entertaining, but it was a real stretch for me. The idea that in '66 the rocks Charlie Brown received were supposed be cocaine, is a bit much. I'm not even sure anyone thought to make cocaine into rock/crack form until the 70s/80s.

Lucy was a bitch with a capital B, but she was also a cartoon character for kids. There are a lot of characters that were asses. Oscar the Grouch, Jokey Smurf, the Grinch who stole Christmas, etc. No Lucy never truly gets her just desserts, however, sometimes life is like that.

As far as the WW I stuff, that was always my least favorite part of the special because it was so boring. I don't know how much it damaged kids because the fighting is imaginary, and you never see Snoopy's opponent, the Red Baron.

That all said, they did eventually make sequels or new specials that never quite lived up to the originals in my book. Also, I hope your column was in good humor, because if the Great Pumpkin really gets to you that much... well actually I can understand that because there are things (movies, shows, etc.) that get to me that much as well.

I always viewed it as a way of showing others how the shoe feels on the other foot.
Normally some of these actions wouldn't be seen as being really bad on their own. However when you see them through the eyes of the person that is experiencing it, it all feels a bit more poignant. It helps little kids understand how their actions are effecting others. It shows other kids who are bullied not to give up and keep trying, that they aren't alone.

I read once (forward in one of the Charlie Brown books) that Charlie Brown is based on him. Perhaps he was drawing from experiences from his own childhood.

Have you ever read any of the older strips when the main characters were all a lot younger?

I consider myself a big fan of Peanuts and Schulz (BTW folks, his name is "Schulz" without the "t" - a common mistake), and I do hope that Robert's piece is all tongue-in-cheek.

There's definitely a lot of Charles Schulz in Charlie Brown, not the least of which was Schulz's almost constant feeling of inadequacy in almost any given situation. It's not entirely fair to write off Charlie Brown as a complete loser - there was at least a couple of instances when he led his baseball team to the championship, only to blow it in the final game - but he still got them there, which says something. There was also the time that he successfully stood up to the bully that took Rerun's marbles. And during the very early years of Peanuts, Charlie Brown was a smart-ass, often getting off a wisecrack at the expense of the other kids, with him being chased by the others in the last panel (and enjoying every minute).

Another thing to realize about both the Halloween and Christmas specials is that they were mostly just a string of gags from the comic strip, loosely collected in a sort of patchwork narrative (the Christmas one a bit more cohesively than the Halloween one).

And Lucy may be considered a "bitch" these days, but back in the days of the strip she was simply "crabby" which I think is a better description of her. I always liked the way that she goes out to collect her shivering younger brother Linus in the pumpkin patch and puts him to bed. She's not as heartless as she often seems.

This is an interesting take on the whole Charlie Brown mythos..but the truth of the matter is that we all need Chalrie Brown to be Charlie Brown because we've all been that guy at one point, and we all know or have known a Lucy....

In your world: Charlie Brown would be Blofeld: A Megomaniac bent on world domination.