In the winter of 1965, Peanuts creator, Charles M. Schultz, released A Charlie Brown Christmas. The adorable Christmas special shows everyone’s favorite Charlie Brown and the Peanuts as they prepare themselves for a very special Christmas play. Sadly, not everyone was in the Christmas spirit.
We see Charlie Brown pondering the real reason for Christmas as he suffers spouts of depression. He then leans on the Peanuts for answers on the holiday and potential happiness. And while A Charlie Brown Christmas has a sweet ending, there are some troubling aspects throughout the precious holiday special that can’t go unnoticed.
THE SPECIAL STARTS OFF WITH CHARLIE BROWN’S ADMISSION OF DEPRESSION
If you’re a fan of Peanuts, then you should know that Charlie is a young boy who typically isn’t very self-confident and can suffer from anxiety and nervousness. And that same vibe is shown in the Christmas special.
The movie starts off with scenes of snowfall, kids skating on a lake, and Charlie strolling through the snow with Linus. He then stops in his tracks and says “There’s something wrong with me, Linus.” With his blue blanket in hand, Linus listens as Charlie admits to depression. “I just don’t understand Christmas I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that but I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.”
HE’S LOOKING FOR ONE ANSWER: WHAT IS CHRISTMAS ALL ABOUT?
Putting his troubling admission of depression aside, Charlie desperately wants to know the true meaning of Christmas. Is the holiday really only about a man in a red suit and gift-giving? There had to be more.
Eventually, Linus tells Charlie exactly what Christmas is; however, at this early point in the special, Linus simply says “Charlie Brown, you’re the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem.” Now, as a non-Peanut viewer, you feel for Charlie Brown who is supposedly around 8 years old. A sweet boy like Charlie should be comforted, not reminded that he’s a dark cloud.
CHARLIE DOESN’T GET ANY CHRISTMAS CARDS AND ‘KNOWS’ IT’S BECAUSE NOBODY ‘LIKES’ HIM
Like many young kids, Charlie often wonders who his real friends are and if they like him. But seeing adorable Charlie Brown down in the dumps during such a festive year reminds us to be more sensitive. Life is not like those Hallmark movies that we watch all December long.
A little under two minutes into the special, Charlie Brown checks his mailbox for any letters of gifts. Sadly, it’s empty. Seeing the empty mailbox reminds Charlie that he is alone. “Rats, no one sent me a Christmas card today. I almost wish there was no holiday season. I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it.”
AND GOES TO THERAPY FOR IT
Lucy is one of the main female characters in Peanuts and is as bossy as she is selfish. She likes to maintain control and run a tight ship. More importantly, she’s known for her psychiatry booth. For just five cents, Lucy gives advice to those in need (although her advice often stinks).
In the Christmas special, Charlie visits Lucy because he’s not feeling his best. Although she doesn’t solve his problem, Lucy does offer Charlie the director’s job for the Christmas play, which is enough to make Charlie happy for a few minutes.
LUCY ASKS CHARLIE BROWN IF HE THINKS SHE IS BEAUTIFUL & HE DOESN’T RESPOND
With Charlie in the director’s chair, he’s taking his role very seriously and trying to coordinate the Peanuts perfectly. And being the bossy lady that Lucy is, she’s doing her fair share of getting everyone in shape. But during a lunch break for the crew, Lucy realized she gave Charlie a job without giving herself one. Didn’t she deserve a role in the Christmas special, too?
Lucy asks Charlie, “What about my part? What about the Christmas Queen? Are you going to let all this beauty go to waste!?”
Charlie awkwardly never replies to Lucy’s questions, especially when Lucy asks him if he thinks she’s beautiful. Carelessly, he leaves her hanging.
LUCY’S VIEW ON ‘BROKEN’ TREES
One of the biggest symbols in A Charlie Brown Christmas is the “Charlie Brown Christmas tree.” Lucy realizes their play needs a massive aluminum tree to really pull the whole thing together and sends Charlie out to get one. Instead of choosing an aluminum tree in various colors, he chooses the only real tree left in the lot.
The tree is missing most of its pines and is quite bare but Charlie saw such beauty in it, despite it being “broken.” Linus encourages Charlie to choose a different tree but he felt like the tree “needed” him. After bringing the tree to the play, Lucy shouts that it’s not a good tree if it’s “poor.”
EVERYONE JUDGES CHARLIE FOR HIS BROKEN TREE
When Charlie shows off his cute, broken tree, it’s not just Lucy who judges him for it. It’s the whole gang. They immediately take turns picking on him for bringing a sad tree like that to their stage.
“Boy are you stupid, Charlie Brown,” one girl says in disgust as the others all agree that Charlie can’t do anything right.
CHARLIE’S FRIENDS ARE CONSTANTLY DEGRADING HIM
Throughout the Christmas special, Charlie lacks confidence because no one gives him any. He has nerves around the Peanut gang because they don’t treat him like the others. To Charlie, the broken tree symbolized his inner self. He has all the potential in the world and yet people judge him constantly.
Charlie felt the tree needed him because he saw himself in the tree. Knowing this, it makes his “friends’” comments all the more hurtful. “You’re hopeless,” one of them said. “You can’t depend on him to do anything right. You’ve been dumb before, Charlie Brown, but this time you really did it.”
CHARLIE TRIES DECORATING THE TREE & BELIEVES HE KILLED IT
After the Peanuts degrade both Charlie and his tree, he takes the tree home where he plans to decorate it to let it really shine. He sees Snoopy’s home in the backyard all beautifully lit and decorated, so he grabs an ornament for his tree.
Sadly, the ornament is too heavy for the brittle tree and it sags over. Charlie believes he killed the tree upon decorating it and says “Everything I touch becomes ruined,” as he leaves the tree in the backyard.
THE PEANUTS EVENTUALLY COME TO LOVE HIS TREE BUT NEVER APOLOGIZE
During the last couple of minutes of the special, Charlie leaves his tree in the backyard and heads home. But when Linus and the gang realize the tree didn’t look that bad when decorated, they begin to decorate the tree to its full glory. Charlie comes back out and sees his beautiful tree and is excited to sing Christmas songs with his friends surrounding his tree.
While that’s all good and dandy, it’s bothersome that no one apologizes to Charlie for their actions. They made fun of him the entire day for his choice of tree, his directing, and for not understanding Christmas. While their decorating could symbolize an unspoken apology, poor Charlie Brown never got the respect he deserved.
