Two years ago, just after the centennial celebration of Peanuts’ creator Charles Schulz’s birthday, I wrote about our then 10-year-old’s affinity for the classic comic strip.
Some things never change.
I came into the kitchen this past weekend to find now 12-year-old Alex pouring over our local newspaper’s comic section.
“Of all the comic you read, which one is the best?” I asked him.
Without even looking up, he replied, “Easy. Peanuts. And it’s not even close.”
How is it that a comic strip that debuted 74 years ago, and that hasn’t even had new content in more than 24 years, is revered by a 12-year-old living in 2024?
Funny is funny. And wholesome, timeless, relatable humor is funniest of all.
The child of a Norwegian mother and German father, Schulz revealed in numerous interviews that writing the strip was something of a cathartic exercise – and a reflection of his own insecurities and struggles.
“All the loves in the strip are unrequited,” Schulz wrote. “All the baseball games are lost; all the test scores are D-minuses; The Great Pumpkin never comes; and the football is always pulled away.”
Charles Schulz was more than a cartoonist, and Peanuts wasn’t just a comic. For 50 years, Schulz was a storyteller, and his strips were sermons of a sort, some more profound than others.
As we approach Thanksgiving, an especially poignant one from 1963 is worth remembering.
“My life is a drag. I’m completely fed up. I’ve never felt so low in my life,” laments Lucy. Linus attempts to gently console his sister.
“Lucy, when you’re in a mood like this, you should try to think of things you have to be thankful for,” he says. “In other words, count your blessings.”
“Ha! That’s a good one!” responds Lucy. “I could count my blessings on one finger! I’ve never had anything, and I never will have anything. I don’t get half the breaks that other people get. Nothing ever goes right for me! And you talk about counting blessings! You talk about being thankful! What do I have to be thankful for?”
Linus replies, “Well, for one thing, you have a little brother who loves you.”
Crying tears of joy,” Lucy tells Linus, “Every now and then, I say the right thing.”
In many ways, Charlie Brown gave us permission as kids to make mistakes. His string of defeats gave us hope. We weren’t the only ones striking out. There was someone else who couldn’t quite work up the nerve to talk with the pretty girl.
As the world continues to spin dangerously out-of-control, we can relate to Charlie Brown’s angst.
His favorite catchphrase? “I can’t stand it!” Then there’s “Good grief!” and “Sigh.”
Don’t tell me anyone who follows the news hasn’t thought those very things – and sometimes all within the same story.
Charles Schulz’s willingness to have his characters publicly express their faith has emboldened readers to do likewise. There’s the famous Christmas television special of Linus reading from the Gospel of Luke – a plot line that Schulz refused to cut despite initial network opposition. But there were plenty of other more subtle references.
“Keep looking up – that’s the secret of life,” says Snoopy.
“The rain falls on the just and the unjust,” says Charlie Brown as they walk in a downpour. “That’s a good system,” quips Linus.
Then there’s a clear jab at the 1962 “Engel v. Vitale” Supreme Court ruling. We see Sally slinking along the floor, looking around cautiously, and then whispering, “We prayed in school today.”
We give thanks for the life of Charles Schulz and the forever young and relatable Peanuts gang.
Image credit: Andrews McMeel Syndication
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