There are many things to love about this time of year, in fact I posted something on that topic awhile back. But if we are being Halloween specific, even though I own the DVD version, I still always look forward to watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on or around Halloween night. All of the holiday Peanuts shows are wonderful in their own right, and the Halloween show is massively entertaining. Plus, it's a classic, and I'm always one to support the classics.
Which is why I was a bit disheartened this morning to read the following article in which a father blogged about how children today should not be exposed to the Peanuts gang because the characters' constant teasing and name-calling towards Charlie Brown more or less constitutes bullying. You can read the article for yourself here.
Now, I'm not a parent, so I'm not sure my opinion holds much weight in this discussion (if in fact there really is a discussion and not just one person spouting off their opinion), but I think this is a bit far-fetched to be taken seriously. I agree wholeheartedly that bullying of children is a very serious issue, even more so in today's world because of social networking sites, but I'm not sure trying to ban Charlie Brown and Snoopy from the airwaves is going to do much to confront the problem. I agree that Charlie Brown is treated rather shabbily in most of the Peanuts cartoons, but he also doesn't conform to peer pressure, and does not let any naysayers sway him from doing what he thinks is right. Charlie Brown is a survivor. A fighter. A child filled with perseverance and determination. Those are admirable qualities that I know I would be proud for my children to have.
Also, I think it's a bit unfair to call out the Peanuts gang like this. Holiday special or no holiday special, there is hardly any programming out there aside from maybe Sesame Street where you can find zero conflict and zero examples of children (or adults) teasing each other and calling each other names. I realize that just because everyone is doing it doesn't necessarily make it right, but to eliminate these sorts of things is just a tad naive and removed from reality. Even family-centered shows like 7th Heaven and Full House would deal with controversial and unpopular topics from time to time because to ignore them completely is to ignore what real life is like. All kids at some point are going to get called names. All kids are going to go through feeling like a loser. We've all been there and yes, it is most unfortunate and not the least bit enjoyable, but it's also not the end of the world, and neither is seeing it happen to cartoon characters. As the author of the Today article pointed out, kids are not always going to be winners. They aren't always going to be liked, and events in life are not always going to go their way. They have to learn this one way or another, and in my opinion learning it through watching Charlie Brown is pretty darn mild.
I'm also more than a tab perturbed at the idea of censoring. If John Milton were alive today he would be in fits. Although I'm not sure Milton would be much of a TV watcher.....but I digress. Again, I'm not a parent and maybe I will feel differently someday when I am, but I feel like political correctness and jumping through hoops to be as non-controversial and non-offensive as possible is turning us into a completely over-sensitive society. If we are at the point where someone can take offense to Charlie Brown, then in my mind we have crossed over into dangerous territory. If you look hard enough and twist words and meanings just the right way I suppose you can find offensiveness and fault with just about anything. But why should we live in that kind of world, and better yet, who really wants to? I realize this is just one blogger out of millions, voicing their opinion the way I am on here voicing mine, but to suggest that this cartoon should be taken off the airwaves when there are about a million other questionable shows on TV every single day seems, well, a bit extreme.
Finally, here's some more than appropriate advice for the father who does not want to expose his children to the horror and inappropriateness that is Charlie Brown. If you don't want your kids to see it, then don't watch it. Let millions of other Americans partake in this classic cartoon and watch Linus and Sally wait for the Great Pumpkin, see Lucy run around throwing a fit because she bobbed for an apple and wound up kissing Snoopy, not to mention watch as Charlie Brown carries an exhausted Linus home from the pumpkin patch and tuck him into bed, because Linus fell asleep waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
Yea, I could see how kids would be scarred by these images.
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