Matthew Osborne
We make it a point to watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” every year with the kids at Halloween. It is a classic and it never gets old.
It got a little harder the last few years, as Apple TV bought up the Peanuts holiday shows and was initially going to charge people to see them. After a nationwide backlash, Apple graciously offered a few free days around each holiday when folks could tune into a generational classic.
How magnanimous of them to give us back something that ran on free television for 50 years and brought families closer together. It is hard, especially these days, to find something that the whole family can sit down and enjoy at the same time on the same screen without kids streaming something else on their phones.
There is an apt quote from that show for our world today that our publisher Alan NeSmith pointed out to us at our Monday morning meeting this week.
“There are three things I’ve learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin,” Linus said.
But going back to Charlie Brown himself, two things just don’t sit right with me from that show.
First, Charlie Brown is tasked by Lucy at the beginning of the show to once again attempt to kick the football. It is so infuriating to watch Charlie Brown bow up like he is not going to fall for it again, then wilt like leaves in the autumn when Lucy snares him with her sweet talk and promises of not pulling the ball away.
And of course, Charlie Brown ends up on his back again.
What’s worse is that Charlie Brown is right back in the same situation at Thanksgiving.
“She must think I’m the stupidest person alive,” Charlie Brown tells Lucy on Turkey Day, thinking again that he will somehow avoid humiliation.
Rinse and repeat.
The other disturbing thing about the Great Pumpkin is wondering why the adults in town keep giving Charlie Brown rocks for trick or treat.
Look, I get that the kids are bullying him, that is a serious enough problem. But are the adults in on it too? Are they trying to push this kid to the brink of insanity? Why do they hate him so much? Charlie Brown seems like a nice kid to me, I don’t know.
I guess it leaves us with a lesson that is applicable beyond cartoons. We have a lot of stuff going on in our world. We face a lot of daily challenges and adversity, but if you see an opportunity to hold that proverbial football steady so someone else can succeed, please do so.
Don’t pull it away, because you never know when you might need to kick that football the next time
Matthew Osborne is the editor of The Northeast Georgian. Reach him at 706-778-4215 or editor@TheNortheastGeorgian.com.