Halloweek Day 3 - Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin

After a weekend away, it seems the rising pumpkin is is a great deal further along in his approach, undeterred by Hurricane Sandy.  Speaking of Sandy, I hope all my northeast readers are safe and dry.  (Humorously, I attended a screening of National Theatre Live's "The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time," a brilliant stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's novel, which included an enthusiastic moment of naming a dog "Sandy.")

Originally, on the schedule of Halloweek reporting, today had called for a general discussion of pumpkins.  Record-holders, chunkin, impressive jack o'lanterns, that sort of thing.  However, last week my dad alerted me to an interesting news item that I find requires some reshuffling of reports.  It also requires that I fail to heed the  advice of a great hero of mine.  That's right.  Against Linus van Pelt's advice that one avoid discussions of "religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin," it's time to talk Pumpkin.
 
For those of you unfamiliar with the Great Pumpkin, he is a holiday figure created by Charles M. Schulz in the comic strip Peanuts.  Every year, according to Linus, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that it deems the most sincere to bring presents to those who are there.  The character, though never seen in the comics, was introduced in 1959, but gained wider fame when Schulz and Bill Melendez followed-up the success of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with the now-Halloween-classic, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
 
Having long been a Peanuts fan, and Linus being my favorite character, it should come as no surprise that I am a huge fan of the special, I watch it every year.  However, not everyone likes it.  Some people, I learned last week, are fundamentally opposed to it.  My dad sent me a link last week to local news coverage of a man who believes this special, now nearly fifty years old, should be retired from the air.  His argument centers on the idea that the name-calling and blatant, unpunished bullying in the film is too much for today's young viewers.
 
Perhaps it is because I am not raising young viewers of my own, as that blogger is, but I believe his critique fails to appreciate certain nuances of the special and Peanuts in general.  Yes, Charlie Brown is called a "blockhead," and other names.  His round head is used as a template for designing a pumpkin carving.  Each anonymous adult famously gives him a rock as he trick or treats in his multi-holed ghost costume.  And the blogger is correct, none of these instances is ever "punished."  No one ends up in time-out, no one gets in trouble, nothing.  But the avoidance of explicit punishment is not the same as condoning this behavior!
 
The blogger calls Charlie Brown "the hero," but this paints him with too broad a brush.  Charlie Brown is the protagonist and, in all his insecurities, doubts, and shortcomings, the character that we, as people who often face the same things, are meant to identify with.  This means that when Charlie Brown gets a rock, or gets drawn on, or gets called blockhead, we chuckle, but we also empathize.  The knowledge that the bullying we see is wrong comes from putting ourselves in Charlie Brown's shoes; seeing the world from under his multi-holed ghost costume.  And maybe that's something that younger viewers aren't able to do, but that's why this nearly fifty year old program is celebrated as a family tradition.  Parents should watch it with their children, and, if they feel further discussion is necessary, talk to them about what's going on.  Though we may have similar anxieties, we don't live in Charlie Brown's world, so parents don't need to worry; kids will hear more than just "Waaah Waaah Waaah" when they talk.
 
I could go on to discuss the merits of the Job-like suffering of Linus that comes from his faith and devotion to the Great Pumpkin, or note that Snoopy escapes his imagined World War I experience unscathed, a great feature of the adventures of the imagination.  But that one sentence nod is all I'll give as a note to the multiple levels of appreciation this special brings.  It is a true family special, one that can be enjoyed and discussed by all ages.  And that has always been the appeal of the Peanuts world.  In a universe populated entirely by children, the issues faced, conclusions reached, and jokes made are often applicable to adults, too.
 
I'd be curious to hear what readers think of this.  Am I simply defending something I love and turning a blind eye to its problems?  Do you agree with me, or do you think that it's time for the Peanuts gang to retire?  Do you believe in the Great Pumpkin?  Will you be watching the special on Halloween at 8:00 on ABC?

Tomorrow, on All Hallow's Eve Eve, assuming I don't lose power, we'll discuss what nearly every elementary schooler in the nation would agree is the best part of the holiday: Taking candy from strangers.