As an adult I see it a bit more troubling. They marked Charlie Brown as a loser and they all gang-uped on him.
As a child it was a bit upsetting. As an adult I ask myself how this storyline was even green-lighted.
But to tell a story of forgiveness and redemption you have to first tell the dark side of the story.
I still find it kind of sad but in the end Lucy and the gang discover they were mean to Charlie Brown and they all sing 'Hark, the Herold Angles Sing' and discover the joy of Christmas together.
I do get where you're coming from but it's a story about redemption so there has to be something the kids need to change about themselves.
The music follows the same kind of pattern. A bit sad at first but in the end joyful.
The first song, 'Christmastime is Here' is bitter sweet and evokes a sense of nostalgia.
I don't like most contemporary pop Christmas songs. I like traditional music that mentions Jesus and the actual meaning of Christmas (Silent Night, God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen). They were written by people who were celebrating Christ and not looking to cash in and sell albums.
But I do like this soundtrack.
They marked Charlie Brown as a loser because he was trying to stick to the true meaning of Christmas, and the other kids just wanted to dance and frolic and not live up to the commitment of putting on the school play.
It was a story of peer pressure that Charlie Brown refused to succumb to, and the other kids came around in the end and agreed with Charlie Brown.
The story was a set up of the true meaning of Christmas (Charlie Brown) against the commercialism of Christmas (Snoopy's dog house), but it can also be seen today as a metaphor for conservatism versus liberalism. Today's liberals are trying to peer pressure conservatives to just dance and frolic and give up on all the traditions (commitments to their shared past) that they grew up honoring and believing.
The liberals are the Lucy's of the world, an the conservatives are the Charlie's of the world.
-PJ