The Meaning of Christmas

Who doesn't love Charlie Brown? And who doesn't root for him? Who doesn't pray that this time, he really will kick the ball? Or that his baseball team will win? Everybody loves Charlie Brown. And everyone loves A Charlie Brown Christmas, the half-hour special that debuted in 1965.

Charlie Brown is concerned. Christmas is coming and he doesn't feel excited. He looks at how commercialized the holiday is--his dog Snoopy decorating his dog house to win a prize, his sister Sally asking Santa for money--and becomes more melancholy. Lucy decides he needs to get involved, making him the director of the Christmas pageant. However, no one listens to him so he goes to get a tree. When ridiculed for his tree, Charlie Brown finally explodes, asking for the meaning of Christmas. Linus tells him the meaning of Christmas, but he storms out. In the end, the children realize the tree isn't all that bad and Charlie Brown gets his Christmas spirit.

This is a classic and rings truer every year. It seems as the commercials start earlier and earlier (Honestly, one year, we're going to wake up on the day after Labor Day and see Christmas ads running), more and more people focus on the commercialism of the holiday. Charlie Brown reminds us that it isn't about how we decorate the house, what we ask Santa for, what we get under the tree. It reminds us that Christmas is about being together, about putting a smile on someone else's face. And the part where Linus repeats the lines from Luke's Gospel regarding the shepherds says it all: "Peace on earth and goodwill to men."

And it tells it all in a simple, funny manner. My screenwriting professor showed this as an example of a sitcom, knowing we'd be able to pay attention to the format rather than the content. And we were as we were saying the lines with the movie: "Don't you know sarcasm when you hear it?" "I've been kissed by a dog! Get some hot water, get some disinfectant, get some iodine!" "Do innkeepers' wives have naturally curly hair?" etc.

And who hasn't seen a rather pathetic little Christmas tree and called it a "Charlie Brown" tree?

This classic gets five candy canes for having staying power and for reminding it's audiences about the true meaning of Christmas.