While many see it as a timeless holiday classic, this dated 1965 animated special has begun to show its age. With problematic portrayals of children coming together to celebrate the Christmas season, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is clearly a relic of a less progressive time. It’s 2019, and we shouldn’t continue to applaud any old film that features such harmful stereotypes like a gloomy bald boy who can’t get into the Christmas spirit, a pompous thumb sucker who thinks he knows what Christmas is all about, or a sleepy dog who decorates his dog house with Christmas lights. This holiday special crosses several lines that modern media should never cross — from Lucy’s insensitive usage of the slur “blockhead” to the Peanuts gang’s highly offensive Christmas dancing — and it’s simply not okay. Holiday tradition or not, Charlie Brown is canceled.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Published Friday, December 6th, 2019