John Curley


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Debate is raging over calls to discontinue Charlie Brown specials because of what one dad calls "continuous teasing and bullying." (AP image)

Is Charlie Brown too mean for today's kids?

BY Josh Kerns  on October 26, 2012 @ 8:26 am (Updated: 6:09 pm - 10/26/12 )

With Halloween approaching, KIRO Radio's John Curley couldn't wait to watch the classic "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" TV special with his two kids. But they didn't react with the way he expected.

While Lucy and the other kids get candy, cookies and gum, poor Charlie Brown laments "I got a rock."

"And my kids are like, 'that's mean,'" Curley said.

At the next house, Lucy asks for an extra piece of candy for her "stupid" brother, who's out in a pumpkin patch awaiting the Great Pumpkin. "It's so embarrassing to have to ask for something extra for that blockhead Linus," she complains.

Curley's kids couldn't understand why he would want to watch a show where everyone is so mean and they're not alone. Blogger Buzz Bishop, otherwise known as DadCamp, is sparking plenty of debate by arguing the classic cartoon should be shelved because of all the taunting and bullying.

"The show is riddled with the kids calling each other 'stupid, dumb, and blockheads.' There is continuous teasing and bullying. Charlie Brown is supposed to be the hero. Instead he is kicked and demeaned at every turn, even by the adults giving out candy," he writes.

Like Curley's family, Bishop found the specials inappropriate in this day and age.

"Apart from being a cartoon and having kids in costume, there's nothing of value for children in the show," Bishop says.

"Are we being overly sensitive," wondered Curley in a conversation on Seattle's Morning News.

Co-host Tom Tangney thinks maybe we are.

"I think that is missing the general thrust. Charlie Brown is the bullied kid, or the picked on kid, or the kid who has everything bad happen to him, and yet he perseveres," Tangney says.

"At least that can start the conversation. It's like why isn't anyone sticking up for him and what would you do if you saw this kind of treatment?" asks anchor Ursula Reutin.

It's not just the Halloween special. Bishop says he'll be keeping his kids away from the Christmas special as well.

"The kids are non-stop in their abuse of Charlie Brown. Even the great climax where they decorate Charlie Brown's lame tree and make it great is punctuated with a "even though you're a blockhead" dig from the kids," he writes.

Bishop argues just as our attitudes about smoking or seat belts have changed over the years, so should the way we look at classics like Charlie Brown.

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (7)


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  • cdbtx wrote...
    Just two words
    October 26, 2012 11:49 am
    "Good Grief"
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  • Tagger68 wrote...
    Good Grief is right...
    October 26, 2012 2:20 pm
    First, one factual error in the story: Lucy asks for a piece of candy for Linus (Sally is Charlie Brown's sister). The Charlie Brown series is a comment on life. Whether we like it or not, children are exposed to name calling, bullying, teasing, etc. every single day. The Peanuts didn't teach me to bully, but to persevere and that life is not always fair. Kids are smart enough to understand that Charlie is a character in which bad things happen, yet he never gives up. Charles Schulz was an upstanding man with only good intentions in his heart. He must be looking down on us and rolling his eyes.
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  • sghouse wrote...
    Peanuts is a world without helicopter parents
    October 26, 2012 4:54 pm
    and that's a good thing. The Peanuts characters have to face the world the way it really is, not the way that the weak minded would prefer it to be. Charlie Brown is a blockhead but he is also a good person and keeps trying in the face of almost certain defeat. Nobody is there to wipe his nose and go "there there" or to sue Lucy for pulling the football away...
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  • sghouse wrote...
    I forgot to add
    October 26, 2012 4:59 pm
    I'll take Peanuts over the moronic SpongeBob every time.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpitantso wrote...
    Great Scott
    October 26, 2012 11:23 pm
    Deep, but the question is did it ever offer something? Why wasn't it perceive inappropriate. My recollection it was a story people didn't take ownership of every cartoon.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Relevant wrote...
    Poor kids
    October 27, 2012 9:19 am
    If only we could find a way to spare our children from our own fears about life and the world we live in, they would grow up to be much happier people. Heavily medicated, unable to be productive members of society, but much happier. Nevermind how much happier the pharmaceutical companies will be when the entire country is hooked on their drugs.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    Obviously, the original demographic has been traumatized by Schultz
    October 27, 2012 11:09 am
    They are all a bunch of whining babies.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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