Station_1_Good_Grief

//Station #1: Good Grief // __CONTEXT __ //A Charlie Brown Christmas //, based on the //Peanuts// cartoon strip by Charles M. Schulz, made its television debut in 1965. Lead character Charlie Brown is depressed. He questions how society interprets “the true meaning of Christmas.” Is Christmas //really// about spirituality—or has the holiday simply become a series of economic exchanges?

The special was commissioned and sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company, one of the world’s largest corporations. //A Charlie Brown Christmas// received immediate critical acclaim. Its annual broadcast has won the highest rating in its time slot every holiday season for five decades. (An estimate of half the viewership in the United States tunes in every year.)

A relevant tidbit: The popularity of the program //obliterated// the mass production of a 1960s’ fad: Aluminum Christmas trees. They were relatively ugly, but //very// popular decorations featuring sharp-edged, often pastel-colored metal or tinsel “needles.”

//A Charlie Brown Christmas // is an **__allegory__**; the aluminum tree is one of its “simple symbols.” The //Peanuts// special //singlehandedly// discredited and destroyed aluminum Christmas tree sales. (Yes, given the knife-like edges of the tree's branches, cleaning it required a vacuum cleaner with extensions. See the picture below.)



**Play the three short video clips below.** As you watch and listen, be sure to keep //informal// notes below. What **__statements__**, **__motifs__** (recurring images, dialogue, symbols, or idea), and **__themes__** //immediately// strike you as **__memorable__** or **__exigent__** (emotionally impactful)? As you watch, keep the following questions in mind. (Do not //formally// answer them. Use them as a basis for your note-taking.)

//Lucy Van Pelt “has a customer.” What is her “job” (or “profession”)? What does she require before working with Charlie Brown? How does this, along with Lucy’s “jingle,” illustrate specific Marxist tenets? //

//Lucy tells Charlie Brown that she, too, gets depressed, because she “never gets” what she “really wants.” What does she really wants? Which Marxist Tenet does this statement illustrate? //

//Snoopy uses gaudy, pricey decorations to make a show of his dog house. What is his motivation? (It certainly isn’t his Christmas spirit.) //

//What does Sally, Charlie’s sister, want for Christmas? What can we infer about the effects monetary exchange has on children, at such an early age? (Consider what Sally says: “All I want is my fair share.”) //

//Linus makes two very telling statements. The first, while looking at a small, but charming tree shrub (“Do they even make wooden Christmas trees anymore?”) and second, after Charlie picks the shrub over an artificial tree: “I don’t know. This doesn’t seem to fit the modern spirit.” Where does this thinking come from? What does it say about society at large? //


 * Click [[file:Charlie Brown Wiki 1 (ATV).m4v|here]] to play the first video clip. Click [[file:Charlie Brown Wiki 2 (ATV).m4v|here]] to play the second video clip. Click [[file:Charlie Brown Wiki 3 (ATV).m4v|here]] to play the third video clip. **

Finally, **__engage in a small-group discussion__**. Each member of the group **__must contribute to the process by fulfilling an assigned role__**. Then, in a thoughtful, “MEL-style” short essay response, answer this question:

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">What **__specific information__** should a Marxist critic consider in an analysis of this text? Using that information as **__evidence__**, what **__meaning__** can //we// make of this text, **__using Marxist tenets as our “lenses”__**?