What Would Charlie Brown Think

Last year, towards the end of the December, I laid eyes on one of the most hideous, revolting, sights I have ever seen (and folks, after working in a fast-food restaurant, the bar for disgusting is pretty high).  There, at the end of the aisle, in a medium-sized triangular box, sat a replica of the Christmas tree from the animated Peanuts Christmas show.  I could not believe my eyes.  Someone at some company decided to produce an artificial, artificial mind you, scraggly tree, bent over by the weight of just one ornament, and wrapped in a blanket like Linus carries in the cartoons.  Then, many someones mass produced these abominations.  Worse yet, many other someones representing a number of retail outlets purchased these affronts to nature and slapped a $19.99 price tag on them.  And then some other people were forced to put them on the shelves.  The unspeakable horror!

The sickness I felt deep down in my stomach was soothed with the knowledge that it was just a temporary lapse of judgement.  A combination of common sense and short attention spans by consumers would ensure that these "holiday treasures" would not see the light of another Christmas season.  Lulled into believing that good will prevail, I channeled my righteous anger into other worthy causes (ie.  blogging about school pictures).

My faith in the American free enterprise system took another bone-crushing blow when I discovered that these things...these "trees"...are back.  Not only did they not get discarded into the trash heap of history, they are now in more stores than last year.  Why?  How?  What in the world is wrong with people in this country?

The poor little tree in the Charlie Brown Christmas show was a statement, a symbol, a rebellious cry to break free from an artificial and consumerist understanding of the season of giving.  In a world of plastic and metal, Charlie Brown found the one living thing and saw in it the meaning of Christmas.  Yes, it was weak and scrawny and not nearly as attractive as Snoopy's dog house, but that was the point.  The spirit of Christmas that leads us to acts of loving and compassion, that leads to life, is always in danger of being lost in a society that is fascinated with buying stuff just to buy stuff.

Gift giving is not wrong or bad.  Every culture throughout history has elevated the giving of gifts to a high and sacred place.  A present for newlyweds, or a new baby, or a house warming, or as a sign of respect, or love or just everyday care and concern is right and good and honorable.  There is nothing wrong with exchanging gift at Christmas (or any other holiday).  Gifts, however, are a means, not an end.  They are a way of expressing feelings.  Where the problems begin to creep in is when the buying of the gift is more important than the relationship the gift is supposed to celebrate.  That was what Charlie Brown, in his own block headed way, was trying to say.

The Charlie Brown Christmas show remains so popular because it reminds us that the spirit of the season (and thus the real reason that we give gifts) is vastly more important than the trappings of the holiday.  We do not need glitter and glitz to celebrate love (though all the lights and decorations are not in and of themselves bad).  The little tree that Charlie Brown buys, and his friends mock him for, is one of the most potent symbols of anti-commercialism in American pop-culture.  But now, it has been turned into just another product we can buy for Christmas.  Stripped of its meaning and power, it looks just plain silly and stupid sitting on store shelves.

So, what to do about it?  A class-action lawsuit was briefly considered, but when all eight lawyers I spoke with hung up on me I figured it would not go far.  A letter to the editor seemed like a good idea, except no one reads newspapers any more.  Short of praying for a massive product recall there does not seem much I can do.  Other than vent my spleen to you, my loyal readers.  And hope that the never ending attempts to turn Christmas into a complete consumer orgy fails.  That is what Charlie Brown would want, I think.