I recently sat the child down and forced her to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. She has had little interest in Charlie Brown until now, often asking if it was Caillou. Yes kid I see the similarities but WTF one is the most sincere depiction of my feelings on Christmas and the other is a spoiled fucking prick. I was surprised she did well watching it and enjoyed it.
In watching I really focused in on the Christmas tree, that has a huge amount of symbolism in it. It seems to represent the heroes faith in Christmas as a whole. You can see through the show the tree gaining branches as the show progresses. It is not without its down turns though, every time Charlie presents it for others to see it looses needles. Its as though it has a personal strength but whenever interacted with it fails.
Oddly this was not an intentional choice, as even Charles Shultz has lamented the constant change in the appearance of the tree. So it is clearly not a direct decision but rather a happy accident of the production. These happy accidents seem to have happened everywhere in the show. Every time someone stuck to their guns it ended up being the right choice, that has forge a timeless classic that captures the holidays in both joy and sadness.
I love the shows conclusion with Charlie "killing" the tree. Its like he finally tries to put some weight on his new found faith and it really has no strength. Fleeing his tree and faith the final lesson of the holidays is presented. Others and community are essential for the holidays, as it is the group of kids accepting the tree and each adding something to it. They in essence accept Charlie and restore his faith.
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