Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 179
Featured commentary
On Charlie Brown, pain, humor
A
t various times in
my life, friends and
family have dubbed me
“Eeyore” or the “Tasmanian
Devil” — both of which were
quite appropriate appellations
when given, as these cartoon
characters represent the
opposite extremes of my
personality.
On the other hand, I,
personally, have always felt a
great empathy for the travails
of Wile E. Coyote. Sure, he is
reckless and incredibly shortsighted, but fate really seems to
hold a grudge against him.
Similarly, back in the day, I
was very emotionally invested
in the Trix Rabbit’s quest
to finally get a taste of Trix
— which he eventually did,
thereby teaching a generation
of us kids a valuable life lesson
about perseverance.
You know, even if it regards
theft.
However, of late, “Charlie
Brown” is the nickname I am
most often slapped with. And,
you know what? I’ve decided to
wear it proudly because Charlie
Jim
WALKER
DON’T TAKE ME SERIOUSLY
Brown is cool.
Why is he cool? Because he
suffers.
And though many of you
might see yourselves as Lucy,
Linus, Schroder or even Snoopy
or Pig-Pen, the reality is, we
are all Charlie Brown, because
we’ve all had the football
sadistically pulled out from
under us many times.
To quote Charles M. Schulz,
Charlie Brown’s creator,
“Charlie Brown must be the
one who suffers, because he’s
a caricature of the average
person. Most of us are much
more acquainted with losing
than winning. Winning is great,
but it isn’t funny.”
And therein lies the energy
behind all comedy, my friends.
Comedy is about suffering. It
has a mean streak. Comedy is
cruel.
To quote Plato: “Comedy has
an element of malice, a kind of
mental pain.”
To quote famous philosopher
Ron Howard: “Comedy
always comes from pain or
frustration.”
So then, it is of little wonder
that I find myself exploring our
universal pain with my clumsy
attempts at humor on these
pages. It is a noble pursuit, my
friends, and not a mere counting
of the clouds, or a twisted
indulgence on my part.
But let’s go back to Charlie
Brown.
Charlie brown has been
described as a lovable loser,
one dominated by his own
insecurities and a permanent
case of bad luck, and often
taken advantage of by his peers.
Is he a sad sack?
Certainly.
A downer?
Often.
A truly negative person?
Surprisingly, no.
He is also described
as possessing an endless
determination and hope.
Charlie Brown is the eternal,
stubborn optimist. Though he
whines about his misfortunes,
he always gets up and tries
again. This, even when anyone
with good sense has long since
thrown in the towel.
A perfect example is Charlie
standing on the pitcher’s mound
alone, refusing to let a torrential
downpour interrupt his beloved
baseball game.
You have to love a guy like
that. And, so, I will proudly
wear his name. And I will
endeavor to uphold his noble
and comedic, cathartic purpose,
which is to give life’s inequities
the squinty-eye wherever they
crop up.
And if you still aren’t sold on
Chaz being a superstar, consider
these Charlie Brown quotes:
On the down side:
“This is my depressed
stance. When you’re depressed,
it makes a lot of difference how
you stand. The worst thing you
can do is straighten up and hold
your head high because then
you’ll start to feel better. If
you’re going to get any joy out
of being depressed, you’ve got
to stand like this.”
“It always looks darkest
just before it gets totally black.”
“I guess it’s wrong always
to be worrying about tomorrow.
Maybe we should think about
today ... No, that’s giving up ...
I’m still hoping that yesterday
will get better.”
“You say we’re put on this
Earth to make others happy?
... What are the others put here
for?”
“I got a rock.”
And on the eternal optimist
side:
“Dear Valentine, I love you
— whoever you are.”
“That’s the secret to life
... replace one worry with
another.”
“There must be millions of
people all over the world who
never get any love letters ... I
could be their leader.”
“I’ve developed a new
philosophy ... I only dread one
day at a time.”
You have to love him.
Comment at jwalker@thesignal.com or Twitter at http://
Twitter.com/DontSeriously.
