If the Characters in "Peanuts" Aged Like Ordinary People

[cyberghostface]

These came from Mad Magazine #148. Frank Jacobs wrote them and Bob Clarke did the illustrations.







Charles Schulz himself wrote a letter in response in #150.

Comments

[lordultimus]

I always thought Charlie Brown would grow up to be a barber like his father.

[thanekos]

You just can't do a Peanuts parody without turning Lucy into a perjorative.

[alicemacher]

Ah yeah, this was a great piece from MAD at its 1970s peak. Some of the strips, like the first one, were very much "of their time," but they're fun gags.

Heh... I wonder whether the famous 1973 Peanuts strip -- in which Charlie Brown watches the sun rise to find out whether he's cured of seeing the sun as a baseball, only to see Alfred E. Neuman's face in the sky instead -- was Schulz returning the favour?

[cricharddavies]

I don't think there's any question.

[bravest_spinja]

In a way, I think the first one is the most resonant, considering the past four years, and is the most true to character.

Charlie Brown almost perfect embodies the concept of of "fortunate but not lucky". He is never going to face systemic marginalization, and his family background probably has a decent economic cushion, but that's not going to make him personally popular, nor curb what is probably clinical depression. His solace has always been immersing himself in bougie hobbies and routines. He's at just the right median point between self-absorbed and self-aware, where he has no investment in sweeping social changes, but neither does he have the inclination to make a reactionary fist to grasp his privilege in place. He realizes his inconveniences are petty in the grand scheme of things, but there's only so much salve there.

[bravest_spinja]

The best adult manifestation of Schroeder is Ryan Gosling from La La Land.

[tripodeca113]

Heeheeh
It got a chuckle out me.

[janegray]

Guess I'll be the lone dissenter. Don't like these at all. Way too mean spirited.

[themajesticmoose]

I found these kind of mean as well

I know in the Peanuts world Charlie Brown is meant to have perpetual misfortune and bad luck but in the comics where he's a kid dealing with small setbacks and it's just stuff like him getting the football yanked away the comedy comes from his overreactions to it

"Old Charlie Brown works a soul crushing job with a wife who hates and bullies him and locks him in the attic" just does not have the same comedy to me as " Young Charlie Brown treats mild childhood annoyance like the Most Devastating Thing Ever"

I'm glad other people found these funny though. But yeah for me they just made me feel sad for Charlie here

[jlbarnett]

not the only one, I definitely agree

[super_fly]

This is the same problem I have with Robot Chicken. I get some chuckles out of it but way too often it's "What if nostalgic children's intellectual property but IN ADULT SITUATIONS? ISN'T THIS HILARIOUS?"

[thezmage]

Robot Chicken, especially the earlier episodes, tends to just barely skirt this. It's really easy to see what the creators are nostalgic for and thus treat better than others. It's frankly had to understand why they would even want to, say, make a Paw Patrol sketch if they won't even watch a few episodes to understand what it's about.

[bravest_spinja]

I actually know a few of the latter day Robot Chicken writers, and a lot of them hate their jobs (Despite lobbying to get hired) and generally think being apathetic is the height of comedy.

[tcampbell1000]

That's quite illuminating, if sad.

[super_fly]

Yeah Charlie Brown at 19, it really isn't the time for that. Good job getting so close to a moment of self-awareness.