# Man, Peanuts could be friggin' dark! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684 "2010-12-10T18:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/1 "2010-12-10T18:20:01Z")
I know we’ve talked about _Peanuts_ and Charles Schulz not long ago, but [yesterday’s strip](http://comics.com/peanuts/2010-12-09/) really got my attention. Count me as one who enjoyed the strip as a kid, but never really “got” it. Later, I realized that it strayed into some pretty dark territory from time to time, but the punchline to this one kinda stopped my in my tracks. (I wonder if Lucy got into cutting in her teen years.) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/2 "2010-12-10T18:58:08Z")
1963! I thought this was going to be one of the '90s strips, when it really seemed to be getting depressive. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/3 "2010-12-10T19:10:35Z")
I realized that when I saw “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” in 1969. Charlie Brown is so depressing and the problem is that he only got the most meager of triumphs. Lucy was pretty sadistic, too – no wonder Linus needed that blanket all the time. Snoopy, at least, was well-adjusted. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/4 "2010-12-10T19:12:04Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I know we’ve talked about _Peanuts_ and Charles Schulz not long ago, but [yesterday’s strip](http://comics.com/peanuts/2010-12-09/) really got my attention. Explanation for those of us who can’t reach that site from work? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/5 "2010-12-10T19:24:36Z")
**LUCY:** I’m worried about a little boy who sits in front of me at school… He cries every day… This afternoon I tried to help him… I whacked him one on the arm… **CHARLIE BROWN:** You whacked him one on the arm?! **LUCY:** I think it helped… There’s nothing like a little physical pain to take your mind off your emotional problems. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/6 "2010-12-10T19:33:02Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I realized that when I saw “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” in 1969. Charlie Brown is so depressing and the problem is that he only got the most meager of triumphs. Lucy was pretty sadistic, too – no wonder Linus needed that blanket all the time. > > Snoopy, at least, was well-adjusted. Schroeder also seemed fairly normal for a musical child prodigy (albeit a bit Beethoven obsessed). As for the darkness of the strip, how about the one where Linus freaked out when it began snowing because he thought it was nuclear fall-out? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/7 "2010-12-10T19:38:43Z")
While Peanuts gives many a warm and fuzzy feeling, Sparky had a dark side. His first wife, and cartoonist Lynn Johnston of For Better or Worse have revealed some of this in their comments about him. But this is what gave the strip some of its appeal. The characters demonstrated some realistic fear and anxiety that was missing from comic strips up to that point. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/8 "2010-12-10T19:47:47Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > . . .(I wonder if Lucy got into cutting in her teen years.) > [@Wheelz](#): > > . . . **LUCY:** I think it helped… > There’s nothing like a little physical pain to take your mind off your emotional problems. I’m thinking she’d be more likely to cut someone else. She never advocated nor was blase’ about her own pain. Or even mild discomfort. **LUCY:** My lips touched dog lips! Somebody get some disinfectant! (quote paraphrased) ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-peanuts-could-be-friggin-dark/563684/9 "2010-12-10T19:57:29Z")
\*\ ***LUCY:** My lips touched dog lips! Somebody get some disinfectant! (quote paraphrased) [/QUOTE] \*\* Poison dog lips!!! My sister and I loved this line and said it over and over when we were kids to make ourselves laugh. I saw an interview once with Charles Schulz, and he shared that he could become quite depressed sometimes.