"Who am I?", a seemingly simple question, embarrassed Charlie Brown.
When the teacher left homework in class and asked everyone to write down a 500-word self-introduction, Charlie Brown began to worry, "I don't know who I am." ”
If you don't know Charlie Brown yet, you'll know Snoopy. Charlie Brown is Snoopy's master, but compared to the dog that has been in space and is loved by everyone, Charlie Brown is much more ordinary.
He is the son of a hairdresser, loves baseball, goes to school on time every day, and strives to get through every day. But beyond that, there seems to be "nothing worth writing about." As a result, Charlie Brown fell into a deep self-entanglement, as he often did.
This is Apple TV's latest documentary, "Who Are You, Charlie Brown?" " plot. In 1950, Charlie Brown and Snoopy and their friends appeared in Charles Schultz's Peanuts Comics, and soon these simple characters were popular and touched generations around the world for more than 70 years.
In honor of charles Schultz, who died in 2000, the film traces a large amount of Schultz's own material in an attempt to decipher the popularity of Peanuts Comics.
But the protagonist of the film is not Snoopy, the most famous dog in the world, but Charlie Brown, an ordinary little boy.
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Charlie Brown, who are you? </h1>
Who the hell is Charlie Brown?
He was a sensitive but ordinary child. He was a good old man in the eyes of his friends and was called "a lovely loser who never seemed to be lucky".
He's not very likable, he's not very good at it, and he's a little unlucky. Always trying, but always failing. Therefore, when dealing with people, he will always be nervous, lack self-confidence, and fall into self-doubt.
He was also a little out of place, he was not as happy as the average child, always sullen, and even on Christmas when people celebrated, he would inexplicably fall low. Sometimes he was reluctant to go out because he was afraid that his day might just be ruined.
In order to complete this "Who Am I" assignment and get a good grade, Charlie Brown began a journey of asking around and finding himself.
In the process, he almost became a "rotten brother" in his sister's eyes; his friend Lucy listed a whole bunch of his shortcomings and told him that "you have always been a loser". Charlie Brown laughs at himself that maybe the meaning of his life is "feeding the dog."
But it's the somewhat mournful character of Charlie Brown that resonates a lot with people, "He's obviously just as stupid and unacceptable as I am", "Charlie Brown shows the sensitive heart of every child".
Charlie Brown is considered a representative of the "ordinary man," and author Schultz once said that Charlie Brown "has to be a suffering person because he is a comic of ordinary people." Most of us are more familiar with defeat than victory."
And while Charlie Brown always experiences setbacks, Charlie Brown has always been looking forward to better results and trying as hard as he can to get things done.
As his friend Linus said, Charlie's greatest strength was persistence, "My old friend Charlie Brown, he never gave up." So at the end of the story, he can always be cheerful again with the help of his friends.
Ping-Pong told him not to care too much about other people's eyes, but more importantly, how he saw himself.
Linus told him that everyone is unique, even if he is a nobody, but he only has to be good at Charlie Brown.
This is also the characteristic of Schultz comics, interesting is not the point, the focus is on the story between these children to show those problems that even adults will still be confused, and then use The Schultz way to give you some comfort.
No one loves you, but Snoopy will.
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In everyone's heart, there is a little bit of Charlie Brown</h1>
Like Charlie Brown, author Charles Schultz was always experiencing failure at first.
He was the only child in the family and was easily shy from an early age. He skipped the grade because of his good grades, but it made him a year younger than his classmates and always isolated from his classmates.
Schultz as a child
Schultz's father was also a hairdresser, and he liked to stay in his father's barber shop in his free time, but sometimes the cut was half cut, and the guests came in, and he would sit on a stool with a half-cut head. Perhaps it was this sensitive experience that allowed him to create a character like Charlie Brown.
Schultz has dreamed of becoming a cartoonist since he was a child, and the only joy of his youth was comics, he read cartoons in the newspaper and drew his own, "that is the meaning of my life".
He was called into the army during World War II, and when he served, he was often homesick, and could only be relieved by painting, and he carried a sketchbook with him everywhere.
After the war, he began to dedicate himself to becoming a true cartoonist. For five years, he spent a lot of trial and error. "Everyone thinks that selling a comic will bring a lot of opportunities, but after I sell two or three, I will suddenly not be able to sell it for many months." 」
This was the case until he drew Li'l Folks, which featured a kid named Charlie Brown and a Snoopy prototype dog, which evolved into the peanut comics.
The Little One
"The point of Charlie Brown is that these are all from the memories of my miserable days. I think there's a little bit of Charlie Brown in everyone's heart. Mostly me, mostly, I am Charlie Brown. Schultz said.
Schultz's stories are always taken from his own life. Snoopy's prototype is a dog he had raised when he was 13 years old. Sometimes the music in the comic is his favorite music. And after getting married and having children, he also took inspiration from observing his children.
Schultz with the kids
Other characters in Peanuts comics also show other aspects of his personality.
Linus represented that philosophical part of Schultz's mind, he always asked big questions, he thought about serious questions, but he always remained naïve and became Charlie Brown's spiritual mentor.
Snoopy represents the fantasy part of his heart, the "dog who doesn't want to be a dog" who is rich and warm and kind at heart, and it always becomes comfort even in the worst of times.
Schultz said, "Kids are just exaggerating the problems of adults, adults, and what adults will say." "He tells life in the most gentle way, telling everyone that even as Charlie Brown, there is nothing wrong with it, it is important not to give up, to face such a life with spirit." I feel like I'm going to come up with solutions from time to time, and one of them is to keep trying like Charlie Brown. ”
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The way life rewards you,
Often unexpected
Until 1980, Schultz had been drawing peanut comics for 30 years, with more than 10,000 comic strips. During this time, he never took a vacation, nor did he miss a deadline.
After the success of Snoopy's image, he continued to devote himself to creation day after day, rarely stopping. And every part of his painting was done by himself.
"Comic strips are a unique form of entertainment that accompanies you day in and day out... I'd rather sit down and draw funny cartoons than anything else. "For him, drawing cartoons is not just a way of expressing himself, but has become a part of life.
He was also surprised that Peanuts Comics had received so many likes, and he said that he just tried his best.
In 1981, he had a heart surgery, and the disease made his hands shake, and the lines he drew were often shaky, and sometimes he even had to hold his hand to drop the brush, but he never stopped. Like Charlie Brown, there was no giving up.
In 1999, Schultz was diagnosed with colon cancer and became weak due to chemotherapy. Knowing he would never be able to draw anymore, he finally had to announce the closure of his pen and stop serializing the manga.
Schultz bids farewell to the characters in Peanuts, "How can I forget them..."
Schultz died in his sleep on February 12, 2000, the day the peanut comics were published on the last serial.
In Who Are You, Charlie Brown? At the end of the documentary, Charlie Brown finally handed in the "Who Am I" assignment, and he was full of hope that his composition would get an A, but in the end he only got C-.
Charlie Brown was frustrated and frustrated, but when it started snowing and his friends asked him to go skating, he laughed happily again.
As Schultz always wants to tell you, our lives aren't always perfect, but "the way life rewards you is often unexpected." ”