Many people around the world celebrate Christmas with glee. In the popular carol It's the most wonderful time of the year, singer Andy Williams croons how Christmas is the 「happiest season of all」 where everyone is of 「good cheer.」
There are several holiday movies that interpret the Christmas spirit. In previous years, I shared with you It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street . This year I』ll share another with you, A Charlie Brown Christmas, a 25-minute cartoon from 1965 that many Americans faithfully watch each December.
Charlie Brown is from the Peanuts series, featuring Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and their friends.
Not everyone feels the joy. In A Charlie Brown Christmas, Christmastime is here, and Charlie Brown complains that he is depressed. When most people are in joyful and festive Christmas moods, he is sad and disappointed. He thinks something is wrong with him. Like many who are depressed, Charlie Brown feels alone and isolated with these feelings.
He turns to his friends for guidance, but they offer him no relief. He thinks Christmas has become too commercialized, losing any charitable or spiritual meaning. Charlie Brown bemoans how his friends are buoyed by the consumerism typical of the season and not by the true meaning of Christmas.
In the United States, Christmas is a peak selling season, with holiday sales in November and December averaging a large percent of their annual retail sales. For many retailers, these two months can make or break the entire year.
For example, Charlie Brown talks to his friend Lucy for advice, who charges him 5 cents for psychiatric help and delights in the sound of clinking nickels. She later quips that she is also disappointed in Christmas because she never receives gifts that she really wants, only getting a lot of 「stupid toys」.
▽Lucy gives advice
His dog, Snoopy, enters a neighborhood Christmas lights display contest to 「find the true meaning of Christmas, win money, money, money!」 His younger sister Sally asks him to help her write a letter to Santa Claus with a long list of gifts that she wants. She lists the size and color of each item, but says Santa can also 「just send money, how about tens and twenties?」
▽Snoopy's doghouse
Discouraged by all of this commercialism, Charlie Brown feels empty, sinking further into depression.
However, Lucy suggests that Charlie Brown direct their Christmas play, as he needs 「involvement」 to snap out of his depression. She suggests that when feeling depressed, taking action and participating in meaningful activities can help. Even though Charlie Brown didn’t know anything about directing a play, he agreed.
During the first rehearsal, the children just want to play around and not take the Christmas story seriously. Lucy doesn’t think this is problem, saying that 「Christmas is a big commercial racket」. Charlie Brown insists on getting a Christmas tree to set the proper mood, and Lucy says he should get a 「great big shiny aluminum Christmas tree…maybe painted pink.」
▽Charlie Brown chooses tree
Charlie Brown ends up selecting a small and sparse green tree, saying, 「I think it needs me.」 The other children later ridicule him, saying he should have bought a brightly-colored aluminum one that fits the modern spirit。Charlie Brown breaks down in frustration, demanding to know if anyone knows what Christmas is all about.
Linus then steps forward, reciting a scripture about the birth of Christ: 「Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior which is Christ the Lord.」 (Luke 2:10-11) This, Linus says, is what Christmas is all about.
▽Linus recites Christmas story
Charlie Brown is relieved, redirecting the play’s theme to the true Christmas story and saying he won’t let all the commercialism ruin his Christmas.
Now filled with courage, Charlie Brown becomes determined to decorate the scrawny tree, bringing out its best. The tree symbolizes a needy person, and Charlie Brown sees that by helping someone or something in need, he can overcome his own depression.
The other children help him decorate the tree, turning it into a masterpiece. Linus says that 「maybe it just needs a little love.」
Put another way, Charlie Brown’s act of love for an otherwise unremarkable tree then inspired his friends to share some love with him. In the final scene, when they wish him 「Merry Christmas,」 he finally grasped the meaning of Christmas: faith, hope, and love.
My friend, Charlie Brown overcame the Christmas blues by stepping out and getting involved in a play. And by transforming a scraggly tree, he felt better by bringing out the true potential of an otherwise rejected object. If you’re feeling depressed, get involved with something meaningful or reach out to a friend in need. Caring is contagious, and you』ll feel better as well.
Merry Christmas!
1.Croon \ ˈkrün \
a)含義：v. 低聲歌唱
b)例句：
i.In the popular carol It's the most wonderful time of the year, singer Andy Williams croons how Christmas is the 「happiest season of all」 where everyone is of 「good cheer.」
歌手安迪·威廉士在流行的聖誕頌歌《一年中最美好的時光》中croons（柔聲唱道），聖誕節是四季裡最幸福的節日，每個人都是開開心心的。
ii.Don't be startled by the smiling, white-haired man who croons "Merry Christmas" to you.
當你見到那向你低聲哼著「聖誕快樂」面帶笑容的白髮老人時，不要感到吃驚。
c)近義詞：carol, lilt, sing softly
2.Buoy \ ˈbü-ē \
a)含義：v. （使）浮起；（使）振奮
b)例句：
i.Charlie Brown bemoans how his friends are buoyed by the consumerism typical of the season and not by the true meaning of Christmas.
他哀嘆自己的朋友們是受到了這個季節典型的消費主義的鼓動，而非聖誕節真正的喻義。
ii.The cash flow has buoyed prices and kept the market strong.
資金流轉支撐著物價，並保持市場強勢。
c)近義詞：bolster, buttress, prop
3.Quip \ ˈkwip \
a)含義：v. 嘲弄；譏諷
b)例句：
i.She later quips that she is also disappointed in Christmas because she never receives gifts that she really wants, only getting a lot of 「stupid toys」.
她後來諷刺說，自己在聖誕節也很失望，因為從來沒有收到過真正想要的禮物，得到的只是「一堆愚蠢的玩具」。
ii.The standard quip among the remnants of Belfast’s shipbuilding community remains: 「She was all right when she left us.」
在貝爾法斯特造船社會的殘存文化中還流傳著一句通俗的俏皮話：「她起航的時候還好好的。」
c)近義詞：jeer, jest, joke
4.Overcome \ ˌō-vər-ˈkəm \
a)含義：v. 克服；勝過
b)例句：
i.The tree symbolizes a needy person, and Charlie Brown sees that by helping someone or something in need, he can overcome his own depression.
這棵樹象徵著一個需要幫助的人，查理·布朗認為通過幫助需要施以援手的人或物，他就可以克服自己的抑鬱情緒。
ii.I realized how possible it was to overcome your limitations, to achieve well beyond what you believe yourself capable of.
我意識到如何有可能克服自身的局限，取得自認為力不能及的成就。
c)近義詞：conquer, defeat, surmount
5.Masterpiece \ ˈma-stər-ˌpēs \
a)含義：n. 傑作
b)例句：
i.The other children help him decorate the tree, turning it into a masterpiece.
其他孩子幫著他裝飾這棵樹，把它變成了一件傑作。
ii.The painting is a masterpiece in the truest sense of the word.
這幅畫是名副其實的傑作。
c)近義詞：magnum opus, masterwork, showpiece