Peter Debruge, who is not only a film critic for Variety — but the *chief international* film critic! — really wanted to see the animated Charlie Brown make out with a “non-white love interest” in the new Peanuts movie.
Alas, Debruge’s desires will go unfilled as the filmmakers refused to “modernize.”
The “Chief International Film Critic” for the entertainment site is disappointed the characters — created in 1950 — don’t reflect Debruge’s world view.
He writes:
Like most classic jokes, “Peanuts” isn’t so much funny as mildly amusing, which is evidently one of the many aspects of Schulz’s legacy that his son Craig and grandson Bryan fought to protect as screenwriters and producers on the film (presumably trumping their genuinely hilarious collaborator, Paul Feig, also credited as a producer alongside co-writer Cornelius Uliano).
But a little modernization wouldn’t have hurt, especially in the diversity department. While Franklin remains Charlie Brown’s only brown friend, a non-white love interest would have been as progressive as Schulz’s tomboyish depiction of Peppermint Patty was back in the day. (emphasis added)
Readers almost universally ridiculed Debrudge’s suggestion to turn the movie into a “progressive” statement.
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