5 Love Lessons From ‘Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown’

The classic cartoon has wisdom we can all love today

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it’s time for me to indulge in my tradition of watching a holiday movie with the beloved Peanuts gang. As with the other TV specials, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown* not only presents a chance for me to enjoy the childhood nostalgia and memories of watching the cartoon with my grandmother, but it also has some lessons about love that still hold true in adulthood. The following are some of those lessons.

Love Makes You Think Illogically

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and Charlie Brown has stationed himself in front of the mailbox, vigilantly waiting for a card. Although he knows the mailbox is empty, he loves the idea of receiving a nice missive from someone — particularly the Little Red-Haired Girl — so much that his logical brain falls by the wayside and he reaches his arm deep into the mailbox to make sure he didn’t miss anything. And of course, he didn’t; there is no valentine waiting for him.

Love Makes You Want to Do the Dirty Work

Linus has developed a crush on his teacher, Miss Othmar, and his feelings are so strong that he even swoons at the way she says his name during the roll call. When she asks him to pound the erasers for her, Linus loves the idea of helping her so much that he has no problem doing some dirty work — even after he gets enveloped in a cloud of chalk dust as he gets the job done. “This is a privilege and an honor,” Linus tells himself. “I could die from all this honor.”

“Maybe this is the start of something big. Maybe next year I’ll get a whole bunch of valentines.”

Love Makes You Hopeful

Valentine’s Day is finally here and all the gang is excited to exchange cards in class. In fact, Charlie Brown is so excited and loves the prospect of receiving a lot of cards so much — it is a big class after all — that he brings a briefcase with him to school so he can easily carry them all home. Meanwhile, Linus is also filled with hope because he loves the idea that the big box of chocolates he bought for Miss Othmar will be well-received. Unfortunately, they both have their hopes dashed: Charlie Brown because he didn’t receive any valentines — he instead got a heart-shaped candy advising him to “FORGET IT KID” — and Linus because before he could present the chocolates to his teacher, she left school and drove off with her boyfriend.

Love Makes You Want to Stand Up for Someone

It’s the day after Valentine’s Day and Charlie Brown is crushed that none of his classmates cared enough to give him a card. Suddenly, Violet and some of the others come around to present a belated valentine to him. “Charlie Brown, we’ve been feeling awfully guilty about not giving you a valentine this year. Here, I’ve erased my name from this one. I’d like you to have it,” she explains. But before Charlie Brown can respond, Schroeder comes to his defense because he loves his friend and is angry by how hurt he was.

“Don’t you think he has any feelings? You and your friends are the most thoughtless bunch I’ve ever known. You don’t care anything about Charlie Brown. You just hate to feel guilty!” he admonishes them.

Although Schroeder lets them know that he doesn’t need their used valentine, ultimately Charlie Brown humbly accepts it and chooses to forgive them.

Love Makes You Look Forward to the Future

Charlie Brown and Linus reflect on the way their Valentine’s Day went, and although they are both disappointed about the events of that day, Charlie Brown still conjures up a glimmer of optimism. Sure, he received a used Valentine, but a used Valentine is better than no Valentine at all. And maybe, he surmises, this is the beginning of a new trend for him. “Maybe this is the start of something big. Maybe next year I’ll get a whole bunch of valentines,” he muses enthusiastically as he thinks of what’s to come.

*This article contains affiliate links.

More from Kiki Wellington: