In praise of Peanuts--culture cues and life lessons from Charlie Brown

 65 years after Peanuts cartoons appeared, "The Peanuts Movie" came out. It opened November, 2015 and eight months later, its popularity continues to escalate. Multiple theater and Broadway versions of Peanuts-based stories have been done and reprised in the comic's long and illustrious career. One of the most famous is "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." The off-Broadway production opened in 1967 and had many revivals. The most recent is the York Theatre Company 2016 revival, nearly 50 years later.
What is it that has drawn fans to the Peanuts gang for seven decades? Peanuts has a kryptonite appeal for adults and children alike. '60s and '70s kids were surely powerless over the addiction. They read Peanuts comics in the paper, bought paperbacks of Snoopy comics, rushed home to watch Charlie Brown specials on TV (back when they came on once a year and if you missed them, sucks to you.)
Back in the day, all kids knew of culture came from Charlie Brown and Looney Tunes. If it weren't for them, baby boomers would have been a bunch of ignorami. Who knew, for example, what "psychiatric help" was till Lucy VanPelt opened her booth and charged five cents for it? (Don't judge, a nickel was a lot of money back then!) Who'd ever heard of VanGogh till Snoopy decorated his doghouse in it? Snoopy also taught history-deprived kids about WWI flying aces, Sopwith Camels and the Red Baron.
Kids knew the name Pavlov thanks to dog-dish-wielding Snoopy, if they didn't get the reference. From Schroeder, kids got music appreciation of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff--though how he got "Prelude in C-sharp minor" out of that toy piano, no one ever figured out.  And blanket-toting Linus's philosophical lectures were head and shoulders above most adults let alone kids.
Kids learned life lessons from and with the Peanuts gang. Raise your hand if you yelled "no, Charlie Brown, don't do it!" when P.I.T.A Lucy tries to lure him into kicking that blasted football, again? A generation learned how to avoid kite-eating trees, thanks to Peanuts comics. And who didn't feel just a little bit better about limited athletic skills compared to Charlie Brown? Having said that, this author can't be the only one annoyed that pitcher Charlie Brown took all the flak when the whole team screwed up. Even Snoopy--his own pet--was a bit of a douche-dog to Charlie Brown. Snoopy definitely had better friends and a cooler social life.
But Charlie Brown took it with Zen. As Lucy so aptly put it, "of all the Charlie Browns, Charlie Brown, you're the Charlie Browniest." Why does Peanuts continue to resonate? Je ne sais quoi--but it probably has to do with that wonderful Tao plus chutzpah of Charlie Brown!  

The Cove Dolphin Slaughter Documentary and other Ecology movies for Earth Month

Earth Day, formerly called Arbor Day, is celebrated on April 22. Spring manifests itself in a big way in April, so the entire month has come to be known as Earth Month. During this month, you can learn more about geology and earth science with these environmental films and movies about ecology. Explore earth-safe and not-so-earth-safe practices. Discover how local habits have global impacts.

"Crude: The Real Price of Oil" (2009): In "Crude" filmmaker Joe Berlinger profiles the "Amazon Chernobyl" case, in which 30,000 indigenous Ecuadorean Rain Forest inhabitants took on oil mogul, Chevron. This film won several dozen awards including Best Green Film and Best Documentary. This film resonates with oil spill victims and those who oppose Big Oil.

"The Cove" Louie Psihoyos goes behind-the-scenes with a camera team to uncover atrocities wrought by the Japanese fishing industry. Psihoyos captures rare, secret footage of dolphin slaughter and harmful mercury poisoning oceans, waterways and the ecosystem. The Cove won an Oscar for Best Documentary and the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award. Parents and teachers should view "The Cove" before showing the film to children. Graphic scenes of dolphin slaughter may be too disturbing for children under 12.

"Blackfish" This documentary exposed abuse of orca "killer whales" at SeaWorld and other animal amusement parts. It tells the story of Tilikum, a captive orca whale who killed his trainer. 

"Soylent Green" (1973): In the style of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," Richard Fleischer's science fiction thriller explores a future world in which the population explosion is depleting all the world's food sources. Scientists discover a mysterious miracle food and call it "soylent green." No one knows what it's made from, nor cares so long as it fills hungry bellies. Then a reporter discovers the horrible truth.

"No Impact Man" (2009): This chronicles a family that transitions from a fast-paced New York City consumer lifestyle to become the perfect green family. Their goal is to leave zero carbon footprint and no environmental impact for one year. Colin Beaven is the "No Impact Man."

"Dirty Business: Clean Coal and the Battle for our Energy Future" (2009): In this documentary film, the Center for Investigative Reporting demonstrates the dangers inherent in a world addicted to coal power.

Free printable Greek mythology, Percy Jackson and the Oympians

If you love Percy Jackson books, you'll want these free printable Greek mythology coloring pages. FantasyJr. has twelve free printable Greco-Roman coloring pages of the Olympians.  Karen's Whimsey has dozens of free printable mythology and Ancient Greece coloring pages. Color the Olympians, gods and goddesses, heroes, mythological monsters, beasts and creatures. Color free printable famous works of art featuring the Greek pantheon, Satyrs, Circe, the Sirens, Odysseus and many more characters from Greek mythology. Print coloring pages from ancient Rome, as well gods in Roman mythology.Coloring.ws has a complete free printable Greek mythology coloring pages on the Olympians of Ancient Greece. This site also contains free printable maps of Greece.

Book to Movie Films for Psychology Lesson Plans

Movies, whether independent films, documentaries or Hollywood blockbusters, have a powerful impact on how we understand concepts. Whether information is accurate, exaggerated or false, if it's portrayed in movie form we tend to accept and believe it more readily. Some of the most pervasive ways movies influence information is in the area of mental illness, mental institutions and institutional behavior.

Looking for films to use in psychology lesson plans about mental institutions and emotional illness? Here are some One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (and now the Netflix spinoff "Ratched")Girl Interrupted, Shutter Island, Patch Adams, K-Pax, Sybil, The Snake Pit, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and Girl Interrupted.  

It's important to discuss, in psychology lesson plans, the sometimes inaccurate portrayals about mental illness and institutions. People are often shown as being treated cruelly in institutions. "The Snake Pit" (1948) with Olivia de Haviland, is not far off with it's depiction of institutions of that time. "Girl Interrupted" (1998) with Angelina Jolie gives a fairly accurate picture of how institutional behavior develops. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has strong merit as a mental institution expose.

Sensationalized stories can also block our vision. They take the focus off the real issues with over-dramatized, lurid depictions. "Shutter Island" (2009) is a perfect example. Viewers were prepared to be terrified by gruesome mental institution scenes. What they got was a complex, multi-layered story that poked holes in many accepted fallacies about mental illness. Some accusation of sensationalism has been levied at "Sybil" (1976). I have used and would continue to use the film in psychology classes, for Sally Field's exceptional performance and because it gives an inside-out look at the effect of child abuse. The important issue is to recognize media hype and deflect it with accurate information.