Variety Film Critic Complains Charlie Brown Doesn’t Have a ‘Non-White Love Interest’

While reviewing the upcoming “The Peanuts Movie,” Variety  international film critic Peter Debruge complained that the film lacked diversity and that protagonist Charlie Brown didn’t have a non-white love interest.

“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…” Deburge complains in an otherwise positive review.

“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,” he concludes.

The movie revolves around Charlie Brown’s classic obsession with the elusive Little Red-Headed Girl. When the Little Red-Headed Girl made her sole appearance in the 1977 TV special It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown -written by creator Charles Schulz— she was also white.

[h/t Newsbusters]

[Image via 20th Century Fox]
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