By Bek Szilagyi
Okay, so here’s the thing. Lucy Van Pelt isn’t bossy. We need to use different terminology. Lucy Van Pelt has “Executive Leadership Skills.” This is essential for Lucy’s character. If we ignore her natural gift to command a room, or her self confidence, we’ve lost her essence.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, we need to address another issue that deals with connotations of Lucy Van Pelt. There is a connotation that Lucy is annoying. And this is usually because she’s deemed as bossy. From the broadway recordings and popular ways of portraying her (because of said recording), there is an idea that she is annoying, in how she sounds, in how she speaks. I happen to think this does not match up with the comics or the movies.
There is this connotation that has been adapted that Lucy Van Pelt is annoying because she is quote unquote “bossy” and that a young girl with a big personality and opinions is then annoying. I think that does terrible things to little girls who do have big personalities, and as someone who was a little girl with a big personality, I don’t like this. Not one bit.
Lucy is nine. Like any nine year old, she has dreams and aspirations. The largest aspiration she has is to be Queen. Upon realizing that’s not an incredibly viable option, she comes up with a new path to this dream. Being very rich, which, ya know, is a very close second if you ask me.
Lucy’s also realistic. She’s not afraid to look at the harsh realities of a situation. Granted this is best shown in how she encourages Charlie Brown to admit all the things that are wrong with him (she’s nine and probably not going into psychiatry. Right now it’s just a side job. Give her grace). She even acknowledges how absolutely terrible their baseball team is.
Lucy has a sureness about her. This confidence and presence is what allows the other characters to follow behind her. I want to be clear about something here. This confidence does not equilate annoying. Confidence and large personality were never synonymous with annoy and, frankly, I’m bothered that, in many renditions of this show, it has come to that.
The first time I was listening to this show, and mostly Lucy’s songs, I was with my mother at the time. When Lucy sang, she instantly grimace. My mother, a big personality herself, didn’t lose a moment in telling me, that, no matter what, there was no way she would come and see this show if I played Lucy in a way that 1. Hurt the audience’s ears, and 2. Down played her humanity.
The thing about this show is the simplicity and preciousness of childhood. You can’t paint Lucy Van Pelt as a villain and a pest when you see the humanity in her. We’ve all known precious little girls with dreams of being Queen, with spunk and personality, with a natural talent to command a room or playground or crowd. Lucy has been their front runner in many ways. And it’s time we defend her for being outspoken and ambitious.
