by Tricia Psarreas Murray

Created on: May 23, 2009

I know this is going to sound like a poorly made for TV movie, but I lost my Christmas spirit for a few years. It wasn't hiding in a tree, it couldn't be found through A Christmas Story, and it wasn't buried amidst a pile of wrapping paper, either. It was simply gone. But this year, something happened and my Christmas spirit came back. The only problem? Someone else robbed me of the ability to enjoy it!

For the past month, I've acted like a complete Christmas geek. I decorated a tree for the first time in nearly a decade, bought enough garland to captivate an army, and did a record amount of Christmas shopping before it was even time to eat some Thanksgiving turkey. I bought six different types of Christmas cards to personally suit each recipient, made even more cards by hand (a daunting feat, indeed), and watched more ABC Family than I have in my life combined. So with all this Christmas spirit radiating through my pores, I was ecstatic to sit down and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas when the time came.

Well.

At some point during my Christmas spirit crisis, someone apparently decided that A Charlie Brown Christmas was a little too Christmasy for the masses to watch in full. The very name of the movie was not enough to clue people in to the movie's purpose. Someone somewhere must have been confused and later offended to discover that A Charlie Brown Christmas is, in fact, about Christmas.

I don't know who that person may have been, but clearly he or she exists. So for anyone else who happened to be hiding under a rock since the advent of television specials, let me provide a brief synopsis of the real movie along with a brief synopsis of what would surely make Charles Schultz roll over in his grave.

Original Movie: Charlie Brown is useless, but he still gets to direct the Christmas pageant. He buys a half dead tree and everyone is upset. The pageant works out and Linus explains the origins of Christmas. The Peanut Gang decorates the tree, Christmas spirit abounds, and Charlie Brown feels like a bit less of a loser.

New Movie: Charlie Brown is useless, but he still gets to direct the Christmas pageant. He buys a half dead tree and everyone is upset. The pageant disappears from the movie all together, but the Peanut Gang decorates the sad, little tree, anyway. Viewers scratch their heads in confusion.

What on earth happened here?!

Now, I understand that religion is a touchy topic and that nobody wants to offend anyone else. I accept the fact that Santa

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