With the death of "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz, many commented on his ability to reflect on the sadnesses of real life through the experiences of his characters. One journalist talked about Schulz's admiration for the losers of the world:

With that theme of loving losers—even Charlie Brown's baseball idol, Joe Shlabotnik, was the worst player in the pros—came the corollary, losing at love. Every major character has an unrequited love—Charlie Brown and the little red-haired girl, Lucy and Schroeder, Linus and Miss Othmar. Even Snoopy got dumped at the altar. Happiness may be a warm puppy, but as Schulz once said, "Happiness is not very funny." Schulz infused the strips with his lifelong feelings of depression and insecurity—he had his heart broken by a real-life red-haired girl—and they showed, Camus-like, how one could feel lonely even in a crowd. Many of his panels have two characters outside, at night, staring at a field of stars. "Let's go inside and watch television," Charlie Brown says in one. "I'm beginning to feel insignificant."