Saturday Night's Alright for Peanuts

For your Saturday Night Viewing Pleasure (not of the adult film variety), this is a wonderful metaphor of many abusive relationships [and a wonderful parody of forms of psychotherapy that focus upon pathologies and flaws instead of strengths and potential].

 1. Charlie Brown has low self-esteem.

 2. Lucy, under the auspices of "helping," takes obvious pride in pointing out every flaw Charlie Brown may have.

 3. She presents a solution, but she has hurt CB in the past. CB is skeptical, even angry. But she says this time will be different. He really ought to trust her. In fact, it'd be wrong not to.

4. CB wants to believe so much, he decides to give her another shot.

 5. Lucy pulls the football away from him.

 6. She then proceeds to point out every flaw in CB's attempt, without ever mentioning that she's the one who actually pulled out the ball in the first place. (victim blaming to a tee).

 7. CB internalizes the shame, blaming himself for what she's done to him and setting himself up to repeat the entire process again.

 So: Who's your Lucy? What's her football?