The Smurfs = Communist?

Karl Marx stated “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.” Does that statement = a society like Smurf village??

Becoming a “real” Smurf = practicing “raw communism” Same clothes, everyone has a specific task and everyone earns an equal amount of Smurf berries. No matter what, your name ends with “Smurf” and is followed by the job you do for the village. (expressionist writers of the late 1800-early 1900s did this in their writings as well)-expressionist: socialists, communists, proto-socialists…coincidence??

S.M.U.R.F.? According to some social scholars, the word “Smurf” stands for “Socialist (or Soviet) Men Under Red Father”

The case against Papa Smurf- Rules Smurf Village without being elected. Everyone in Smurf village is equal EXCEPT Papa Smurf > the other Smurfs…does that mean he is a dictator? AND he’s wearing red pants-the international color of communism and socialism.

Papa Smurf’s “true identity” Stalin Marx

In Smurf village-these are the “bad” guys: Vanity Smurf- Greedy Smurf- Looked in a mirror Takes food for all day, is he gay? himself, eats Gay men were A LOT and oppressed during represents Communist Rule Capitalism?

The Brainy Smurf Question Trotsky-high ranking official under Lenin, later exiled because Stalin didn’t agree with his ideas. Sometimes, Brainy’s intellectualism causes problems in Smurf Village…

Jokey Smurf-another nuisance Jokey is always interrupting the productivity of the Smurf work day with his “booming” joke boxes!

The case for/against Smurfette- Smurf creator, Pierre Culliford (aka: Peyo), called her “very feminine”; she’s made by their nemisis and she causes disruption in their society. she had been created by their arch nemisis Gargamel, and was evil and intent on destroying them all until Papa smurf fixed her. The second female, Sassette,was the same way. Then they introduced Granny smurf, who came into being before the show began, so we don't actually know what her origin was. By the end of the series, the men numbered 105 (if you count the robot smurf, Clockwork) and only 3 females. Another interesting note is that the second girl was made so that Smurfette had female companionship, because she needed another girl to talk to. One theory does stand up. The character Smurfette undeniably embodies some unflattering female stereotypes, and does so on purpose. In a recent biography of Peyo, Hugues Dayez relates a story about the cartoonist's negotiations with NBC for the upcoming Smurf animated series. Peyo apparently spoke little or no English. When the discussion turned to Smurfette, Peyo's interpreter explains: Peyo began by saying that she was "very feminine." They asked him to be more specific, so he went on to say: "She is pretty, blonde, she has all the characteristics of women…" Knowing the feminist spirit in the U.S.A., I diplomatically translated this as "all the qualities." I was banking on the fact that Peyo did not understand what I was saying (in English) and the others did not understand what he was trying to say. So naturally they asked him to expand. So he kept on going with: "She seduces, she uses trickery rather than force to get results. She is incapable of telling a joke without blowing the punch line. She is a blabbermouth but only makes superficial comments. She is constantly creating enormous problems for the Smurfs but always manages to blame it on someone else." I did my best to minimize the sexist nature of this description, but one of the participants at the meeting asked: "Would she at least be able, when the Smurfs are in danger, to take a decision that can save them?" When I translated this to Peyo, he looked astounded. "Come on now, do they expect me to make her a (female) gym teacher?" I obviously did not translate this remark. [Translation by Valteron]

Other less than Smurfy Smurfs… Lazy Smurf, Dreamy Smurf, Clumsy Smurf

If you are a REALLY bad Smurf-what’s your punishment? Papa Smurf banishes you to the forest. This is similar to banishment to a Soviet Gulag in Siberia.

In Smurf village-these are the “good” guys: Proletarian Smurfs who are hard working and who question nothing like these two- Handy Smurf & Hefty Smurf- a military man? He’s the strongest Smurf AND the only one with a tattoo

The Villains-BOTH are “greedy capitalists” Gargamel-Semitic features represent Stalin’s dislike of Jews…his red shoes? I have no idea. Azarel-a “fat cat” American politician

Other random Smurf as communist exhibits… The WORD Smurf can be used as anything, a verb and adjective, an adverb, a pronoun…another way to unify the Smurfs? Mushroom houses-does that mean communism = euphoric atmosphere??

Their theme song is even telling… The words: “la, la, la, la, la, la”-Smurfs sing this when working on large scale projects such as dam construction. Early Communists sing-“The International Hymn” at international party congresses and big projects like Stalin-era 5-year plans

So….what do you think?