S.M.U.R.F.

First off, Smurf Village can be compared to a socialist commune since everyone lives together and in harmony. Now this is very far from real life communism which was implemented in Russia and its eastern European satellites. In Smurf Village, there was no police, no military, no independent businesses, everyone worked for the collective good. A prime example is the large Dam that all the smurfs helped in its building and repairing. Money does not exist and neither does private property, except for Vanity's mirror.

The Smurfs are atheist, there is no Priest Smurf they only follow the forces of nature and physics through the magic potions of Papa Smurf and the evil villain Gargomel. Smurfs always refer to one another with the word Smurf; Brainy Smurf, Jokey Smurf, Papa Smurf, etc. This alludes to how communist Russians referred to one another as comrades instead of elitist titles. All the smurfs look alike: uniformly designed cap, white trousers, and blue skin. This example resembles the so-called Mao Suit which was common for workers in Communist China.

Now onto the characters of this cartoon. The head honcho, Papa Smurf resembles Karl Marx, especially because of the beard and his wisdom of the Smurf Village. His red hat is used to symbolize the traditional color of communism. Papa Smurf is not really the leader of the village but the smurfs look up to him because of his age and wisdom. Brainy Smurf, resembles Trotsky (Lenin's partner in Russia's Revolution). Just like Trotsky, Brainy Smurf wears glasses and is almost as intelligent as Papa Smurf. He is isolated and ridiculed by the other smurfs just as Trotsky was ridiculed by Stalin and was thrown out of the USSR.

And now I will direct your attention towards the opposition of marxist ideology; Capitalism. The villain Gargomel was capitalism. His greed and ruthlessness had him on an eternal quest for wealth and possessions which is a mirror image of capitalism's faults. Gargomel wanted to transform the smurfs into gold (the ultimate image of greed) or to eat them. This image of Gargomel's continuous struggle to destroy the Smurfs alludes to the American Cold War tactic of destroying communism. Gargomel's cat Azrael, depicts the working class in a free-market system, where they are at the whim of their employers. Azrael had no voice and he was only able to eat whatever Gargomel would feed him. Azrael had no where else to go and so he remained in the hands of his evil master.

All seemed perfect for the Smurfs, but in the late eighties the smurfs began changing, the SMURFLINGS, were introduced. They wore different clothes and more western costumes, just as these smurflings that I have here. Seems like the smurfs adopted more western values to risk from disappearing. This western intrusion into the utopia can only depict president Gorbachev's glasnot and perestoika era of reform which lead to the demise of the USSR.

Wether Peyo, tried to teach society a lesson about politics or that the SMURFS were merely a cartoon for children is up to the indivual to decide on their own. Politics affect everyone, even children, for in the eyes of our youth we can see the future of our society. Hopefully, our generation can lead us into the the new millennium with equality for all human beings not just SMURFS.