Are the Smurfs communists?
Now, consider life in the Smurfs’ village: Residents live in identical mushroom houses. Everyone dresses alike. They sing the same group song, over and over. They have no apparent deity.
More to the point, the Smurfs have no economy. Farmer Smurf doesn’t peddle his crops to Wholesaler Smurf, who then marks them up for lucrative resale to Grocer and Baker Smurf. Nuh-uh. Farmer Smurf just farms, the better for the other Smurfs to eat at a communal table.
Similarly, Painter Smurf only paints. Handy Smurf builds stuff. Within the village, societal roles are clear-cut. No deviation is allowed — in fact, a memorable episode of the cartoon saw the Smurfs switch jobs with bumbling, humbling results.
Pop quiz: Who uttered the famous maxim, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs?”
Blowback
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Smurfs are a fantasy creation, just like Communism.
Rambotito on July 29, 2011 at 10:13 PM
I thought they were racists.
John the Libertarian on July 29, 2011 at 10:16 PM
The creator’s son says his father “wasn’t interested in politics at all”.
They could be a metaphor for the wonders of communism.
Or they could be small blue things who live in a village and appeal to kids.
amerpundit on July 29, 2011 at 10:17 PM
ummm… they live in a village
faraway on July 29, 2011 at 10:20 PM
I always thought they were survivalists. And also a little bit racist as JtL points out.
uknowmorethanme on July 29, 2011 at 10:20 PM
Wasn’t this already covered here a couple of months ago?
ramrants on July 29, 2011 at 10:20 PM
Can’t be. They are blue.
rukiddingme on July 29, 2011 at 10:25 PM
My education is sadly lacking. What’s a Smurf?
OldEnglish on July 29, 2011 at 10:26 PM
I can’t say that, but there is only one female and the rest are males.
csdeven on July 29, 2011 at 10:29 PM
Yes, I believe so.
They are definitely racially homogeneous. Thus, evil, of course. Oh but wait. They’re “of color.” So, not evil, but good.
Missy on July 29, 2011 at 10:31 PM
You’re better off not knowing.
SagebrushPuppet on July 29, 2011 at 10:31 PM
That sounds like stuff Beck would delve into and something to make conservatives look crazy.
Southernblogger on July 29, 2011 at 10:33 PM
The inspiration for the blue-skinned aliens in James Cameron’s Avatar.
malclave on July 29, 2011 at 10:34 PM
Yeah because he
s spent countless hours on his TV and radio shows doing just that kind of story. I’m right there with you man!
darwin-t on July 29, 2011 at 10:38 PM
Ah, I see, thank you. I haven’t seen that, either.
OldEnglish on July 29, 2011 at 10:39 PM
The appeal to kids is unfortunate in this case, because the film is too dirty for my kids. Hopefully yours, too.
http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/smurfs.aspx
itsnotaboutme on July 29, 2011 at 10:41 PM
And I hope you didn’t take me seriously.
The Smurfs was an old children’s cartoon which was annoyingly popular. I remember using the word “smurf” as a common substitute for various expletives.
I think in the cartoon they were hunted by an old man and his cat… I don’t know if the cat had a Hitler moustache or not.
malclave on July 29, 2011 at 10:43 PM
I remember coming across a semi-serious website back in the late 90′s that had a half-hearted argument claiming the Smurfs were communists. It’s just as silly now as it was then, only now there are tens of thousands of blogs that will bloviate about it rather than a few.
Weebork on July 29, 2011 at 10:48 PM
Thank you for the update. Not having seen either, I admit that I took your previous post at face value.
I shall have to vacate the cloisters, once in a while.
OldEnglish on July 29, 2011 at 10:50 PM
Point of note: all real smurfs are male. The female smurfs (Smurfet and the female smurfling) are artificial smurfs. Kind of weird.
Count to 10 on July 29, 2011 at 10:55 PM
How many of the smurfs sit back in leisure and live off of the hard work of the other smurfs? If you had a whole bunch of “Lazy Smurfs” you’d have a more similar situation to what we have now.
tdau1997 on July 29, 2011 at 10:58 PM
Since the Smurfs were created by the Frogs they probably are Collaborationists. IOW their government system depends upon to whom they have surrendered or by whom they are occupied at any given time. Not to mention the Vichy Smurfs who cut a deal as temporary safety for their puppet chiefs Henri and Pierre.
viking01 on July 29, 2011 at 10:58 PM
Gargamel the failed wizard/alchemist/warlock, and his cat Azreal.
Anyway, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smurfs
Count to 10 on July 29, 2011 at 11:06 PM
At any rate, there is a very interesting episode in which a purple bug bites one of the Smurf’s tails, which turns him purple and causes him to hop around and bite the tails of other smurfs, likewise changing them.
Surf-zombie Apocalypse.
Count to 10 on July 29, 2011 at 11:10 PM
Well, Brainy Smurf on the TV series had the whiny voice and the massive ego of a chief White House advisor or a New York Times columnist, so they may be onto something with this.
jon1979 on July 29, 2011 at 11:13 PM
Papa Smurf wears red so maybe he symbolizes Stalin.
Grandpa Smurf wears yellow so he might represent the Czars.
Then again, it could be just a crappy cartoon that really didn’t need a live action movie based on it.
mizflame98 on July 30, 2011 at 12:07 AM
That’s the sound it makes when Michael Moore sits on naugahyde.
Ronnie on July 30, 2011 at 12:41 AM
Don’t know about the smurfs, but Tinky Winky is definitely gay.
Also Thomas the Tank Engine is a racist imperialist.
http://www.slate.com/id/2299653/
Pablo Honey on July 30, 2011 at 12:45 AM
I wonder if there is a pundit out there arguing that since smurfs are monochromatic they are anti-diversity.
Also, clearly the smurfs are polygamists and all share the same wife.
jhffmn on July 30, 2011 at 1:23 AM
To be even more accurate: All real Smurfs are masculine. Being creatures made entirely of magic, none of them have sexual organs of any kind. At least, that’s the back story on them. It was a kid’s show after all.
The feminine Smurfette was actually created by Gargamel with the intent to act as an agent of destruction upon the Smurfs. (She was originally a Brunette) Papa Smurf later used his own magic on her, making her nice and a blonde.
The other feminine Smurf, Sassette, was actually created young smurfs (Smurflings) using a variation on Gargamel’s spell along with some help from Papa Smurf. She was intended to be a sister to Smurfette.
Yes, I watched and enjoyed the Smurfs. I also watched and enjoyed the Thundercats, and G.I. Joe, and even the Fat Albert cartoon. Anybody got a problem with that?
wearyman on July 30, 2011 at 2:08 AM
I remember that one. Creeped me right out.
wearyman on July 30, 2011 at 2:10 AM
Oh, and it should be noted, that the strange looking hat all the Smurfs wear is modeled after a historical hat called the “Phrygian cap”. It represents Freedom and Liberty, and has been used in traditional French and then American symbolism for centuries. You can see it used in several places, including the U.S. Army War Office Seal, the American Silver Eagle coin and the Seal of the United States Senate. It also features on several US State flags, and on historical American coinage several times.
wearyman on July 30, 2011 at 2:27 AM
I don’t if they are commies, but they are annoying as he**
vcferlita on July 30, 2011 at 7:31 AM
was there a smurf gulag hidden in the show?
rob verdi on July 30, 2011 at 7:41 AM
doesn’t surprise me:
the producer of the movie is/was a very left-wing guy.
more than most in h-wood – if you can believe that.
reliapundit on July 30, 2011 at 7:42 AM
It seems it is once again time to recall the famous verse of the theme to Mystery Science Theater 3000:
If you’re wondering how he eats and breathes
And other science facts
You’ve got to realize it’s just a show
And you really should relax
Kafir on July 30, 2011 at 8:01 AM
So is Star Trek Communist or Imperialist. Most things used to describe the smurf as commie can be used to describe Star Trek.
To have a communist utopia is not the only Utopia.
tjexcite on July 30, 2011 at 8:59 AM