Why The Smurfs Were Communists
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A number of links between the Smurfs and communism can be found by looking at the society in which the Smurfs live. Every one of the Smurfs is portrayed to be exactly equal. They all have to wear white hats and white pants (with the two exceptions of Papa Smurf and Smurfette). This demonstrates the classless society which the Marxist theory is in favor of, where all men and women are exactly the same and no better than each other. Communism is built on the theory that no man should be better or worse off than the other. Private business is disallowed and all workers must work for the benefit of the communist state. In the Smurf village all the Smurfs have their own individual jobs to do. No Smurf is regarded as more or less important than any other. Each Smurf works for the benefit of the community: Handy Smurf does any odd jobs that are needed and builds things, Jokey Smurf keeps everyone happy, Brainy Smurf has a lot of technical knowledge. The Smurfs have absolutely no form of currency and everything is shared among them. Evidence lies within a number of individual Smurfs and their actions. One of these is Brainy Smurf. In the TV show he is portrayed in a negative light. It is believed that he was designed to represent Trotsky, one of Lenin's high ranking officials. During the 1920's Trotsky was exiled from Russia, by Stalin, to Mexico. This was done because Trotsky's beliefs which conflicted with those of Stalin and other high rank communists. Brainy Smurf also is unhappy in the Smurf village. He repeatedly questions the ways of the Smurf and is continually thrown out of the village for his actions. Evidence for the Smurfs being a communist society lies further with which Smurfs are portrayed negatively and those which are portrayed positively. Handy, the worker and Hefty, the soldier are portrayed positively as these are qualities that are seen as beneficial to Smurf society. Those portrayed negatively are Greedy who eats far too much, and Vanity who contributes little to society. The Smurfs biggest enemy, Gargamel, represented Communism's biggest enemy, capitalism. Gargamel wanted to catch the Smurfs in order to turn them into gold. The creator of the smurfs wished to portray Capitalists as money grabbing misers whose sole purpose in life was the accumulation of wealth. Communist countries also tend to have a dictator at the head of state, i.e. Papa Smurf. Papa Smurf is clearly the dictator at the head of the Smurf society. He is the man in charge, the guy who orders everyone about and does little or no work. Any Smurf who steps even slightly out of line is dealt with by Papa Smurf. |
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