USATODAY.com--Don't be fooled by their cute, innocent blue exterior and their sunny demeanour.
The Smurfs are actually out and out Nazis and Stalinists - well at least if French sociologist Antoine Buéno is to be believed.
In his book, Le Petit Livre Bleu - The Little Blue Book - Buéno said that the tribe of little blue creatures are 'steeped in Stalinism and Nazism' and that their leader Papa Smurf, 'shows very authoritarian and paternalistic characteristics'.
French sociologist Antoine Buéno said in his book Le Petit Livre Bleu - The Little Blue Book - that the tribe of little blue creatures are 'steeped in Stalinism and Nazism'
The Smurfs would be horrified if they knew what Bueno wrote about them in his 'little blue' book. He said that their lack of private property and collective-style economy is a clear nod to socialism.
He also makes the connection that their biggest enemy - the magician Gargamel - has a Jewish caricatures and his cat's name is Azrael.
He said: 'Gargamel is ugly, dirty, with a hooked nose (who) is fascinated by gold.' And it doesn't just stop there.
The Smurfs are not just Nazis, he believes, but s*xist Nazis to boot. He cites the example of Smurfette - the only woman in the Smurf village - and points out she meets the Aryan ideal of beauty with her long blonde hair and refined features.
The offending book which has outraged Smurf fans everywhere. Giving an example of their racism, Mr Buéno told the Wall Street Journal: 'The first comic strip, The Black Smurfs, was intimately concerned with what you might classify as a racial threat.
'Because in that album, the Smurfs are sick. And when they’re sick, they don’t turn purple or red or anything like that, they become black. And when they become black, they lose all trace of intelligence.
'They become completely moronic. And further more, they can no longer speak, they just go "nyap nyap nyap".'
In another story, a Smurf gets stung by a black fly that again turns his skin jet black, drives him insane and deprives him of speech. Soon the entire village has changed colour.
He said: 'They lose all trace of intelligence and become completely moronic.
'It's roughly the way Africans were viewed by white colonisers in the 19th century.' The Smurf's sickly colour was later turned to purple.
The Smurfs creator, Belgian artist Peyo, told a Flemish paper: 'I disagree with his interpretation. It is between the grotesque and the not serious.'
But the book has caused a near revolt for Smurf aficionados everywhere who are outraged by his comments.
Black Smurfs: An example of what Mr Buéno believes is racism, where sick Smurfs turn black and spread fear among 'normal Smurfs'
On the Schtroumpfmania - French for Smurf - website, Bibouille said: 'What a disgrace to soil the legends of our childhood.'
Another, called Anastasia wrote: 'It's not hard to find anti-Semitism in Shakespeare or Balzac. The author's arguments spring from his own obsessions ... the hooked nose of a wizard is neither Jewish nor Goy, it's a traditional for wizards.'
Such has been the outrage, the author said he feared for his physical safety and insisted he meant no harm.
Neil Patrick Harris stars in the film The Smurfs in 3D which is out on July 29. He said: 'I love the Smurfs. I just wanted to explain with this book that popular works teach us lot about the society we come from. I am not accusing Peyo of racism himself, otherwise you can well imagine (his heirs) would have attacked me.
'However, I believe his work (like many others) carries and concentrates a certain number of stereotypes particular to a given society and era.'
The Smurfs 3D movie opens in the U.S. on July 29.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Saturday, June 4th 2011 at 2:40PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
