Are the ‘Smurfs’ Fascists?

Image by iStockphoto

By Renee Ghert-Zand June 2, 2011

Just as a whole new generation of kids is about to be introduced to those little blue creatures called Smurfs by a big Hollywood movie to be released this summer, a French writer and professor is warning parents that taking the tykes to the Cineplex might not be such a great idea. According to Antoine Bueno, things are not quite as they might seem in Smurf Village.

In this cute, imaginary, cartoon world, Bueno perceives a cover for a fascist, totalitarian state with racist, sexist and anti-Semitic practices and messages. Bueno is not the first to suggest such ideas, but until now, they were merely the rants of fringe voices from various corners of the Internet. With the professor’s publication this month of his “Le Petit Livre Bleu” (Little Blue Book), these theories appear to be going mainstream.

Why would Bueno pick on those poor little fictional blue people? Well, aren’t their enemies little black people? Doesn’t the authoritarian Papa Smurf rule that “utopian” village like a Hitler or Stalin? And take a look at the Smurfs’ worst enemy, Gargamel — doesn’t he resemble those anti-Semitic caricatures from pre-WWII Germany?

Bueno does not advocate that his comics-crazy fellow citizens stop buying and reading Smurfs books. But he does warn that readers — at least the adults among them — should no longer turn a blind eye to the real agenda of those cuddly-looking little blue characters.

And what do the French think about Bueno? That he is not only reading too many Smurf comics, but also reading too much into them.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO