Satan Worship and Other Smurf-rageous Accusations

In a few months, Hollywood will be releasing a live-action/CGI Smurfs movie based on the popular TV show that ran for most of the 80s. No doubt, it's an attempt by the risk-adverse studios to appeal to a new generation of children, while concurrently tapping the nostalgia vein of the 30-something parents who will be accompanying them and have their own fond memories of the Saturday-morning cartoon. My family fits into neither demographic--my daughter is too young to take to the multiplex, and I wasn't allowed to watch the Smurfs during my formative years. Those homogeneous blue-colored fellows, after all, are Satan worshipers.

OK, technically they're miniature forest creatures proficient in alchemy and wizardry. But their leader, Papa Smurf, who was always bailing his clansmen (and woman) out of trouble with his magic spells, also occasionally called upon a higher power named Beelzebub. It was that little factoid, and not necessarily Gargamel's penchant for dancing on pentagrams, that ultimately led to the show's banishment from my early-weekend cartoon schedule.

Of course, there were other shows on the no-no list too, including Beetlejuice (he's a demon), Dungeons & Dragons (they're all demons) and an early Care Bears movie featuring a demon face inside a sorcery book that tempts a young boy into wreaking havoc on the cuddly mammals. Somehow, He-Man slipped through the cracks, which I considered a guilty pleasure at the time, since I knew my parents wouldn't approve of the protagonist deriving his "power of the universe" from an evil Gray Skull.

Still, the entertainment I consumed as a child was closely monitored and appropriately filtered of any occulting influences, which I didn't really mind. There was always Bugs Bunny or Spiderman on another channel to watch, and looking back, I'm glad that my parents were engaged enough in my upbringing to scrutinize even the innocuous sources of malevolence, blue or not.

Did they go a little overboard? Perhaps. But don't most parents err on the side of caution in one form or another? For some, it means that their kids aren't allowed to play football for fear of a serious injury. Others don't want their older children to take trips outside of the country because of the horror stories they see on the news. These are all examples of deprivation, if you want to call it that. We're denying them an experience that will probably cause no lasting harm because we don't think the risk is worth the reward. It's no different for parents with a strong spiritual focus who see the myriad of entertainment options available, and choose to limit those that might have some type of negative influence.

Look, I'm not saying that anyone who played with a Brainy Smurf doll or watched the show is now disposed to dabbling in witchcraft, despite what some people think, but it wasn't necessary for cartoon barons Hanna/Barbera to include the worship of an entity synonymous with the devil. For my tastes, Elmer Fudd was as diabolical as an anti-hero needed to be.