The Unnatural Origin of Smurfette
She’s no natural-born Smurf.
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I loved the Smurfs back in the late ’80s. I must have had a hundred little Smurf figurines. But I haven’t given them much thought in recent years and haven’t even seen the movies. Definitely not the new one.
A while back, though, while babysitting my niece, I showed her YouTube clips of old Smurfs episodes, and we stumbled upon something I did not even remotely recall: the origin of Smurfette. It seems being the lone female Smurf requires a special origin.
The 1981 episode “The Smurfette” shows us how Smurfette came into existence. She was not born of Smurf, you see. The closest thing she has to a father is the wicked Gargamel. He cooks her up with some potions and sets her loose to sow dissension among the happily single-gendered Smurfs.
Initially, Smurfette appears as a black-haired, rather plain lady Smurf. The guys do not fall for her feminine wiles. When she asks Hefty to carry her back to the village, he complies with a fireman’s carry.
This first female Smurf has evil in her cold heart, and she conspires with Gargamel to lure the Smurfs into traps. One ploy involves tricking Greedy into showing her how to open a dam. She floods the village but nearly gets herself killed in the process—until the kindness of Smurfs saves her.
She begins to see the error of her ways. Then, like a little blue Pinocchio, Smurfette resolves to become a real Smurf. Using potions and magic, Papa Smurf transforms her into a knockout (by Smurf standards), which apparently makes her less evil.
Now the boys love her.
But Papa Smurf couldn’t undo all of Gargamel’s influence. Residual evil and confusion lurk within her, which allows Gargamel to trick her into luring all the Smurfs into a trap. Gargamel revels in his moment of triumph and fantasizes about eating the Smurfs. (The notion of feasting on Smurfs somehow works up Greedy’s appetite, which is concerning, to say the least.)
Only one free Smurf remains: Smurfette. But she’s still not a real Smurf, not fully. However, through her actions, perhaps she can become one.
She adopts a disguise and plays Lone Ranger—even calling herself the Lone Smurf. Suddenly, she’s no longer a hybrid of Eve and the snake. Rather, she’s a clever, brave Smurf of action who manages to outwit Gargamel and Azrael and save her new friends. Now, at long last, Smurfette has smurfed her way into becoming a real Smurf.
The plot comes across as rather sexist by today’s standards and probably the standards of the ’80s as well. Bad enough that she was the token girl, that being female was her defining character trait, but she came into existence specifically to be evil. That’s certainly one way to set her apart.
The ending is the strongest part, though, as it ties together a theme that does work quite well: No matter where you came from or how you got here, you can always build yourself into a better person. Or you can at least smurf your way into becoming one.
I never knew Smurfs had such a dark side!
"Or you can at least smurf your way into becoming one." - a life lesson for the ages! 😆
On a more serious note, that is a lovely summation of her origins, as problematic as it was!