When I was a child, I didn?t spend much time in from of the television, but I did watch my share of Saturday morning cartoons. One of several shows that I recall from that era is
The Smurfs. I was never much of a
Smurfs fan myself, being much more attuned to shows that didn?t
ooze cuteness, such as those devoted to various superheroes or Bugs Bunny and associates (I think my appreciation for
Looney Tunes still manifests itself in my personality
). Nevertheless, I was exposed to enough
Smurfs episodes to get a sense of the overarching conflicts and themes that dominated the little blue creatures? world. Among the problems that occasionally encroached on the Smurfs? idyllic existence among the toadstools was a black-clad, wizard wannabe named Gargamel, who harbored a fair amount of hostility toward them. Gargamel invested considerable amounts of time and energy into attempts to capture the Smurfs, although naturally, his diabolical plans were regularly foiled. What I remember that chiefly disturbed me about Gargamel?s actions was the primary motivation behind them: he wanted to catch the Smurfs so he could
eat them. The whole idea seemed revolting to me, but given the ongoing effort Gargamel was willing to put into snagging the little blue guys, it appeared that he was pretty convinced that they were a real taste treat. In contemplating that idea amongst the other random thoughts crowding my consciousness this morning, I think I may finally have hit on the answer for Gargamel?s unswerving devotion to the hunt.
Maybe Smurfs taste like bacon.