Thursday, August 29, 2013
Gru vs. Gargamel - Who's the Better Supervillain Dad? (The Smurfs 2: Adoption Movie Guide)
Gargamel reminds me of Gru from Despicable Me. They’re both quirky, black-clad villains intent on taking over the world. They’re both shown in parental roles. They both enter their parental roles initially because of a desire to use children to further their own interests. But there’s a difference. Gru comes to care for the children. He has a change of heart, and by Despicable Me Too, Gru is a good dad – one in whom young viewers can see a remediated father. Gargamel’s not that. Gargamel remains selfish, cruel, and bad-intentioned.
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| He has his fingers crossed. |
Gargamel, an evil wizard, makes “Naughties,” which are small,
greyish troublemakers. Gargamel derives
his power from Smurf essence, which can be extracted from Smurfs – small,
blue-colored do-gooders. Once, one of Gargamel’s creations was captured by Papa
Smurf. Papa Smurf changed her hue, made her good, and renamed her Smurfette.
She has been well-accepted by her new community and fits in well as the first
female Smurf. However, Gargamel hopes to capture Smurfette in the hopes of
having her reveal the secret of how Papa Smurf turned her into a Smurf – with that
information, Gargamel could create his own Smurfs, and then use them to power
his evil schemes for worldwide domination. Smurfette is feeling sad because it
seems that the Smurfs have forgotten her birthday; this makes her more
susceptible to Gargamel’s plan – he sends Vixie, a female Naughty, to capture
Smurfette, and then tries to win her over with claims of love and acceptance.
All along, he’s trying to alienate her from the Smurfs and reclaim her for
himself.
How is This Relevant
to Adoption?
The film intends to send a positive message, “The parents that
you have – the ones that love you – they are your real parents.” Unfortunately,
the film also says, “Your birthparents aren’t your real parents.” It’s an
unnecessary dualism.
Rob Watson (@JandJDad) brought this movie to my attention,
and I’m glad he did. There are a lot of adoption themes in Smurfs 2, and
although adoption language isn’t used the adoption-esque themes in the film are
pretty central. I’ll be using adoption language in this review – although the
movie spoke more in terms of step-parents, it told more of an adoption story.
Gargamel creates the Naughties. One of them (Smurfette) ended up with Papa
Smurf; he changed her appearance, her name, and her behavior. Smurfette has “horrible dreams about where I
came from and who I really am.” We see her dream – she imagines her blue
pigmentation washing off, revealing her to still be a greyish Naughty after all
this time. When she shares her dream with Papa Smurf, he dismisses her fears
saying, “It doesn’t matter where you are from; it just matters who you choose
to be.” Later, when Smurfette is kidnapped by her birthfamily, they try to
convince her that her roots do matter more than anything else, and that her adoptive
family doesn’t actually care about her. She listens and is won over – and then
we see that Gargamel really only intended to use her for his own gain. Smurfette
and her two Naughty siblings are rescued by Papa Smurf, and all three of them
return to live as Smurfs in the Smurf kingdom.
Here are some themes that you’ll see: Smurfette has
nightmares about not actually being a part of her adoptive family. She is
kidnapped by her birthfamily. They appear to be loving towards her, but they
really intend to use her for their own gain. I have mixed feelings about the
film – Some kids in adoptive families do have fears of being kidnapped and
mistreated by birth family members. For kids who experienced abuse prior to
their adoption, the fears are sometimes even grounded in reality. Many kids who
have been adopted do probably struggle with questions of identity, wonder
whether they’ll fit in, and wonder who they really are. Smurfette does those
things, and Papa Smurf and the rest of the Smurf community continually reaffirm
their acceptance of Smurfette and their belief that she fits in. That’s great.
But what I don’t like is the dualism inherent in the film.
Smurfette’s family of origin is bad. Evil, even. Her new family is good. She
needs to be completely cleaned of one in order to become the other. And I think
that’s a thought that might be familiar to adopted kids, too. It’s not helpful,
accurate, or healthy – but this movie presents it as true.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from” in the context of
this film means, “Yes, your birthfamily is horrible, but that doesn’t mean you
will be.” Even in this, Smurfs 2 is
difficult to evaluate. I like the hope that it extends – you don’t have to
repeat the mistakes that your birthfamily made. But I think it’d be easy for young
viewers to miss the nuanced statement of hope, and go straight to “Your
birthfamily is bad; you can’t be like them.”
Strong Points
One character is chastised, “Stop blaming others for your
pain, and don’t teach your son that love is conditional.”
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| Unfortunately, the movie seems to think that "Both" can't possibly be the answer. |
The Smurfs 2 touches on some legitimate issues, and it might be
helpful for families to see them acted out on screen and then discuss them. For
instance – Smurfette’s questions of identity appear especially heightened around
her birthday; she also becomes very sensitive to feeling forgotten. The Smurfs play a joke on her, pretending to
forget her birthday, and it backfires horribly, causing Smurfette great pain.
The film might help young kids talk about their fears. But………
Weak Points
I think it’s more likely to cause triggers than to cause
helpful discussion. Smurfette is kidnapped by her birthfather (actually, he
sends one of Smurfette’s birthsiblings to do the work, making use of an Oz-like
portal.) He tells her that she is not a real Smurf. She is almost compelled to
defend herself by screaming at him, “you’re not my father.” Her birthfather
tries to cast doubts in her mind about Papa Smurf’s love for her. Smurfette’s
great betrayal of the Smurfs is to tell one of their secrets to her
birthfather.
Gargamel is bad. He resents feeding his children,
complaining that they should be providing for him, rather than vice-versa. He kidnaps
one of his children who has been raised by another family, but his intention in
doing this isn’t love, or even the desire to reclaim what he believes is his.
It’s worse than that. He wants to harvest her.
Recommendations
For what it’s worth, Despicable Me Too is a more entertaining movie, and it will probably appeal to the same age
groups. I’d suggest making a substitution, especially for kids who’ve had bad experiences
with father figures. Man of Steel and Kung Fu Panda might be better choices.
Questions for
Discussion After the Film
Have you ever felt like Smurfette, not knowing whether you fit
in? Did Smurfette fit in with the Smurfs or the Naughties?
Could Smurfette be both Smurf and Naughty? What was good
about the Naughties? (This question is important, but it might take some
imagination to help your kid come up with good things about the Naughties.)
How do you feel about meeting your birthfamily? Have you
ever been scared that they would be mean like Gargamel? Or do you think they’d
be more like the kind parents of Superman?
Thanks for checking out this adoption review of The Smurfs
2. Click Here for reviews of other recent
films.
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