*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*
It’s just another smurfy day in Smurf Village. The perpertually perky blue beings frolic around the fire, holding hands and singing that “tra-la-la-la-la-la” tune as bluebirds flutter by and rabbits hop around.
A regular Smurftopia.
But then the bombs come.
Hundreds of them raining down from warplanes in the sky, wiping out the mushroom-shaped abodes. Amid the fiery explosions, Smurfette is killed. Papa Smurf disappears. As the smoke clears, only an orphaned Baby Smurf remains, sobbing among the corpses.
...ends with the tagline: “Don’t let war affect the lives of children.” [in frentch]
...UNICEF’s Belgian office is using the Smurfs as the centerpiece of a new fundraising initiative to shock viewers into donating money to help children in war-torn regions. The agency also hopes to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Burundi.
“The idea of using familiar, reassuring childhood icons in a decidedly dangerous context was intended to bring home to the public the horrendous nature of this theft of children’s rights,” says UNICEF’s Gaelle Buasson.
”We could have shown real-live images of children wounded in Iraq, Palestine or other places. But we refused this option because they would not respect the dignity and rights of the depicted children...So we decided to use ‘fictive’ cartoon images.”
Now, much as I’d have liked to have done that myself especially on the day of the Giant Purple Dino visit, I think doing it where little kids—and kids not so little but who are still attached—will see it seems rather a bit of out-of-line -doncha-knooow.
*knock*knock*knock*
“Trick or treat for UNI...” *blam*blam*blam*
“The idea of using familiar, reassuring childhood icons in a decidedly dangerous context was intended to bring home to the public the horrendous nature of this theft of children’s rights,” says UNICEF’s Gaelle Buasson.
Wow. Whatta world, whatta world… When I was a sprout, my Dear Ol’ Dad let me in on the secret that Mother Nature, while life-giving and beautiful, didn’t particularly give a hoot. That it was the hard work of his and my Mother’s, their parents, their parents and those brave and far-seeing individuals who started this Grand Experiment that kept me, as a wee one, from starving and being forced by circumstance to work 23 1/2 hours a day just to raise or find baaarely enough food for the day. That it was the sacrifices of many strong men and women that had defended this state of affairs from frequent attacks. And that I had better take full advantage of this unique state of affairs, study hard, learn everything in sight, for soon it would be my turn to sustain and fight for the next generation to have the same opportunities.
Now, they are telling us that it is all different. From out of somewhere, all children have spanking new rights; rights not to be in danger from man nor Nature. And all I hafta do to keep that a-’goin’ is chuck some change in a little UNICEF can. Whatta world, whatta world.... where folks can feel so safe as to be so deluded.
10/12 at 07:55 AM •
(3) Extra Credit • (1) pings • Pass it on...
