• EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Maybe the Smurfs’ value in gold was not worth much more than their value as food. The Smurf to gold conversion ratio may only have yielded enough to buy other food.

    We need more information.

      • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Interesting thought, however, Gargamel was some sort of wizard. It’s more likely that he would perform the conversion himself.

        Still, perhaps the cost of any necessary reagents or other ingredients required to turn Smurfs into gold were not (or barely) worth the gold they produced.

        • flicker@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          3 days ago

          Maybe cooking them is also a massive hassle?

          He had a cauldron, sure, but I imagine preparing Smurf meat is meticulous with their tiny bones. Maybe turning them into gold was less of a hassle.

          • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            Cookery or alchemy, my point remains the same. I just think it’s possible that there is more involved in the calculus than we’re aware of.

            Although, to be fair, Gargamel’s desire to cook the Smurfs rather than turn them into gold always seemed to be a function of his maleficent cruelty rather than anything logical.

            Perhaps these were empty threats merely meant to terrorize them, and that was possibly his only goal. Maybe they can’t be turned into gold or eaten. Maybe he just wanted to scare the shit out of him. Another piece of evidence to support this theory is the fact that Gargamel never actually cooked a Smurf nor turned one into gold. He only ever threatened to do so, while also missing several opportunities to do so.

            Was the Smurfs’ interaction with Gargamel TVs first presentation of a metaphor that speaks against prejudice, bigotry, and hate crime? Against the terrorizing nature of bullies?

            Since we’re already overthinking the hell out of this, we might as well ask.