Saturday Morning Cartoons and the 7 Deadly Sins

Ever watch the Smurfs when you were a kid? Well, you were really watching a show about the seven deadly sins: want for power, lust, gluttony, vanity, slothfulness, envy, and greed. Papa Smurf represents the want for power, Smurfette is lust, Chef Smurf is gluttony, Vanity is vain, Sleepy Smurf represents Sloth, Brainy Smurf is Envy, and Gargamel represents greed. And you didn't even know what you were really watching. :)

You could say the same thing about the dwarves in Snow White, or any collection of "themed" characters for that matter. The alien races in Star Trek are another good example: the Ferengi are avarice, the Klingons are wrath, the Dominion and the Romulans are all about power (and Captain Kirk is lust). Other, less commonly-featured races stand in for the others. Humans cover most of the bases at once (except maybe avarice since they usually don't use money and have energy for free).

Humanity, constrained by the socially hybrid moral affectations of the era, lives out its sins vicariously through the television and other impersonal means of mass communication. Most people secretly entertain notions of committing the most heinous activities and find direct relief by ogling shamelessly at sensational displays of wanton violence, sex and extravagant excess--quite in the manner of idiotic rubber-neckers blocking traffic in hopes of witnessing the slightest bit of car wreck carnage. Obsessive/compulsive television viewing habits seem to point directly toward a need for fresh air, a cold beer or a nice, vigorous fucking. Q.E.D.