Tintin being sued....

Im gonna quote the Looney Tunes argument here:

The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in the U.S society. These depictions were wrong then and they are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Bros. view of today's society, these cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming that these prejudices never existed.

Herge, Tintin's creator, actually faced stuff like this in his time; the "Stock de Coque" album depicted black Afrikaans Muslims who spoke in a manner very much like in real life (the characters were supposed to be from inner, less civilized tribes), but when the book was collected, he made their dialog less uneducated due to complaints....despite the book's main theme being the horrors and existence of modern human slavery.
Yes, the books were ripe with the stereotypical depictions of their time, but Herge (the author) was very critical of racism and colonialism; "Tintin in America" depicts the abuse of native people by the government/industry, while "The Blue lotus" depicts the brutality and abuse of English colonialism on Asia, for example.
Hell, the guy made several books that were critical of American/European manipulation and abuses in South America and the Middle East ("The Broken Ear" and "In the land of the black gold") in order to gain oil distribution rights.

I do agree that they are rather racist and all.
But come on, you might as well be trying to track down Hitler NOW for all the shit he was responsible for.

It is VERY much a product of the times, if it's presented now in the right non-racist context to children, they won't make the racism connection, they'll just figure they're the locals, and that's just what they do there.
Without angry parents shouting about the racism, it's likely to go unnoticed, unless of course it's CLEARLY a jab at a particular race.

It said he's been fighting this fight for a few years now, it seems like they're finally letting it go through to shut him up and so it can be over an done with.
And is it wrong that I picture the most stereotypical African "down to the roots" person you could get with the name Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo?

But that's just my opinion.

Exactly right. It's that time of the year again... when arguably one of the most influential and well-respected European comics (ask Lichtenstein, ask Warhol, ask Spielberg or Jackson) gets to be made fun of based on a news clipping, by someone- I'm sorry but it seems to me- who has no further knowledge on the subject- apart from the occasional 'but I saw the toon it was lame-oh.' (if that sounds bitter, it's because I remember having this exact same discussion before on this site)

Look, the relationship between Belgium and its African colony has a complex and problematic history, if you want to make any judgement on the original 'Tintin in Africa' AS A PRODUCT OF ITS TIME please do some googling, read a book or two and then make a judgement if you still must.

Note how I mentioned 'the original'? That's because Hergé himself soon got a bit ashamed of the way he portrayed the inhabitants of Congo, to the length that he redrew the whole damn book toning down that portrayal.
And to make sure you completely understand how above lawsuit is nothing other than a sensitive if slow-witted jerk trying to get his fifteen minutes: that is the version that is nowadays sold in the widespread editions of the Tintin series, you know: the ones you should buy your children to read.
However, for historical purposes, there exist special print versions of the original comic that are still sold in a collector's edition, which is mainly bought by enthusiasts who have a keen grasp on the history of Hergé's oeuvre & the medium in general.

I should go on to say that later Tintin books are actually full of deeply researched and highly nuanced references to socio-political history. I'm not even going to ask you to go & buy the books, just read the synopsis of:
-King Ottokar's Sceptre and The Calculus Affair(set in Eastern Europe)
-Land Of Black Gold (set in the British Mandate of Palestine)
-Tintin In Tibet

Hergé was one of the great artists of the 20th century. Not my words, but those of several other great artists. Please show some respect.

Hey! I've owned the book since the age of about 5, and I'm not racist...

The book was written in 1930 by a 22 year old... He also admitted his faults later in life, and as mentioned previously, has redrawn a lot of his books. I'm sure if you all had access to a lot of forgotten media from that era, European and American, you'd be shocked by how offensive some of it was. Ever hear of "Bugs Bunny Nips The Nips"?

Jungle Jitters!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4VyS...eature=related

God I hate Tintin.

Boring, trite, and outdated. Point in case: this thread and this book.

Poor ol' jaded Martin...

I just hate the fucker. He was boring when I was 5, and he's still boring.

Astérix, on the other end, aged very well. Hell, there's a fuckload of great bande dessinée that still hold up good. Tintin profited from a lack of "competition" at the time. It was innovative art-wise, but that's it.

I dunno, I like the historical value of it.

What about Ric Hochet? Does that one hold up?

No clue. Mind you, I know Tintin freaks, who collects everything about it, so it's an entirely personal opinion.

Tintin is great. That is all.

Yup. It's all about Asterix and Mortadelo y Filemon for me. Fucking genius. I recognize Tintin's cultural significance but it was never my favorite.

Asterix is amazing.

My first knowledge of TinTin was the cartoon, and I loved it. Until I saw every episode they made, then repeated....ad nauseum.

Goscinny in my opinion is one of the best comedy writers in any medium. Ever.

Fuck yeah. Any Astérix after him is pure trash. And his other work like Iznogoud is still gold.

EDIT: Another great: André Franquin (Spirou et Fantasio, Gaston Lagaffe)

TINTIN IN THE CONGO has:

1) Already been pulled from most library book shelves in the nation
2) It has been rewritten, reillustrated, and reedited to remove the worst offending bits


Now, I'm not going to pretend that it's still not offensive, but it's absurd to sue to get something censored. The book exists and deserves to be available for sale, if for no other audience than academics and TINTIN completists. It's ludicrous to suggest a book be banned because it's racist.

Reminded me that Dr. Seuss' IF I RAN THE ZOO still has some choice stereotype (including African, Asian, Russian, and Middle Eastern) stuff in it...



Come for the strange creatures, stay for the dated xenophobia.

EDIT: The African native stereotypes are edited out of that cartoon (linked above) apparently, but are still featured in a recent edition of the book.

Holy hell, there's another chewer who loves Mortadelo y Filemon?
These boards never cease to amaze me.

You'e kidding? I wish I could speak Spanish so I could see how much funnier it would be in the original language.

Yeah, the humor and puns are very spanish in the originals (hell, most spanish speakers who are non spaniards dont find them funny because of this), but I gre up with these because my parents live in Spain; I actually own about 40 volumes of M&F, each with 5 full stories...I read em very often, and they never get old.
Sadly, for the last decade, the new books have been very hit and miss.
Funny thing is, i actually re-read "The Invaders" today...the whole sequence with the main evil alien never fails to crack me up.

I honestly see nothing offensive about that DR SEUSS stuff. Is merely writing about desert people now offensive? That cartoon is just weird, it's not playing off any ethnic stereotypes or denigrating the people it's talking about. People in the desert ride on camels, that guy is riding on a Dr Seuss camel.

That's the problem.