Tintin Forums

Today, we had an anti-addiction workshop in our school, where we were told about the ill effects of smoking, drinking, et al. As I reflected on it, I remembered Captain Haddock and how his addictions ticked all the boxes and was the ideal example of the person we were told not to become.

I don't know about others but I feel that although the Captain is not often idolised by children, but he sure does provide a moral backing to the people who are willing to go down the wrong path.

In our workshop, we were told never to compromise HCF which stands for Health, Career and Family and which the Captain often compromised. True, that his tale of drunkenness rather discourages people to take up drinking and later heroic(sober) self more so. And yet, his seeming lack of control over his addiction is disturbing. Moreover, for those who are undecided to take up drinking may be swayed in the wrong direction by the Captain with the false hope that eventually they can control themselves and everything would be alright.

But, it must be kept in mind that the Captain never got hold of his addiction, and moreover, Tintin doesn't reproach the Captain for this infection(except for extreme cases) but rather encourages him in certain situations to get a positive reaction out of him.

People may say that it is upto the parents to decide what the children may or may not see. But, in this age of open information, it is the parents who are fooled by children (mostly teenagers, but the ageline is dropping) into believing they are innocent, while in reality, influenced by bad company, they are totally something else. In these situations, famous fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes and Captain Haddock may provide them with a false sense of security.

I agree that times and laws (and their true effects on health) were different (or undiscovered) then, but these fictional characters are still read about in the present age and perhaps idolised, resulting in a malicious chain taking form.

It is, or it is not. That depends on the sensibility of each family. In the Middle East, for instance, someone could ask if depicting women in indecent clothing, e.g. Castafiore not covering her hair properly, travelling without a male guardian, etc., is "safe for children". In my particular case, I'd really like that my children read, and enjoy Tintin as much as I do. I think the stories are funny, contain many morals, and also show the bad sides (=doesn't glorify) of vices, or immoral behaviour.

I suppose that her pianist doesn't court? Poor Wagner! There is also the Thom(p)sons in Picaros.

I think alcoholism is a vice that is rampant in almost every part of the world and not limited to a particular section or country.

However, I agree that it would be rather preposterous to give the entire blame to the characters and the series, more so for the Adventures of Tintin as it is held up as the epitome of good virtues and morality. Herge must have given thought before bringing such themes into children's comic strip and hence, I certainly do not question the credibility of the series. It is just that there are many finer points of discussion to The Adventures of Tintin and we might try to overlook or enlarge them, for the better or for the worse.

mct16
Of course he doesn't count! He's not her husband, father, brother, or legal Islamic guardian! Good heavens! Blistering barnacles!

RicardoOlcese

Well, if you say it like that, then she is not a Muslim in the first place, so that criteria doesn't hold for her.

And is anything non-Islamic frowned upon in the Middle East? I am curious because I do not know about this very much.

RicardoOlcese
I was partly joking since it is clear that Castafiore is the dominant figure anyway.

On the other hand, an Arabic translation could imply that he is her husband - if a very hen-pecked one :) Translators have been known to take such liberties in order to fit in with local views.

On the main topic
In some adventures, Haddock's alcoholism is shown to drive him partly mad and cause disaster, such as in "Golden Claws" when he sets fire to the boat or knocks out Tintin on the plane; or the Moon journey when he goes for a drunken space walk.

There is also "Unicorn" when the wine he drinks while telling the story of his ancestor may be partly responsible for him rampaging around his flat.

There are also the scenes in "Black Island" and "Unicorn" when a drunken Snowy sees double.

Herge does not give a positive view of drunkenness, even in "Sharks" or "Tibet" when Tintin uses alcohol to get Haddock to co-operate.

On the subject, I remember my mother reading "Tibet" to me when I was little. We came to the scene when Haddock follows Tharkey saying that going after the scarf without a guide is madness. My mother's view was that he was leaving because he was "dying for a bottle of whisky". I thought that he was sincere in thinking that going on was a fool's errand. What do you think?

Just one last thing:I remember seeing the legs and hands of Castafiore covered in the cover page of the Castafiore Emerald in one of the editions (don't know whether that was official) since in Islamic belief, women should not openly show any of their body parts to strangers. That was quite odd.

Anyway on to the topic at hand.
mct16
I have complete faith that the Captain would not desert Tintin for a bottle of whisky, however much may he be a slave to his addiction.

Let us be clear here - alcoholism is recognized medically as a chronic disease, and not something that is an issue of moral judgment, which is societal; it may be that in some cultures drinking is seen as a vice, but that is by no means the same declaring alcoholism itself a "vice".

jock123
Exactly. Alcoholism is not related to vices at all. To be precise, you don't see Mike Pence, Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore, etc., suffering from alcoholism. Alcoholices and vicism, therefore, are totally unrelated. That's my opinion and I'm stuck with it.