Amilah Member
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#29 · Posted: 27 Jan 2009 17:33
I totally agree with Voluma.
Whatever happens to Tintin isn't much worse than what happens to Starsky & Hutch, James Bond or Indiana Jones, is it? We are used to see semi-realistic human heroes stand up after a fall, or not look too damaged after some exchanged punches.
Tintin isn't super human, despite of living in a comic book universe with its "Last Action Hero" rules. The same kind of violence and physics apply to, say, Terence Hill or Belmondo movies, without their characters to be supernatural. It's a bit of a cartoonish realism, but the important point is that there's no claim of superhuman abilities.
I see it as a major difference between european and american comics. I don't like (or just don't get) superheroes of the superman kind. I can't get involved in the adventures of a supermutant or god-like alien, I just don't care for what happens to him. I do, on the other hand, gladly follow the adventures of simple humans facing super bad odds (whether it is a worldwide conspiracy or a terminator). Somehow, I see it as democratic (the adventures of could-be-you) rather than feodal (the adventure of the-chosen-one), as superheroes are gifted with one explicitely unique ability, more or less since birth (at least since the "birth" of their superheroism). It's like a monarchic system where Kings are Kings by the right of blood, and legimitized by divine right.
Going even further in that direction, you could even say there's something religious in superheroes. They are above mankind "by nature", and their feats exclude "human beings" who, being mere people, just couldn't live the same adventures. Their exemplarity is a tad christic (admire but bow down humbly) while non-super heroes' exemplarity is more secular (admire and just be like them). The recent "Superman Return" movie plays on that religiosity quite a bit. It claims that humanity needs to "have" a Superman. I'd say Tintin is more about humanity needing to "be" Tintins.
So there. I'd say Tintin belongs to a tradition quite opposed to the american's tradition of superheroes. He's more of an hitchcockian hero, to my eyes. That said, he's not far from being a borderline case, given the almost mystical turn that his "pure heart" gives to some later stories. But even if Tintin becomes something of a saint, he's still closer to Simon Templar than to Superman.
On a related note, the "prophecy" plot device used in so many RPGs to put your character at the center of the universe annoys me for the exact same reasons. A written destiny doesn't need any average joe to stand up and do the right thing. Just like bestowing him a non-human superpower that spares him the trouble of being a "good human", prophecies replace responsibility and choice with predestination. In my opinion, it precisely misses the point of heroism (one person dealing differently, more "rightly", with boundaries that are the same for all of us).
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