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How do you deal with people who bully Tintin fans?

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tintinophile691
Member
#1 · Posted: 24 Apr 2010 07:51
There are some people that bully Tintin fans, or at least adults and teenagers that still read comic books, especially ones written in Belgium, or some that claim Tintin sucks.

I was wondering how to deal with them using a Tintin-themed response at the same time.

I'm sure some people here would have had that experience somehow.

(I tried looking that up on WikiHow, where they had an article called "How to deal with people that are mean to Twilight fans", hoping to adapt it to Tintin fan usage. Unfortunately, they just used the ordinary anti-bullying advice that you see everyday. I would like to see suggestions with a Tintin theme.)
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 24 Apr 2010 12:25
tintinophile691:
I tried looking that up on WikiHow, where they had an article called "How to deal with people that are mean to Twilight fans", hoping to adapt it to Tintin fan usage. Unfortunately, they just used the ordinary anti-bullying advice that you see everyday. I would like to see suggestions with a Tintin theme.

I have to say, the idea is fairly dubious and I wouldn't want us to stray into a thread about how best to seek retribution. Bullying itself is a grave problem and not really one to make light of. As to a Tintin-themed response, I'd expect that Tintin would advise anyone who was being bullied to look to organised agencies which help people to deal with it. The biggest one I found on the web was www.bullyonline.org, who advise on dealing with all types; workplace bullying, school bullying, etc. I'm pretty sure Tintin-fan bullying would fit under their umbrella.
number1fan
Member
#3 · Posted: 24 Apr 2010 17:49
My advise is stand up to the bully bite the bullet or simple put down something the other person likes.
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#4 · Posted: 24 Apr 2010 18:18
number1fan:
My advise is stand up to the bully bite the bullet

Totally the wrong advise. To quote from the bullyonline website "...in almost every case when you assert your right not to be bullied, things get worse. The bully senses that their tactics of control and subjugation are not working and, worse, that you can see through his or her mask of deceit. The bully's paranoid fear of exposure (of their weakness, inadequacy and incompetence) goes exponential and the bully moves into phase two - elimination."

number1fan:
or simple put down something the other person likes.

Basically you're saying bully someone back. Very inadvisable in my opinion.
number1fan
Member
#5 · Posted: 24 Apr 2010 21:00
Harrock n roll:
Very inadvisable in my opinion.

The thing is its all well and good going on-line seeking advise but at the end of the day you are a person everything you deal with in life shouldn't be typed in to the internet the way you react is your instinct and being bullied is not something you can plan for.
If someone bullies you until the bullying has finished you dont now how you are going to react.By responding to a bully you can assert your authority though depending on the situation its sometimes best to bite your tongue and take it you will come out stronger.If I was being bullied for liking Tintin then the world has finally gone extremely mad.I think everyone has bullied or has been bullied at some point in life its a sad fact but its something Thats human instinct.Your often find that most bullies are weak anyway so if you do get into a fight with them the anger of you getting bullied will make the bully realise not to mess with you.

Anyway who is bullying in Tintin Fans ?
tybaltstone
Member
#6 · Posted: 25 Apr 2010 15:28
This is a very serious issue and I have to agree with Harrock and the professional advice of bullyonline. Bullies want to provoke you and they do so by trying to deflate your ego. By letting your ego respond (eg. by arguing or even resorting to physical means) you are merely escalating the situation which will make it go from bad to worse.

The stronger action is to not let your ego respond, but to ignore the bully and leave, walk away. This is not a cowardly act, it is an eminently sensible one. Of course, every situation is different, but it's best to fight fire with water, not fire.

I would suggest that if someone is being bullied specifically in relation to their interest in Tintin, it is most likely because the bully is actually jealous that you have an interest and a focus. They may not realise that fact, but it is often true. Ignore the bully - they are the insecure ones, and you are the one with something worthwhile and valuable in your life.

:-)
tintinophile691
Member
#7 · Posted: 26 Apr 2010 08:19
number1fan:
Anyway who is bullying in Tintin Fans ?

Well...
* People who like picking on minorities, such as Tintin fans
* People who dislike Belgium or Belgian products and pick on you because you read a Belgian product
* People who dislike France or French products and pick on you because you read a "French" product
* People who dislike people who show behaviours listed in "You know you're a Tintin fan if..."
* People who just cannot believe that one can read that 'stuff'. Now, Tintin is not *STUFF*!
* Some TV shows that poke fun at Tintin or Tintin products
* The author of "Tintin in the New World"

An example from another thread:
Inkpot:
When I was about 8 years old, I spent a lot of time at the swimming club library reading all the Tintin comics, and there was this bunch of high school guys who called me "Tin man, tin man"

I got so upset at that, that I got into a fight with them, and we all got thrown out of the library. An 8 year old boy against three 16-year-olds. What was I thinking?!

An example from the article "The Resurgence of an Old Friend"
Khodadad Rezakhani:
So, naturally, since my efforts in finding like minded Tintin fans in the US were met with laughs and disbelief for those who thought "O my gossssssssssh! A grown man who reads comics!"...

By the way, I never did get bullied for liking Tintin - the hate is more against my beliefs that may be a little too controversial to type here.
jock123
Moderator
#8 · Posted: 26 Apr 2010 09:06
I think you need to distinguish more between what is bullying, and what are just people with different tastes or opinions. Bullying is a terrible thing, and I agree with all those above who suggest using the resources of sites like bullyonline. Differences of opinion can be frustrating, and make you mad, but that isn't in and of itself bullying.

To start with, the list you give doesn't actually establish that the groups of people you mention exist, or that the bullying you describe is going on; your first post makes it sound like there are people going out if their way to pick on Tintin and BD fans, but from the list you make, isn't it more true to say that you have constructed these groups hypothetically?
An imaginary list is potentially endless: you could just have easily added "people who don't like reporters", or "people who don't like plus-fours", couldn't you? But just because I can write those things doesn't meant that such groups will exist, does it?
To begin thinking along the lines of "people who like picking on minorities, such as Tintin fans" to me isn't constructive, as it creates a mood of fear, making people worry when there isn't any need to. Using fear to make people unhappy is in itself a form of bullying, so it becomes a circular line of thought, and should be avoided.
Anti-Belgian or anti-French groups may exist, but that could exist at many levels of degree and intention. Some may be out and out racists, but for example there have been those who have in the past opposed the French use of above-ground nuclear testing in the Pacific, who protested politically; but I have no evidence that either ever picked on someone who was reading Tintin.
You may not like Tintin in the New World, but it is wrong to accuse M. Tutin of bullying; that is merely a difference in taste.
Inkpot's story that you quote may be bullying, may be an example of someone over-reacting, it is hard to tell; but Khodadad's doesn't look like bullying to me - it just looks like someone who met people with a different opinion or outlook.
It might also pay to remember that in the great scheme of things, Tintin is just "stuff"; there are people every day, in all parts of the world, being bullied and denigrated for all sorts of reasons over which they have no control, ruining their lives, and that is tragic. To suggest that because someone (hypothetically) makes fun of Tintin on T.V., that that equates to "bullying", is trivializing the plight of many, many people, young and old.
cigars of the beeper
Member
#9 · Posted: 26 Apr 2010 12:54
This is slightly off topic, but this whole discussion reminds me of something I've often wondered. In England, do people really say, or have ever said that something's "jolly bully" to mean it's good? It would be kind of strange if you did, seeing how you use the term to mean a pettily mean person just like we do in America.
jock123
Moderator
#10 · Posted: 26 Apr 2010 13:34
cigars of the beeper:
In England, do people really say, or have ever said that something's "jolly bully" to mean it's good?

I've never heard that expression at all, so I couldn't say, but the use of bully as an expression of good - as in "Bully for you!", for example - is just as much an American as a British thing: mostly archaic, but there will be people using it in the States still, just as there will be here.
In fact, the most famous user of "Bully!" for "Good!" or "Fantastic!", I would have thought, is President Teddy Roosevelt - so much so that the writers of Night at the Museum made it almost his catch-phrase.
In this adjectival case the origin of the word is most likely from the Middle High German or Middle Dutch boele, meaning something like beloved.

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