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Tintin in the Congo: The race row

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Aristide Filoselle
Member
#91 · Posted: 5 Nov 2011 23:47
Tintinrulz:
His attention was drawn to the animosity between China and Japan (Japan invading China) by a Chinese student, who quickly became a dear friend. If you have a friend and some individual or group is doing really evil things to their people, you're not going to think nicely of the oppressors, you're going to think of them as monsters. It's not right, but it's human nature and shouldn't be ignored. We can't sit here in our safe houses and just point our fingers at people who were living in hugely tumultuous times in history (approaching World War 2). You would hate the enemy with a deep passion. Again, it doesn't make it right but historical context helps to understand that it's not just a matter of hating people because they're different but because they're doing great evils to people you love.

Excellent points, and you are quite correct.

That last sentence is particularly interesting.

My own suspicion is that the same could probably be said of pretty much all "group hatred" (horrible term, but I can't think of a better one).

Islamiphobia is not simply hatred of Islam because Muslims are different, but is based on a perception that Islam threatens to do great harm to oneself, or one's country, or one's loved ones.

Similarly, those in Britain who tend to be strongly hostile to people of African or Pakistani background don't hate them because they are different, but because they perceive them to be a threat to themselves, their country and their way of life.

Again, those who, in various places, are highly hostile to Christianity, are not, I suspect, hostile to Christianity because Christians are different, but because they perceive Christianity to be a threat to their way of life - and likely to do great harm to it.

One could say the same thing about anti-semitism in Germany in the 1930s. These people didn't hate Jews because they were different, but because they believed that Jews were doing great harm to their country.

Hergé may have been more correct than these people in his perceptions - but I believe that the motivation for the way that he depicted the Japanese in The Blue Lotus is not actually that different.

Thank you, Balthazar, for that long and thoughtful reply to my post.

Balthazar:
Surely the really offensive thing about the book - more offensive than the stereotyped but not unkindly meant drawing of "rubbery-lipped natives" - is the way it whitewashes the horrendous reality of the Belgian Congo

Curiously enough, that is not always what the objectors seem to focus on.

Balthazar:
However, I wouldn't agree that Hergé was too jaundiced in his view of the Japanese occupation of China.

Indeed. I was careful to say "his jaundiced view of the Japanese" rather than "his jaundiced view of the Japanese occupation."

Balthazar:
Maybe it's this question of whether what's been shown is truthful which makes the difference between which Tintin books seem offensive or inoffensive today.

I would like to hope so.

mct16:
The Japanese are shown with beaming teeth, while the Chinese are shown as tight-lipped. This is just a way of telling one from the other.

I'm not convinced!

And finally, smoking.

My original comment was tongue-in-cheek, of course. But there is no doubt that the "war on smoking" has become much more aggressive in recent years, and as mores are changing rather rapidly at the moment, one wonders whether the depiction of smoking in children's books will come under more sustained attack in the future.

And I seem to recall that in a production of King Ottokar's Sceptre a few years ago, the habits of the two Alembick twins were transposed - so that whereas in the original, Hector (the good twin) was a smoker, whereas his wicked brother was a non-smoker - in this production Hector was now the non-smoker and his evil twin was the smoker.
angryoctopus123
Member
#92 · Posted: 13 Nov 2011 12:51
Dear All

I am currently doing an extended project on "The Political and Social Ideologies within the Adventures of Tintin" and have several points of discussion that I would like to post informally on the forum, simply to get anyone's views or any relevant information on these topics to help me discuss various points of view in my essay!

So, Tintin in the Congo: do you think it is racist and is worthy of being banned / hidden out of sight or is that a load of rubbish etc.

Like I said - anyone's views or information is welcome!!!

Moderator Note: You will find that, perhaps not surprisingly, this is a topic which has been much discussed already, so rather than open the can of worms again, your post has been moved to a pre-exisiting thread, in which you will find a wide range of views expressed; a forum search using the link at the top right-hand corner of the screen will find further references.

You may find that a search will bring up answers to other questions you have to raise.

The Tintinologist Team
GSC
Member
#93 · Posted: 15 Nov 2011 02:17
I own the colour edition of Tintin in the Congo.

I think its pretty good, but even so, we should all know that there are problems with it: the way Hergé portrays the Africans, and the treatment of big-game hunting.

I know that it was written a long time ago (the 1930's), when stuff like this was seen differently, but today the content of the book has been found more offensive.

As the translators of Tintin in the Congo (and all the other Tintin books), Leslie Lonsdale-cooper and Michael Turner, said in their foreword:

“In his portrayal of the Belgian Congo, the young Hergé reflects the colonial attitudes of the time. He himself admitted that he depicted the African people according to the bourgeois, paternalistic stereotypes of the period- an interpretation that some of today's readers may find offensive. The same could be said of his treatment of big-game hunting.”

I don’t think it’s exactly racist, but it’s pretty close. What do you guys think?

Moderator Note: While we welcome your enthusiasm, please check and see if there is an existing thread on a topic before starting a new one - this thread (to which your post has been) was actually on the front page in the topic list, so it wasn’t hard to find! ;-)
It is helpful because it keeps information together, and reduces repetition.

Thanks,

The Tintinologist Team
Tintinrulz
Member
#94 · Posted: 15 Nov 2011 03:40
Tintin in the Congo is certainly racist but it's not mean-spirited and hateful, more naive. Also, the redrawn version is from 1946. I have both versions and the latter definitely seems more outdated and awkward than the former.
Bordurian Thug
Member
#95 · Posted: 17 Nov 2011 00:16
In reply to angryoctopus123, it's crude and rather rubbish but shouldn't be banned. I don't think any art should be censored because I'm a libertarian. I think it's pretty pathetic when moral guardians attempt to rewrite history, particularly the PC Police who want something that was written hundreds of years ago to conform to their 21st Century dogma.

History is what it is; no amount of sanctimonious reappraisal will change it.
GSC
Member
#96 · Posted: 17 Dec 2011 16:28
I don't think it should be banned, but Herge didn't have to portray the Africans as he did.
mct16
Member
#97 · Posted: 28 Dec 2011 01:43
Here's an interesting development. The classic film "The Dam Busters" features a dog called "Nigger" and "Nigger" is also a codeword used during the attack on the dams. Peter Jackson (yes, the Jackson of the Tintin film) is currently working on a remake (yet another Jackson film which I will do my best to avoid).

Anyway, he's claimed that there has been considerable debate about whether or not to use the n-word in the new film. He's quoted as saying that it is "a no-win, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't scenario. If you change it, everyone's going to whinge and whine about political correctness. And if you don't change it, obviously you are offending a lot of people..."

Bit like this book, really.
Tintinrulz
Member
#98 · Posted: 28 Dec 2011 02:02
Hmm... MCT16, what is the other Jackson movie you're avoiding? The Hobbit?
mct16
Member
#99 · Posted: 28 Dec 2011 03:40
Tintinrulz:
what is the other Jackson movie you're avoiding?

"The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", "The Return of the King", "King Kong", "Tintin" and later "The Dam Busters" and "The Hobbit".

I have a golden rule: if you enjoyed the book, avoid the film. Same applies to remakes.
Tintinrulz
Member
#100 · Posted: 28 Dec 2011 06:16
Wow. Okay, that's odd but whatever, it's your choice. Can you tell me why you have that rule? Want to keep your imagination yours alone? Because if it's for other reasons, I think you'll find the movies are very good (LotR and Tintin).

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