Put yourself inside this kind of mind. There’s a terrorist outrage in Brussels. Brussels is in Belgium and Tintin is Belgian. So people start putting cartoons up of Tintin crying. And someone – a writer for Salon, natch – decides now is the moment to point out that Tintin once starred in a racist cartoon called Tintin in the Congo. So Herge was clearly a racist, posting Tintin is racist and maybe the whole Brussels “thing” is about racism. Not about Islamist fascists and the ineptitude of Belgium's security apparatus. Naw. It's about a freaking cartoon. (Again).
How stupid, how insensitive, how ignorant. Ignorant because if the writer HAD ACTUALLY READ ANY TINTIN they would’ve discovered that Herge’s views on race dramatically changed over time – reflecting Belgium’s own evolution towards multiculturalism. Yes, Au Congo (1930) is a racist book. But Herge knew that, was embarrassed by it, and dedicated himself to making amends. In The Blue Lotus (1936), he introduces Tintin to the character of Chang. Tintin saves Chang’s life – and Chang is surprised. Why? Because he’d been raised to believe white men are the devil and Tintin has shattered his delusions.
Herge is making two key points. First, that all racism is rooted in ignorance. Second, by juxtaposing Eastern and Western racism he’s showing us that all cultures are equally prone to it. Chang becomes Tintin’s soulmate. In Tintin in Tibet (1960), our hero travels halfway around the world to rescue him from the clutches of the Abominable Snowman - itself revealed to be a misunderstood softy. Tintin is also friends with Muslim Arabs (Crab with the Broken Claws) and witnesses the mistreatment of Native Americans (In America). Tintin changes from an imperialist boy scout to a more world-weary liberal, going so far as to sport a CND symbol and practice yoga. A quick Google of “Tintin” and “racism” would have revealed these salient facts. As would reading the books. Which you ought to do if you're going to defame them.
But, most of all, aren’t you just sick of people’s desire to feel morally superior to others by constantly – constantly – pointing out the tiny, insignificant ways in which they might have got something wrong – even when they are obviously trying to do something good? People are in mourning. They love Belgium, they love Tintin, so they’ve put the two together and come up with a sweet cartoon of a boy crying. It's called compassion. It's what makes us different to the killers. Celebrate it, don't constantly look for ways to do it down.
How stupid, how insensitive, how ignorant. Ignorant because if the writer HAD ACTUALLY READ ANY TINTIN they would’ve discovered that Herge’s views on race dramatically changed over time – reflecting Belgium’s own evolution towards multiculturalism. Yes, Au Congo (1930) is a racist book. But Herge knew that, was embarrassed by it, and dedicated himself to making amends. In The Blue Lotus (1936), he introduces Tintin to the character of Chang. Tintin saves Chang’s life – and Chang is surprised. Why? Because he’d been raised to believe white men are the devil and Tintin has shattered his delusions.
Herge is making two key points. First, that all racism is rooted in ignorance. Second, by juxtaposing Eastern and Western racism he’s showing us that all cultures are equally prone to it. Chang becomes Tintin’s soulmate. In Tintin in Tibet (1960), our hero travels halfway around the world to rescue him from the clutches of the Abominable Snowman - itself revealed to be a misunderstood softy. Tintin is also friends with Muslim Arabs (Crab with the Broken Claws) and witnesses the mistreatment of Native Americans (In America). Tintin changes from an imperialist boy scout to a more world-weary liberal, going so far as to sport a CND symbol and practice yoga. A quick Google of “Tintin” and “racism” would have revealed these salient facts. As would reading the books. Which you ought to do if you're going to defame them.
But, most of all, aren’t you just sick of people’s desire to feel morally superior to others by constantly – constantly – pointing out the tiny, insignificant ways in which they might have got something wrong – even when they are obviously trying to do something good? People are in mourning. They love Belgium, they love Tintin, so they’ve put the two together and come up with a sweet cartoon of a boy crying. It's called compassion. It's what makes us different to the killers. Celebrate it, don't constantly look for ways to do it down.
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