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Canada through the eyes of an immigrant

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Tintin is Gay; an African Response

I read The Adventures of Tintin when I was about 10 years old and I probably read all the comics from the Beligian comic writer, Georges Prosper Remi (HerGĂ©). Yesterday, I read about the same Tintin who just turned 80 and who is apparently gay because he is blonde with funny looking pants and living with Captain Haddock who is also allegedly gay! I already heard that SpongeBob, Stewie Griffin and Asterix are all gay. I believe that some people simply want to gain attention and notoriety by having theories and assumptions. Tintin is beloved by many Africans from Malawi, South Africa and all over the world. If Tintin was really gay, he would have said it himself long time ago. In the late 90s and early 2000s, The Adventures of Tintin and Snowy could be found at the Lilongwe National Library in City Centre or even next door at the Lilongwe British Council. I remember reading all the comics because they were simply interesting and very entertaining. It is indeed true that Tintin does not mention his family in the comics but is that a reason for being gay? Is the lack of many female characters in the comics an indication that Tintin is gay? Many tend to compare him with other spies like James Bond, but in reality their stories are very different from each other. So as far as there's no real evidence that Tintin is gay and while waiting for that evidence, let us all stick to reality; Tintin is straight.
Steven Spielberg is currently producing a Tintin CGI movie set for 2010 with Andy Serkis (Haddock), Nick Frost (Thomson) and Simon Pegg (Thompson). The character who will play Tintin is yet to be found.


Chimwemwe T. in Lilongwe, Malawi for Mmalawi Blog.



MMALAWI BLOG

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's actually incredibly insulting - and quite telling - that you use the line, "Let's just stick to reality - tintin is straight". Just as you may rightly point out that there is no real "evidence" that Tintin is gay, neither is there anything concrete to suggest he is straight. So, the "reality" is that we don't know, and that his sexuality cannot be concluded to be a part of it, either way. But you see anything minus homosexual inference as 'reality", which just reinscribes homophobic sentiment that heterosexuality is a base reality that everything else deviates from. Maybe Madonna can teach Malawi a little something about sexual equality?

Anonymous said...

"Let's just stick to reality - tintin is straight"

Spot on.

Herge came from a conservative, catholic background and Tintin was created to be an example to young boys. Herge was part of the boy scout movement and Tintin was an extension of this.

The lack of females in the comic strip just represents this 1920s boy scout mentality where young men go off to manly things and don't have time for girls.

Chris

P.s. I've mention your post in on my Tintin blog: Tintin Round-Up

Anonymous said...

Why should we stick to the reality? Because there is simply NO direct evidence or whatsoever. Its one thing if Tintin said: I am gay. But so far I have read all the Tintin comics and found No evidence of that. ITS NOT about gender equality and we dont need Madonna to teach us that. And that line in your comment might be considered racist.

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Anonymous said...

Good point about sticking to reality. That first comment about Madonna teaching Malawi about sexual equality highlights a sad ignorance and arrogance of too many of my fellow Americans who feel the need to export an oversexed distortion of reality under the banner of "equality."

It's nothing more than cultural imperialism (and sadly, the worst part of U.S. culture) being foisted on an African nation that does not want or need the degraded justifications of sexual disorders sold as "equality."

Madonna teaching about sexual equality is like Hugh Hefner teaching about respect for women.

There is no evidence of same sex attractions in Tin Tin, but the fact that the character was created for a conservative Catholic magazine to be a role model is clear evidence he is not gay, unless you are completely ignorant of the fact that the Catholic Church teaches homosexuality is a disordered inclination and not something to be imitated.

So, like the blog says, stick with reality; the reality is that all the evidence of the context and impetus for Tin Tin being creasted in the first place proves he's straight.

You might like that about him or you might hate it, regardless, that is the reality.

Superimposing homosexuality onto beloved characters or profound platonic relationships is nothing more than baseless wishful thinking by homosexual activists pushing their agenda to replace reality with a disordered fantasy.