tonyh29 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 A High Street bookshop chain is moving an edition of children's favourite Tintin to its adult section following a complaint of racism. Congo adventure lands comic strip character in troubleThe Commission For Racial Equality had called on the Borders chain to pull Tintin In The Congo from its shelves. It said the illustrated book - which has been the subject of controversy for years - had the potential to offend many people. A spokeswoman said: "This book contains imagery and words of hideous racial prejudice, where the 'savage natives' look like monkeys and talk like imbeciles. "How and why do Borders think that it's okay to peddle such racist material? "Yes, it was written a long time ago, but this certainly does not make it acceptable." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 12, 2007 Moderator Share Posted July 12, 2007 WGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdabush Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 EDIT: That unintentionally sounded arsey. At the end of the day the book is out of date anyway and I doubt many kids read it now anyway. I do think we sound be cautious of material that is included in kids books though, but retain a sense of perspective at the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 12, 2007 Moderator Share Posted July 12, 2007 That's the option where you don't vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 another couldn't care less but I'm still going to post comment :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 if i was going to vote i'd vote for correct. Books/comics of this nature do promote (negative) stereotypes, often very bad/outdated ones. EDIT: although i'd really need to read the thing before passing full judgement. Not sure of the exact nature of these rascist streotypes .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdabush Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 That's the option where you don't vote. I know, I know hence the edit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 I do think we "should" be cautious of material that is included in kids books though, but retain a sense of perspective at the same time broadly what i was trying to say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 I do think we sound be cautious of material that is included in kids books though, but retain a sense of perspective at the same time agree ..having said that what if the book portrays this tribe in the Congo as they actually appear ?? .. ignore the talk like imbeciles / look like monkeys part as I'm sure this spokesman has used his imagination as he sees fit for his arguement) I seem to recall that Tin Tin books showed this tribe with long necks and a bone through their nose and wearing grass skirts whilst carrying spears ..IF that is the way these tribes in Congo live , should we change that image in a book to protect the views of a woolly jumper wearing morris dancer in England ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 12, 2007 Moderator Share Posted July 12, 2007 I seem to recall that Tin Tin books showed this tribe with long necks and a bone through their nose and wearing grass skirts whilst carrying spears ..IF that is the way these tribes in Congo live , should we change that image in a book to protect the views of a woolly jumper wearing morris dancer in England ? That nail was hit squarely on the head. Good shot sir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 I think you forget one thing. Children don't care about this stuff as we do. They just see funny pictures of human beings. I read those books as a child and I never thought they looked like that. I mean, have you ever seen a person looking like Tintin? No, you haven't. Yes, Hergé was a racist and we adults can see it but I say that kids don't see it that way and don't get stereotype looks at it. (Hm, that sentence might contains osme strange english grammar and words, hope you understand it. :? ) the bottom line, children ain't stupid but they don't see these things like we adults do. They rely more on their parents and other grown ups than comic books, I tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 12, 2007 Moderator Share Posted July 12, 2007 I think you forget one thing. Children don't care about this stuff as we do. They just see funny pictures of human beings. I read those books as a child and I never thought they looked like that. I mean, have you ever seen a person looking like Tintin? No, you haven't. Yes, Hergé was a racist and we adults can see it but I say that kids don't see it that way and don't get stereotype looks at it. (Hm, that sentence might contains osme strange english grammar and words, hope you understand it. :? ) the bottom line, children ain't stupid but they don't see these things like we adults do. They rely more on their parents and other grown ups than comic books, I tell you. To add to your point and on a related note, as a small child I owned a gollywog. I had absolutely no idea at the time what it represented and I didn't really care, and I did not grow up a racist. Now I fully accept (and agree with the fact) that you can't get them anymore, but kids don't think like that. That's why I voted WGM for TinTin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 I think you forget one thing. Children don't care about this stuff as we do. They just see funny pictures of human beings. I read those books as a child and I never thought they looked like that. I mean, have you ever seen a person looking like Tintin? No, you haven't. Yes, Hergé was a racist and we adults can see it but I say that kids don't see it that way and don't get stereotype looks at it. (Hm, that sentence might contains osme strange english grammar and words, hope you understand it. :? ) the bottom line, children ain't stupid but they don't see these things like we adults do. They rely more on their parents and other grown ups than comic books, I tell you. To add to your point and on a related note, as a small child I owned a gollywog. I had absolutely no idea at the time what it represented and I didn't really care, and I did not grow up a racist. Now I fully accept (and agree with the fact) that you can't get them anymore, but kids don't think like that. That's why I voted WGM for TinTin. Then you understood my point and helped me make it a bit clearer. Was afraid that it wouldn't be an accepted explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 To add to your point and on a related note, as a small child I owned a gollywog. I had absolutely no idea at the time what it represented and I didn't really care, and I did not grow up a racist. Now I fully accept (and agree with the fact) that you can't get them anymore, but kids don't think like that. That's why I voted WGM for TinTin. gollywogs didn't actively portray negative racial stereotypes as far as i can recall. Or have i missed something. It was simply a black teddy bear type thing. There was no overt racism going on. we didn't associate them with anything other than being a black doll. negative sterotyping of black "people" in books/cartoons as spear throwers and crazy natives who cook people and have rings threough their noses etc can have a negative impact on how children might then perceive black people. It's an association thing. IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekka Posted July 12, 2007 VT Supporter Share Posted July 12, 2007 To add to your point and on a related note, as a small child I owned a gollywog. I had absolutely no idea at the time what it represented and I didn't really care, and I did not grow up a racist. Now I fully accept (and agree with the fact) that you can't get them anymore, but kids don't think like that. That's why I voted WGM for TinTin. gollywogs didn't actively portray negative racial stereotypes as far as i can recall. Or have i missed something. It was simply a black teddy bear type thing. There was no overt racism going on. we didn't associate them with anything other than being a black doll. negative sterotyping of black "people" in books/cartoons as spear throwers and crazy natives who cook people and have rings threough their noses etc can have a negative impact on how children might then perceive black people. It's an association thing. IMO. Gollywogs have always been different (to those in the PC frame of mind) as the origination of the term "wog", hence it's obvious racist undertones. That said, it is only those who are actively seeking out the wrong PC-ness of it all, I myself grew up with Gollywogs and never grew up a racist and sometimes I wish people would just take things with a pinch of salt. It's like this "Winterval", "Winterfest" and all that nonsense at Christmas. Heaven forbid we celebrate a religious occasion. World gone mad I tell's ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 WTF happened to my post???????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 12, 2007 Moderator Share Posted July 12, 2007 The one criticising the thread and the people in it that wasn't contributing anything to the discussion? It was deleted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Herge was a nazi sympathiser and the pictures are inherently racist. I don't know if it helps create a subconscious negative image or not, but I watched tintin as a kid and was never racist so maybe the effect is limiting, I also had a pretty decent education though so any notions of stereotyping would have been bashed out of me at a young age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 Herge was a nazi sympathiser where did you get that info from ? it's a a claim which was largely unfounded and to my knowledge he fought for Belgium agianst the German invasion ...one of his cartoons (The Land of the Black Gold ) was banned due to it's anti facist overtones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.I.C.O. Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Its a crazy decision but its just an isolated incident, not "the World Gone Mad", or "Political Correctness Gone Mad" for that matter, before that oxymoron rears its ugly head again..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts