tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post3980654718437666761..comments2024-02-16T11:41:37.696-05:00Comments on Todd Seavey: Tintin vs. Tom SwiftTodd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-9310532446679437512009-05-26T09:43:00.000-04:002009-05-26T09:43:00.000-04:00I disagree, I think the series remained basically ...I disagree, I think the series remained basically anti-authoritarian, while admittedly promoting a common mid-20th c. post-collonial European (Belgian) views of the world, as noted. Herge wisely toned down the rhetoric in order to appeal to a wider– and younger– audience, which was the right thing to do (art ought to entertain and stimulate rather than proselytize covertly). Tin-Tin is still decidedly anti-authoritarian throughout all the books, particularly the last few, in which the recurring villains are corrupt or brutal or bumbling dictators. There is the mock Castro/Che characters in Tin-Tin and the Picaros, as well as General Sponsz, a sort of Nazi sadist. There are the Stalin-lite stand-in called Kurvy Stash (Turvi-Stash? I forget the spelling offhand), numerous gangsters and pirates, and corrupt princes and kings, etc etc. The good guys are always inventors, explorers, or small businessmen.<br><br>As you know, I too love Tom Swift stories, despite all their pre women’s lib chauvinisms and worringly causual use of atomic energy. I don’t see any way in hell Hwood would ever do justice to the original intent of those books. Anymore than John Ford could get his classic John Wayne cowboy pictures made in Hwood today.<br><br>There is also talk of a live-action Johnny Quest film floating around; I know Paramount paid for a script, which apparently exists.<br><br>For the record, I don’t have very high hopes for the Spielberg/Jackson Tin-Tin film.pulpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-11436388663527195662009-05-26T07:55:00.000-04:002009-05-26T07:55:00.000-04:00Thanks for the clarification. Still, better youth...Thanks for the clarification. Still, better youthful anti-communism than none at all.Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-36369174343419334702009-05-26T05:45:00.000-04:002009-05-26T05:45:00.000-04:00A small correction. Only the first Tintin book, Ti...A small correction. <br><br>Only the first Tintin book, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, is anti-communist. It was commissioned by, and published by, a catholic, anti-communist newspaper where it appeared in weekly installments aim at children. <br><br>In later years, when writing about uprisings in middle-eastern countries and coups in banana republics, Herge had plenty of scope to attack communism but never did. In fact, Herge stayed away from all political ideologies in the other 22 stories. <br><br>In his childhood he was heavily influenced by the right-wing catholic clergy and was unquestioning of its assumptions in his youth. However, along with his colonial style racism, his anti-communism appears to have disappeared once he started to create his own world view.Chris Tregenzahttp://tintinmovie.org/noreply@blogger.com