Posted on 09/02/2009 9:05:38 PM PDT by paudio
Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, 41, is taking legal action claiming Hergé's controversial Tintin In The Congo is propaganda for colonialism and amounts to "racism and xenophobia".
"Tintin's little (black) helper is seen as stupid and without qualities. It makes people think that blacks have not evolved," he said.
Mr Mbutu Mondondo launched a case in Belgium two years ago for symbolic damages of one euro from Tintin's Belgian publishers Moulinsart, and demanded the book be withdrawn from the market.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Next he’ll be filing suit against the Asterix books because they make Romans look like morons! Always gotta be something to litigate!
This reminds me of some of those barf-worthy notices they’re attaching to old films these days explaining that there may be stereotypes in the film, but they were left in to reflect the times. Oh, keep your nose out of my old films!
Now they want to back censor?
Another rent-seeker. How original.
Oh please! Colonialism was no worse, and arguably better, than the chaos and unrestrained violence they have there now.
Only “arguably”?
Thunderbirds are Go? 
Wait a minute.
“’...It makes people think that blacks have not evolved,’ he said.”
Evolved from what?! That’s quite a racist statement there.
Take a trip to Africa. Cradle of mankind. But yet they all still live at the tribal level right down to politics. Nobody can get ahead of the chiefs,, not more friends, more money, more ideas/// cuzz if any man excells, the people are preconditioned to pull him down.
Show me one invention other than the mortar and pestle. Show me their humanity... Africans are the most racist going! Thats why the periodical genocides....
Ping.
Almost all Tintin books contain stereotypes of one form or another. I’m surprised the Arabs haven’t jumped all over this, too.
The Bordurians were made out to look like Soviet thugs, but you don’t hear them complaining! ;^)
That’s cultural, not evolutionary. If he’s said ‘black African culture has not evolved’ I would probably still have a problem with his complaining, but it wouldn’t sound so racist.
“Tintin’s little (black) helper is seen as stupid and without qualities. It makes people think that blacks have not evolved,” he said.
no, I think people who just do nothing but sue all day give that impression.
I grew up with Tintin books. Herge stereotyped everyone and he did it well. Chinese, Japanese, South Americans, North Americans, Middle Eastern, Muslums. I have every book and occasionally read one even now. Red Rackums Treasure is my favorite.
Boy, times have changed. The only people we can depict now as imbeciles are white men.
Whatever happened to Sambo's Pancake House?
Nam Vet
The beauty of Africa is grandiose, and the potential excepting the upper third, is huge however it is quickly eroded by tribalism, corruption, uncle zoeee and his marriage to islam and their ability to relate to voodoo. Throughout africa the black heart and related corruption still prevails and their ability to get ahead is thereby limited.
The best thing that happened to them IS colonialism as bad an experience as it was. Look to Canada and Australia as examples of what colonialism can produce!
I thought the Japanese held that title?
When was he last time they had a genocide?
“When was he last time they had a genocide?”
Ask a Korean.
you’re right — it’s like attacking Shakespeare for the characterisation of the Jewish Shylock in the Merchant of Venice, or the various anti-Jewish, anti-Irish and anti-Italian stereotypes and cartoons that continued until the 1900s
HAve you been to the Tintin museum in Brussels? It’s a must-see for any Tintin fan, I loved the entrance with the big statues of Tintin, Haddock and the prof. dressed up like their mission to the Moon! Took loads of pictures.
“I don’t know how many Freepers are familiar with Tintin”
I saw my first Tintin book in a bookshop in Kathmandhu, Nepal. It was “Tintin in Tibet” and I loved the artwork.
Well, we certainly can’t have somebody getting their feelings hurt, now can we.
"He's repressin' me! He's repressin' me! Here you see the violence inherent in the system . .. "
Hey, Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo: KMA
And yes, Sambo did manage to escape the tigers with his clothes AND bring the butter back to his mama, so they all had pancakes.
Apropos of that, the Sambo book was reissued with charming illustrations of a ca. 1920 Indian family (complete with Mamaji running her sewing machine like a race car driver). I don't approve of the original reason the book was revised, but this is a good book in its own right.
And I'll read anything that Fred Marcellino illustrates.
My personal favorite. Nast was a genius, but he had a thing about the Irish.
You should read Tintin goes to America...
All Americans are cowboys, gangsters, or top-hatted businessmen. And the things they wrote about Indians, er, “Native Americans...”
No, I have not been there, I am sure I would enjoy it. I will have to put it on my bucket list.
My husband (from India) is the HUGH Asterix fan here...has been since he was a wee child, according to his parents. Every night before going to sleep he’ll read his comics over and over, and he actually guffaws out loud at them—in fact, when his parents hear him on the other side of the house, they comment, “He’s reading Asterix again!” :-)
“The biggest problem in Sub-Saharan Africa today is the almost complete breakdown of the family caused by resource extraction based colonial enterprises; it pulls men off of the farms and crams them into cities where all kinds of trouble can be found. In the meantime, the womenfolk back home are stuck doing all the work without any support from the local (often corrupt) patrons. And comparing Africa to Canada or Australia is foolish; for one thing barely anybody lived in those places when they were colonized, definitely not the case in Africa. The other thing people don’t seem to grasp is Africa’s shear size - it takes 10 hours to fly from the Mediterranean coast to the Cape - twice the flight time from Seattle to Honolulu.”
Now the whiteman/ modern man is responsible for marital failure in Africa? Gimme a break. Back to the blame game.
A couple of things, 1) yes you are correct Africa is huge. I think it is roughly the size of North America, central America and a piece of South America.
2)Comparing Canada or Australia is foolish? Canada and Australia was/ and are about resource extraction and will continue to be.And there are loads of men employed in these industries without marital failure. Colonialism was largely about resources including Australia.
3) Africa? The influence of Islam has allowed many to have multiple wives. Chiefs and leaders have multiple wives all across Africa and thats the way it has been. Leaders there even had their “harems”. The bulk of the common men are like lost gophers and wanting to be like chiefs. Actually for the lack of proper belief structures like creatures of the field wandering through a meaningless unstructured life and will continue like that. They are high on excuses excepting Robert Mugabe. There is a man of action. South Africa is following their footsteps. Actually, Kenya too. All the places of the greatest potential are falling for their beliefs, corruption and lifestyle.
The corruption is easy to understand... everything is for the chief and no one can be more powerful than the feudal chiefs. Thats why the concepts of pull him down , and crabs in a bucket seek to explain what is really going on. All throughout africa, a man starts getting ahead and the societies pull him down, destroy his efforts, maybe his life or a family members. There no one can get ahead of the chiefs; chiefs by day and chiefs by night... uncle Zoie. They understand raiding, corruption and thievery. I think with the millions of years advantage they have over others that it is ingrained.
Kinda like you can take the boy off the farm but not the farm outa the boy.
Thats why we have it here in America, innocently imported by immigration in todays terms, (not so innocently by slavery importation). We the borders are opened up , yes the immigrants bring their behaviors with them from wherever they may come and corrupt what exists bringing their cultural values, crime and poverty.... and perceptions of societal structure. But with a few years they integrate fairly well.
Basically they are a backwards and corrupt people and will continue as that.
LOL!, that will stir up the Japanese for a while.
We have that one (along with most of the rest of them).
Recently, Congo sued Norway for $500 billion US dollars!
http://stormen.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/congo-sues-norway-for-500-billion-dollars/
Last year, a certain Mr. Jean-Dadou Monya tried to get “Tintin in Congo” banned over here in Sweden. Hardly surprising, he wasn't successful and few people cared.
http://www.thelocal.se/8271/20070823/
In the 1940s and earlier, the attitudes most white people shared towards Africans often was condescending and full of prejudice, yes.
BUT; By banning books, films etc made in those days that bear testimony to this, we run the risk of this historic fact falling into oblivion.
Is that what we should strive for?
To me, the adventures of Tintin are a wonderful part of my childhood.
My father read the Tintin stories to me and my brother before we were able of reading them ourselves.
I would like to say Tintin and his friends have contributed to making me the man I am today.
For instance, Le capitaine Archibald Haddock is a great source of inspiration to me.
Seriously speaking.
I can think of more profane invectives than his “Freshwater pirates!” (don't recall what album this expression is from, I'll have to google a bit), but not of a more degrading one.
I'm not easily offended myself.
People can call me whatever they want as long as they don't compare me to complete losers like actual freshwater pirates:D
The “journalist”, Henry Samuel, is informing us that “TinTin in the Congo” is “controversial”. This is, yet again, opinion disguised as reporting. I thought better of The Telegraph.
Africa has some serious problems, not the least of which is the commodization of everything. It's a mindset that places a value on money rather than skills and is a direct result of colonial policies. You don't get to blame Islam for everything.
I think you can substitute just about any noun for "Africa" in that sentence.
Coincidentally, I'm reading this book right now. Not a happy story.
I recommend you read about the author.
Very interesting link. A good chunk of my ancestry is “Native” American (personally, I like the Canadian phrase “First Nations” better) and I have long been fascinated by the possible links between First Nations peoples and Asian peoples.
Sorry bud, when I have had to buy goats for sacrifices for voodoo... and islam is very much alive in the communities...
that comes straight from islamic tradition not african
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