Tintin, the boy-faced Belgian reporter who held journalism’s most coveted job, turns 80 years old today, 10 January 2009.
It was on this day that Herge‘s comic-book hero made his appearance in the church newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle, in which he visits Russia (Tintin in the Land of the Soviets) to describe the horrors of Bolshevism.
Tintin held the ultimate job in journalism. He travelled around the world (and sometimes beyond, Destination Moon), never had to take notes, never had to file a story, never was worried about being missing a deadline or being reprimanded by his boss, and never therefore gets sued.
And since we are in that gorious era, we might as well rub it in: Tintin never had to hear of words like cost-cutting, streamlining, rationalisation, jobs freeze, or salary cuts.
Tintin’s only recorded remark to his editor (on departing for Moscow) is:
“I’ll send you some postcards and vodka and caviar”.
That remark, along with several others is included in a strong body of evidence provided by Matthew Parris, the sketch writer of The Times, London, to conclude that Tintin, like Paris, is gay.
“Billions of blue blistering barnacles, isn’t it staring us in the face? A callow, androgynous blonde-quiffed youth in funny trousers and a scarf moving into the country mansion of his best friend, a middle-aged sailor? A sweet-faced lad devoted to a fluffy white toy terrier, whose other closest pals are an inseparable couple of detectives in bowler hats, and whose only serious female friend is an opera diva… And you’re telling me Tintin isn’t gay…?
“But Snowy saw everything; Snowy knows all. And Snowy never tells. “
Read the full article: Of course, Tintin is gay, ask Snowy
Visit the official Tintin site: tintin.com
Also read: Can a boy-actor hold a candle to an editor?
If Steven Spielberg has a casting problem…
Spielberg certainly has a cross to bear! All the best to him and to producer Peter Jackson and to actor Andy Serkis.
Tintin is one of my happiest memories of childhood. I have probably read each of the 21 or so Tintin titles (then available in India) some 200 times!
The Tintin books were also my little sister’s favorite. She and I spent countless hours marveling at the inspiring adventures, absorbing the superb illustrations, and laughing our guts off at the antics/vocabulary of Captain Haddock (my sister’s favorite), Cuthbert Calculus (my favorite), Thomson & Thompson and Bianca Castafiore.
In 2002 for my sister’s birthday, while she lived in freezing northern India, I sent her the complete collection of Tintin books so she could renew all the happiness of childhood. She (and her friends) enjoyed the books all over again. She said it was the best present she received.
How grateful can I be to Georges Remi (Herge) for embellishing our childhood with all the innocent, inspiring happiness!
A post in very poor taste. Millions of children grow up reading TinTin and here you are portraying him as some kind of weirdo!
Should everything in the world be seen gay or not context?
Why not admire the extraordinary research that Herge did to create this character in an age where there were no Internet no TV like today?
Tintin is racist! Goes the abuse.
Truly, liberalism is a cancer…and the West suffers the same way our country does.
But I always liked Asterix better. Illustrations and humor.
Like Da Vinci, Harry Potter- now Church will be up in arms against Tintin. Such an immorality sure has landed up in hell.
May be after 500 years, like Galileo, we will hear an apology.
Links broken dude!!!!!
The article in the Times was tongue in cheek.
Btw, a must for Tintin readers is the book “Tintin, the absolute companion”