The adventrues of Tintin by Herge
Pop genre – first screening
Do you think comics are a children's or adult
genre/media?
I believe that comics are both for children and adult genre. Although, many
people believe that comics are just for children.
Although, many people believe that comics are just for children. Adults have enjoyed comics for a long time.
Farr (1991) defines comics as it, “defies time, language
and culture."
This comics is
not only entertaining but discussing serious adult issues.
"The adventures of Tintin" by Herge is adventure as the title says and comic genre.
In "The Blue Lotus" episode, it deals with racism and drug issues.
The main
character Tintin is a little brave boy with a dog called Snowy.
The story starts with somebody poisoned a man with a message from Shanghai.
Tintin went to Shanghai to investigate about the poison.
Mr. Wang Chen Yee says to Tintin,“Watch your step, there are many enemies.”
His son, Didi, tried to help Tintin but lost his mind because he is
poisoned, he said he will chop off your head to every person that he sees.
Mitsuhirato was the terrorist and drug dealer from
Japan.
The Chinese boy, Cheng was saved by Tintin on the river.
Tintin and Cheng go to Hukau together and helped Tintin to defeat enemies.
The comic deals with direct racism - Cheng is
drawn differently to other Asians because he was a friend of TinTin, rescuer. Tintin pretend to be poisoned so he acted like a mad
person in front of Mitsuhirato, he pretend that he was an "Action
man" .
“Action man” was the representative to American
capitalism.
The episode is quite problematic. There are many in-jokes in this episode.
The viewers can get different interpretations.
It is unwoven to narrative. It is punctuate to narrative.
Changing a comic into a movie, the viewers can find it more interesting and easier to follow the narrative.
Reference
Farr, Michael. (1991).
Introduction. In Tintin: the complete companion (pp.8-9).
London: John
Murray.
Thanks Han Seul. This is only about 160 words so far. And it is in note-form. So I guess it is unfinished. You have some good ideas in there and this will be a great answer if you can tie it together into a discussion or short answer.
ReplyDeleteBrendan
Ok. Thanks for the finished answer Han Seul. You provide good examples from the primary text (Blue Lotus) that show adult focused and child focused details. Interesting final comment about movies being easier to follow. I wonder if that is a matter of audience familiarity. I suspect a 1930s audience would have found a comic easier to follow. Be careful about making broad statements without giving examples to back up your opinion. Perhaps you could have shown an example of one of the in-jokes you refer to.
DeleteThanks for your response, I wrote more! :) Too glad I'm the first starter.
DeleteWhen the movie industry became popular, many people would find it easier because it comes with visual and audio effects. But as you said, 1930s audience would have found a comic easier to follow.
Ans (1). Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?
ReplyDeleteHello Elle. I think you have made a fair point in stating that comics can be catergorised under both adult and children genres. I would like to elaborate this point further and give a personal account in relation to the question. In order to demonstrate the points of explanation, an issue of the Tintin comics, The Blue Lotus in particular, will be taken as an example.
The notion of whether or not comics can solely be classified under the children or adult genre is perhaps a fairly subjective and/or debatable idea. Ultimately, it is probably a reasonable assumption to say that it has a lot to do with the content, genre or even the actual message that is conveyed through this media form. Either way, it is perhaps important to understand that the purpose of comics with regard to categorising it – a form of media that intends to educate and delight an audience through an immense level of artistry (Chandler, 2000).
Through the eyes of an innocent reader, the strong themes of the comic may not be grasped fully or at all. However, an experienced or aged reader may be able to comprehend the complexity of the content that was presented through Tintin comics.
Herge has in fact stated that Tintin was targeted at wide audience, anyone from age seven to seventy-seven in fact (Farr, 1991). This is in a sense can be regarded true – However, according to Farr (1991), with respect to the fact that each individual, regardless of their age learn to find their own sense of consideration and appreciation. Perhaps this is what Herge ultimately intended for the reader – to reach to a broad audience and allow them to interpret it in their own way.
Of course, a more mature reader is more likely to understand the stereotypical features used to illustrate Herge’s stories. In the Blue Lotus for example, the Japanese characters (such as Mitsuhirato) were depicted in a way in which showed their noses to be shaped like pig snouts and having a distinct set of teeth – this possibly shows Herge’s dedication towards portraying the Japanese as conniving and exploiting the political turmoil in China to their advantage through his illustrations (Herge, 2005; 1935).
Adults would probably be able to pick up on this as much of his portrayals are a based on real time accounts of worldwide issues. Children on the other hand, will be less likely to grasp the complex linguistics or powerful cultural and moral ideas that are exposed in the Blue Lotus. (Varnum & Gibbons, 2001).
In conclusion, perhaps it is fair to say that provided there is no direct explicit illustration in portraying the content of a comic, both adults and children can experience the joy of reading a comic in a way that is individually relevant to them.
References:
Chandler, D. (2000). An Introduction To Genre Theory. Retrieved from http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/chandler_genre_theory.pdf
Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: The complete companion. London: John Murray.
Herge. (2005; 1935). The Adventures of Tintin:The Blue Lotus. London:Methuen.
Varnum, R.& Gibbons, C. (Ed.). (2001). The Language of Comics: word and image. Jackson: U Press of Mississippi.
Thanks Naufa. A nice answer. Yes, there are many comics (and particularly graphic novels) that use sexually explicit imagery and these are clearly only for adults. But what about violence in comics? Do you think that should restrict audience age? Don't forget to use speech-marks to indicate where your direct quotes begin and end.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not condone exposing a younger audience to violence, there is a perhaps an alternate perception of looking at the portrayal of violence as something they could potentially learn from instead of acting it out in real life. After all, it is an aspect of factual reality.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think one of the major disadvantages of completely eliminating violence depictions would decrease the emotional feel the reader needs to have to connect to the plot of the story.
Perhaps a solution could be to have children's comics follow up their violent imagery with a moral to ensure that violence is not the answer.
This is really insightful post. I like how you have definitions; it is helpful for the readers. Thank you.
ReplyDelete