Tintin in the Race Row of Horror

So ‘Tintin in the Congo’ contains ‘hideous racial prejudice’ CRE? Well no shit! Thanks for spying that one out a mere 77 years since the book’s original publication. Don’t you have better things to do than calling for a ban of the ancient cub reporter? How about attacking the extreme right wing pamphlets that keep being pushed through my letterbox ‘Immigrants swamp nation’, ‘Polish HIV Horror’ etc, bloody paperboy, he knows I don’t read the Daily Mail.

It was a solicitor browsing the Tintin books in Waterstone’s, Covent Garden, that alerted the ever vigilant watchdog that is CRE to the boy detective’s dodgy colonial attitudes. Wha...? Hang on? A grown man? Reading a comic, in the kids section of a bookshop, in full view? Has he no shame? And the ‘Oh Mister Tintin you am big juju man’ bit is miles in. This pinstriped, ambulance chasing (possibly) kidult must have been stood there for bastard ages. What’s up? Read all the Harry Potters? That’s probably why Waterstone’s moved it into the adult section; their subtle way of saying “Oi you, this isn’t a lending library, sod off and read a grown-up book.”

But back to things Herge penned; well several million Congolese think that ‘Tintin in the Congo’ is racist and given their depiction in the book and their country’s past treatment at the hands of Belgium (read’ Heart of Darkness’ Mr Solicitor) I don’t blame them. However, I have a more compelling reason for letting this particular title disappear from the shelves once more. To quote my nephew ‘it’s a load of rubbish and it doesn’t make sense.’ He much prefers the later ones.