Tintin comics 'too racist' for Stockholm library
Published: 25 Sep 12 08:33 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/43428/20120925/
Popular comic book series Tintin has been taken off the shelves at a Stockholm library after staff members slammed the portrayal of other cultures as "Afro-phobic".
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“The image the Tintin books give of Africans is Afro-phobic, for example. Africans are a bit dumb, while Arabs sit on flying carpets and Turks smoke water pipes,” explained Behrang Miri, who is in charge of the youth department in the library, to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN).
When the children read books like Tintin, Miri argues that they don’t stop to consider the stereotypical characters featured within the pages.
“Children don’t read the fine print, they just get into the story immediately. The biased picture is stigmatizing. Tintin provides a caricature with a colonial perspective. Young children absorb the information uncritically,” he told DN.
Meanwhile, staff at the library is working on investigating the content of other children’s books in the department in the aim of giving a consistent image for their readers without stereotypes, genders issues, or homophobia.
Even the adult literature is getting a thorough re-reading, with Miri hoping to provide better role models for the immigrants in the area, and a better reflection of their culture for the readers.
“All children's literature should be reviewed,” he told the paper.
“Even adult literature. Many people from African countries are living here today, but we don’t know enough about them."
Tintin was created by Belgian artist Georges Remi and revolves around Tintin, a young investigative journalist who travels the world solving mysteries.
The comics, published between 1930 and 1976, have been translated into over 50 languages and sold over 200 million copies. Steven Spielberg directed a motion capture 3D film version in 2011, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
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Why not let people decide on their own if they want to read these children books instead of forcing your own views on them? Tell Behrang Miri at Kulturhuset that we object to Swedish books showing blond children as that is not totally representative so all those books should be pulled as well. No more Pippi Långstrump! Is that what we are coming to, a gradual erasure of our culture that is not "multicultural" and totally politically correct?
It is Censorship to remove all ideas you don't agree with.
And it is very telling of the people in the library (the irony!) that they cannot recognize that all litterature reflects the time they were envisioned. As such TinTin is stuck in the early 1900's, because it would require a leap to accept him suddenly being in the present time.
Where do these librarians think they live? Saudi-arabia?
"This was made in the early 1900s. People didn't know better then."
The ones after 1950s, _after the war_, are a lot less racist.
Reading Behrang Miri's reported comments in this article, it seems that she sees it as her job to actually educate library goers in what she believes and provide a selected reading list, rather than the original open purpose of the library.
Anyway, I'll have to break the news to my African American friend who loves Tintin and has since a kid, he will be disappointed in you Sweden!
I think the thing they are trying to solve (a non-problem if you ask me) is far less serious than what they are doing now; censorship.
And as eppie pointed out, just because you read something as a kid does not mean you are doomed to believe it for the rest of your life. These books give invaluable insight into our past culture, our history. The librarian is obviously a moron.
Tintin had given me so much laughters and happy memories in my childhood, and today still. I have bought a new set of all the Tintin books for my own collection when they were fussing about "Tintin in Congo" some time ago. I plan to read it to my baby once she's old enough. Tintin fans should all do the same.
It is not censorship it is just a case of "We must not offend anyone" and keeping Comics from the 1900s is not a bad thing, I am not Xenophobic and I grew up with Tintin. There is some many self rightus people in this world that take offence of things and blame it on society. The Mock slave auction earlier this year, it was a University initiation ritual for gods sake, and just because there was an uprising from one small ethnic minority group doesn't mean that it was prejudice.
Come on and grow a set of balls, is Tintin being removed from any other Western country in the world??????? I think not .!
They should indeed continue and ban also the Swedish books of Pippi Longstocking. She's skipping the school, squatting a mansion, repeatedly (and often violently) resisting the police, living without a legal guardian, being racist against coloured people and provoking other children into questionable actions.
Just like improper Tintin, how can Pippi be seen as an acceptable role model in this modern world? We must protect our children and hide the inconvenient books! Burn them, burn them all!
:-P
No need to get all uptight and offensive, most of us know this wasn't a Sweden-wide ban, we can read you know and don't need your condescending attitude.
sorry sweden haters...you all need to find some other fuel for your fire.
Censurship is not the way to fight racism or ignorance, openness is.
This just turned out to be a leftist trying to make headlines though.
Gasp! Blacks=unwise?
Shakespeare was raaaaaacist. (He was probably a Sweden hater as well ).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19663751
and sell Tintin in the Congo on the streets of Congo.
Contact me at: suareznavarro@gmail.com and let's stop this nonsense once and for all!
Behrang Miri claims to be stopping ethnic stereotypes, but what he is REALLY doing is perpetuating them.
Behrang Miri - sounds like he comes from the Middle East.
The Middle East is internationally known for banning any form of literature that they find offensive to their Islamic theocracy.
And here old Behrang is, a Middle Eastener, coming to Europe and telling the natives what they can and can not read based on what he thinks is appropriate?
Behrang, you are your own worst enemy!
Now I wonder how far Behrang is ready to put his mouth where his money is and start taking down all the literature and films in his library that stereotypes Europeans negatively or even demonizes them? Like, if we do a search in his library will we still find the anti-German film Inglorious Basterds on the shelf?
For some reason I wont hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
Is that what we are coming to, a gradual erasure of our culture that is not "multicultural" and totally politically correct?
Yes, that's definitively were we are heading for as long as the Swedes are stupid enough tovote for and tolerate the Totalitarian Gutmensch politicians.
Every segment of our lives and thoughts will be at least modified and in many cases destroyed, just to please and not to offend the 'newcomers''s anachronistic believes and clan mentality preferences.
12:48 September 26, 2012 by Freedaysaregooddays
Behrang, you are your own worst enemy!
I don't care that he/she is his/her own enemy. It's our enemy for certain and this types which think a totalitarian state is good for themselves, because they came from regions where that's the ongoing business, shouldn't be in a place that they can influance the lives of Real Swedes and Modern(ized) people. Let this character become happy and send him/her to a Islamic hellhole of choice. There she/he will be able to forbid everything which offends her/him.
Is it impossible for the politically correct people do do the same? No; a book bonfire is a far more symbolic gesture.
I remember reading Noddy stories as a child and knew that Golly wogs (as much as I liked them) belonged to a bygone era. Everything that Enyd Blyton wrote belonged to the past; my child's brain was likewise able to do this equation: Tintin/old artwork/unreal/not accurate vision of reality.
This kind of action makes collector's items out of this work, and removes them as a literary milestone.