Kevin Rudds pitch to liberal voters has been enhanced by a decision by Borders to ban Tintin in the Congo from public view. Rudd, very successfully cartooned as Tintin by Bill Leak in the Australian, staved off a Coalition attempt to brand him a rampaging racist, with an eye on environmental destruction. The books are now available in brown wrapping to discerning eligible voters looking for any reason to vote for John Howard.
The cover of the book purportedly showing Kevin about to tour remote Aboriginal Communities was deemed too explosive in an election year.
The Spokesman from the Labor Party said they had nothing to do with the decision.
I was drawn to this story by an interesting article by Robert Sharp, himself a Tintin fan and his love hate relationship with some of the not so PC aspects of the storyline.
Based on his writings, Tintin was about as progressive as my grandparents generation. Robert writes:
I’ve read Tintin in the Congo, and it is indeed appalling. In addition to the obvious racism, it is also distinctly environmentally unfriendly. Tintin blows up a rhino with a stick of dynamite, shoots an entire herd of impala by accident, makes a snake gobble its own tail, performs a summary execution of a chimpanzee, attempts to shoot a crocodile in the face, and poaches an elephant for its tusks.
Where to begin with the racism in the book? Throughout, the Africans are portrayed as simpletons, who idolise Tintin and Snowy and fetishize anything western they can get their hands on. The chief of one tribe has a rolling pin for a sceptre.
Kevin can rest easy that he will just be mocked rather than vilified in the cartoon community.
