Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal.

When I go from hence
let this be my parting word,
that what I have seen is unsurpassable.

Sunday 13 July 2008

Bookmarks: Tintin

What is it about Tintin and his escapades that makes them my favourite comic adventures? I really cannot put a finger on it. What is even more puzzling is that my favourite hero is not Tintin. That crown belongs to Spiderman. Spiderman, with his emotional conflicts, the desparate-to-be-normal attitude and existential dilemas, torn between love, friendship and duty facinates me. Any ordinary man faced with huge responsibilities and even huger decisions forced upon him can identify with the dimunitive college boy who suddenly has to look after the whole world. Tintin, on the other hand, presents no such problems. His world is a black and white one, made up of a hero, his sidekicks and a bunch of villains. A one dimensional character who can put any psychologist to sleep, he jumps from one problem to another with the alarcity of a school boy. The only things that keep him alive are his luck and the imbecility of the villains. One would think, Tintin is only for little boys who have not yet started to expect the world to be grey. Yet, strangely enough, I have not stopped loving him since the day I first made his acquaintance. And its not just me. People far older than me are diehard Tintin fans. I have seen middle-aged fathers discuss Tintin among themselves with the same animation as their sons. It seems like people never really outgrow the Tintin-phase of their lives. I can ascribe only one reason for it. That is the simplicity of Tintin's world. Tintin never tries to fit into the adult world. He is happy in his world where good people are good and bad people are bad and you can always know one from the other. Whenever we are stressed, frustrated or plain bored we can escape to his world where we can solve all our problems with a little bit of luck and a little help from a dog.

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