MY HEADCANON: Tintin As A Reporter

An Hergé illustration of Tintin presenting Hergé with books detailing his adventures

There's a lot of good-natured 'mockery' of Tintin's "reporter credentials" in fandom, as he never really does - on the page, at least - much of what most people would call "reporting".

However, I have a theory on this, which forms the basis of my personal headcanon, justifying Tintin's right to be known as the world's most famous "boy reporter".

Tintin in The Land of The Soviets, not grasping the term 'brevity'

More attention is drawn to the act of reporting in the early albums, with Tintin attempting to file a ludicrously large pile of copy in The Land Of The Soviets  and the fact that he carries around a camera while touring The Congo.

But to my mind, Tintin isn't so much a generic hack, but rather a feature writer. He's a "gonzo journalist" (before such a term was even coined), writing about adventures he becomes a part of, rather than reporting on incidents that have happened, as seen through the eyes of other witnesses. 

"Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative."

- Wikipedia

Not only is this held up by the framing device of BBC Radio adaptations of the stories, with Tintin dictating - over the sound of him typing - to his editor the introduction to his latest yarn, but - more crucially, by the scene with Patrash Pasha in Cigars of The Pharaohs.

Patrash Pasha is a such a fan of Tintin that he has books about his future adventures!

Upon learning who his "guest" is, the Sheik proudly shows Tintin that he has been following his written adventures... by getting his manservant to bring out his copy of Destination Moon (which was, at that time, 20 years in Tintin's future, having been updated from the original drawing of Tintin in America, as the books were translated and republished out of order). 

So, while Tintin may file the occasional front-page story about a crime or major incident, I see him more as a feature writer and journalist in the mould of Hunter S Thompson and PJ O'Rourke, throwing himself into quirky and dangerous situations so he can write about them (i.e. the illustrated books we call Hergé's Adventures of Tintin).

This is why we rarely see him actually "reporting" in the pages of the albums, because the important writing comes afterwards.

He has to experience the adventure before he can type it all up.

As his very first album shows, he doesn't have the time to actually file copy during his usual non-stop, breath-taking antics. 

It also wouldn't make for an interesting break in the rhythm of the story.

Thus, we've established he's a reporter in his early outings, and get the occasional reminder as the series progresses, meaning there's really no need to keep to returning to the minutiae of 'genuine' journalism. 

For me, this is why, even though he becomes more of a pulp "adventurer" as the albums progress, he is still regarded as the celebrity "world-famous boy reporter" - both within the world of Hergé's books and our own world. 

In my headcanon I firmly believe that between his daredevil escapades, Tintin squirrels himself away with a typewriter, in a quiet room in Marlinspike, bashing out the next book based upon his thrilling exploits.

We may not see him interviewing many people, taking copious shorthand notes, checking sources etc, but Tintin still managed to inspire many of us, from an early age, to pursue a career in journalism.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: My Ink

If you saw me in the street, a slightly chubby pasty-faced square wearing a comic book-themed t-shirt and shorts, you probably wouldn't imagine that I was the sort of person to have a tattoo.

That said, these days they're a lot more commonplace than when I was growing up.

I remember I was watching a documentary on TV, with a work colleague (a fellow journalist), about tattooing, and I asked her if she'd ever considered getting one. Instead of answering, she simply rolled up her sleeve and showed me her tattoo. I can't remember what it was.

What I do remember was thinking that maybe I should get one then. I just had no idea of what.

Let's be clear, it wasn't Hunter S Thompson's fault that I got a tattoo, but he certainly influenced my choice of design.

It so happened, once I decided to get a tattoo, that I'd just read one of Hunter's collections of articles (it was either The Great Shark Hunt or Generation Of Swine) and in it was a piece about how, one day when he had nothing to write about, he convinced his assistant to get a tattoo of a black jaguar so he could write about that. I'm sure alcohol was probably involved as well.

I had no other idea, at the time, about what to get tattooed on my left arm and so went with a black jaguar as well.

Once I was in the tattoo parlour, in the chair, it turned out to be a lot less painful than I'd been expecting (from the moment the tattooist told me to relax), but that said - given my needle-phobia that has developed since my extended stay in hospital - I doubt I'll get another any time soon.

This all happened in the early '90s and I managed to keep my tat a secret from my parents until I was hospitalised ten years ago. At that point it wasn't a high priority to still keep it covered over in their presence.

And, I suppose given the circumstance of their discovery that their beloved son had permanently marked his body with an image of a black cat, they took it very well. All things considered!

I don't regret getting tattooed for an instant, even if it doesn't have any deep significance. It's part of me now. It was something I wanted to do at the time, I did it, and now it's done.

I certainly won't be applying to appear on Tattoo Fixers.

Banshee Chapter (2013)

Given that it overtly references two of my favourite authors (HP Lovecraft and Hunter S Thompson), I really should have liked Banshee Chapter more than I did.

It's one of those frustrating little works that's so close to being worthy of being called a "cult classic", but falls just short in the final reckoning.

Journalist Anne Roland (Katia Winter aka Katrina Crane in Sleepy Hollow) is investigating the disappearance of her old university sweetheart James Hirsch (Michael McMillian aka Steve Newlin in True Blood), who had been looking into the drugs used by the CIA in the infamous MKUltra "mind control" experiments.

Her quest eventually leads her, via the ever-intriguing phenomena of "numbers stations", to gonzo journalist Thomas Blackburn (Ted Levine aka Buffalo Bill from Silence Of The Lambs), who invites her to try some 'mind-altering drugs' with him and his 'pharmacist', Callie (Jenny Gabrielle).

Weird shit goes down at their 'party', prompting Anne and Blackburn to pay a visit to Callie's house. There they discover she has learned the location of the secret bunker where the MKUltra experiments were performed.

And so they head out into the desert to explore the long-abandoned bunker. In the middle of the night...

A blend of 'found footage' with proper movie making, Banshee Chapter manages to keep the balance right, and blends in enough 'genuine' conspiracy theory to pique my interest, especially when they hammer home - by directly referencing - the fact that this story is a contemporary twist on HP Lovecraft's From Beyond (famously made into Stuart Gordon's glorious movie of the same name).

The documentary footage that splices in to Anne's narrative reminded me of The Atticus Institute, and as James attends the mythical 'Atticus University', I wonder if I'm missing some hidden link here beyond the thematic.

Aided by some solid special effects, the horror of Banshee Chapter comes in a mix of cheap jump scares and some genuinely creepy, atmospheric work, but where the film seriously stumbles is with Ted Levine's character, Thomas Blackburn.

He's such an obvious clone of Hunter S Thompson (particularly the gonzo author's Raoul Duke persona as seen in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas) that it isn't funny. It simply jars, shattering the verisimilitude the filmmakers were craving.

I know the film tries to justify this in its denouement, but really more originality should have been put into such a key character so that we aren't constantly thinking "but that's Hunter S Thompson".