Author: Angie_Rongrak

Week 12: Reality TV – Hybridizations

According to Wood (2004) since 20thcentury, sorting tv shows into categories or genres are becoming more complex, as there are “advent of hybridizations that cut across the categories into which programming is customarily divided.” Television are losing their rigidity and becoming increasingly confounded of its traditional culture form, as things that were separated began to mixed and changing. Usually television content got sorted into types, categories or genres, which were developed from film studies. The basic types of television modes are fact, fiction, entertainment and advertisement, however new analysis found that things have change, with hybridization. “Television’s generic system shows an increasing tendency towards hybridisation and reflexiveness” (Wood, 2004). 

Reality tv are showing hybridity, which means that they are mixing of television types and styles that previously segregated the area of fiction and non-fiction. It become a problem of whether reality tv can still be though of as a genre when there is such high level of hybridity. Traditionally, non-fiction and fact are about reality with referential detail such as News, while fiction is about the imaginative world such as the fantasy novels and films Harry Potter. However, many reality tv shows use elements of fiction in the reality or non-fiction and fact mode, mixing and blurring the different of fiction and none-fiction modes. 

Example of hybridity in reality tv shows are Game documentary tv show ‘Survivor’, a game show where ordinary people being put into unreal situation, forcing to cope without the modern comforts. Because of the lack of real driven narrative, the show introduced the idea of voting the contestant of the show. Another example is Docudrama, ‘Cathy Come Home’ (1996), a scripted show but were represented in a way that appears like real life event. It was successful and effective although it was scripted and not reality.

According to Wood (2004) Dauncey (1996) believe that the mid 1990s reality tv programmes, specifically the French reality tv shows,“had become ‘increasingly resistant to a cataloguing based on programme format’.” He suggests dividing reality tv genre into the everyday dramas, include courage, talk about feelings and civic action. However, Wood argues that there is problem with this, as Dauncey’s thematic unities does not really differentiate hybridized reality from other types of TV content. The analysis through genre and thematic fail to differentiate hybridized as they only succeed in normalizing the hybrid, they did not consider the categorical crossing which defines the hybrid content. 

More studies are needed in order to distinct types of reality TV and the hybridity, it is impossible to do this by just looking only at the show itself. The understanding of where the shows are from, the reason it was produced and the certain way it is being represent, are needed. 

References:

Wood, B. (2004) A world in Retreat: The Reconfiguration of Hybridity in 20th-Century New Zealand Television. Media Culture Society. http://doi.org/10.1177/0163443704039709

Week 11: Reality TV

Reality TV is referring to television show or programs genre, shows that are unscripted, documenting real people in real situations, so not fictional and no professional actors.

According to Kilborn (1994) TV shows started to get group into this ‘Reality Programming’ genre in 1980s. No matter if its fictional shows or factual shows, television has become a lot more into notion of realist enterprise. The audience has also seemingly gain insatiable desired for ‘real life’ TV shows. Reality TV shows have a wide range of human activities, which are the basic elements of this genre, the main point of this is that the audience should be able to always relate to things that there are watching or seeing on screen. As this is the appeal of this genre, the sense that the things they are watching can happened to them or people whom are sitting at home watching the show. “Thus, those candid camera sequences featuring members of the public caught in compromising or embarrassing situation are popular with viewers” (Kilborn, 1994, p. 424). This not just because they find it funny but because they know have the sense that they could be perhaps become the next star of the show. Example of Reality TV shows are documentary, competition and survival shows, etc.

There are many types of different format, content or certain feature of the Reality TV shows, but they all has the same claims that their show are the authenticity real life situation and event. However, reality TV shows might not be as ‘REAL’ as they want the viewers and audience to believed. Sometimes viewers were deceived due to the techniques and the technologies the shows used, as traditional cinema and television makers set the way viewers perceive reality on screen.  Such as if the camera technique being used is ‘hand held’ or technologies being used is hidden camera, then can deceive viewers to presume what ever they are seeing on screen as real.

According to Parton (2018), reality TV shows that are not ‘real’ is ‘Matchmaker’ and ‘Love island’. ‘Matchmaker’ is a Canadian dating show, where people meet and go on blind date, and decide if they hit it off or not. Behind the scene. DomashnaRakija a Reddit website user claimed their cousin were on the show, they actually met with their soon to be ‘blind date’ before the camera began rolling, and producers tell them what they should do. Questions and answers which should be from the people on the show were not, it was scripted by the producers as well. ‘Love island’ is quite like ‘Survival’ show, but people were forced to couple up for romance, money and opportunity, even dialogue were scripted.

So, reality TV are not always about real people in real-life situations, as many shows are scripted and being manipulate by producers, to make sure their get the product that is what the audience want, even though they had to fake it.

References:

Kilborn, R. (1994). `How Real Can You Get?’: Recent Developments in `Reality’ Television. European Journal of Communication. http://doi.org/10.1177/0267323194009004003

Parton, J. (2018, February 16). 8 Fakest Reality Shows (And 8 That Are Totally Real). Screen Rant. https://screenrant.com/reality-tv-shows-fake-real/

Week 10: Alternate history, Postmodern alternate history and Uchoronie

Alternate history, Postmodern alternate history and Uchoronie are the subgenres of science fiction. Science fiction is a novel genre that have futuristic elements, such as advance science, technology, or concepts of space and extraterrestrial being. The subgenres, alternate history, postmodern alternate history and Uchoronie have to do with their stylistic and philosophical time, dimensions or universe within the novel.  

Alternate history is basically the “what if…” of a part of history that we known. Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, can perhaps be considered an alternate history piece, as the story is about one of the most well known history of all time, World War II, with the Nazis wining the war (Mountfort, 2016, p. 301). 

Postmodern Alternate History, according to Mountfort (2018) it is a concept of Frederic Jameson’s Archaeologies of the Future (2005). It has synchronic view of time with the spectre of the postmodern relativism (Mountfort, 2016, p. 301).

Uchoronie is a French term, according to Mountfort (2018) the genre describe “the presence of competing timelines or alternate histories” (p. 66). Referencing William Joseph Collins, there are three subcategories of uchoronie, which are Pure uchoronia, Plural uchoronia, and Infinite uchronia. Pure uchoronia have one alternative world. Plural uchoronia when one world and an alternate world exist in parallel. Infinite uchronia have many or infinite parallel worlds. (Mountfort, 2016, 306). 

Looking simply at The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, it may look like a simple alternate history genre, however many also argue that its should be consider as postmodern alternate history genre and even uchoronie genre. When comparing ‘The Man in the High Castle’ story’s philosophical intricacies, literary quality and the intellectual depth, with how too wide and simple the alternate history genre seems to be, it does not seem appropriate. Winthrope Young said that this Philip K. Dick work piece outranks many other pieces that are considered alternate history (Mountfort, 2016, 301). The main argument has to do with Dick’s concept of time and the multiverse. According to Mountfort (2016), Heath Massey mention that “Dick’s idea of a temporal multiverse is, like eternal recurrence, more of a speculative hypothesis than a theory about the world” (p. 305). The Man in the High Castleview of time are not at all linear or casual, it actually breaks away from these basic alternate history genre elements, Dick’s notion of history is more synchronic (p. 301). Dick himself state that “If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others” (1977). (Mountfort, 2016, 305). He takes the idea of the “multiverse” really seriously, he even frames the novel in the context of “possible time dysfunctions” in one of his letter (1975).

References:

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies. 

Mountfort, P. (2018). Science fictional doubles: Technologization of the doppelganger and sinister science in serial science fiction TV. Journal of Science & Popular Culture, 1(1) 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1386/jspc.1.1.59_1

Week 9: Cosphotography Genres

Cosphotography is a photography genre and a form of capturing the Cosplay culture, where people dress up and performed as characters of all types of popular media texts.The cosphotography acts as reflect and define agent in the performance of cosplay phenomenon. There are three main genres of cosphotography, which are Runway, Hallway and Studio portrait.

According to Mountfort et al. (2018), the history of Cosphotography started around 1908 in the US through news articles in newspaper. A craze documented a couple, William Fell of Cincinnati and his wife, dress up or cosplay as science fiction strip cartoons characters, Mr. Skygack from ‘Mr. Skygack from Mars’ and Miss Dillpickles from ‘Chicago Daybook’. Two years after this event, news article reported that a young women created a Skygack costume and wear it to a ball and won first prize. Her male friend later borrowed the costume for a skating rink advertisement. He was arrested by Tacoma police and released on bail for walking around the city masquerading, as it was prohibited. We later able to see the wider culture of costume dress up or cosplaying and photography in around late 1930s and early 1940s, with the Worldcon in New York and the New York World’s fair. The New York World’s fair has a futuristic theme ‘The world of Tomorrow’ they had domes, transportation and models, while Worldcon has around 200 participants dressed up and posed for photographs. As culture and technology developed so did the Cosphotography production, circulation and audience reception. From black and white in the 1940s, Polaroids and instamatics in the 1950s to 1970s, then SLRs and digicams in the 1980s to 1990s, and now more choice of technology for photography such as DSLR camera, Smartphone camera and many types of high quality video capture devices. 

Cosphotography have three main genres of cosphotography, which are Runway, Hallway and Studio portrait. 

Runway is a genre or style that capture while the cosplayer is on fashion show stage.  Similar to the mainstream fashion show culture, this is like a catwalk stage where cosplayer show off their costumes. This style “have a definite presence, especially on promotional websites or pages curated by fans who have been favored on the competition stage.” (Mountfort et al., 2018). 

Hallway is the more casual, informal genre or style of cosphotography, it can be taken from any photographic devices, such as DSLR, smartphones or camcorders, etc. This style is distributed through online social media platforms, to spark people’s interest in cosplaying culture. 

Studio portrait genre or styleis “the dominant visual genres that evolved out of convention spaces” (Mountfort et al., 2018).  It is when a cosplayer becomes a model for the photographers, it can be both indoor or out, as well as with physical props or just blue or green screen. They are also allowed to used the photographs of themselves for self promotion of their costume as well.

Cosplayer also view being photographs as something that to be expected, as well as a compliment to the cosplayer. 

Reference:

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect.

Week 8: Cosplay Analogous to Citation

Cosplay is an act of dressed up and performed as characters of all types of popular media texts, “roots in the mid to late twentieth century cross-pollination between American and Japanese popular culture” (Mountfort et al., 2018). These popular media texts include comics (manga for japanese) animation, games, live action films, televisions, even music videos etc. The aim for cosplayer is to portray a character’s looks, a step further by adding the character’s personality and behaviour, (Mckay, 2019). It is a global phenomenon within the 21st century media convergence, reflecting the contemporary fandom’s unmatched modes of the mass or pop culture engagement for both online and offline. Although it is a global thing it is still commonly believed to begin in Japan, mostly because of how the term ‘cosplay’ was coined in Japan around the 1983 (Mountfort et al., 2018). 

As cosplay are about dressed up and performed as characters from a popular media text, it can be seen as commonly a way of citation. Citation is a practices form of reference, when mentioning and referring, to a source of information. 

According toMountfort et al. (2018), cosplay analogous to citation, in ways that they are referencing to their chosen source texts by involving performing unlimited ‘citational acts’, including how they act or behavior and the way their dress. The act is “theatricalism, including pose and gesture” (Mountfort et al., 2018), their costume and props are also a part of referencing characters they chosen. Cosplay are different to dramatic theatre and screen performance, and it can be differentiated from how cosplay are not about realising the whole original script in going through a sustained performance. But are more about a “smaller or ‘parcellized’ portions of an original” script and story (Mountfort et al., 2018). The people who cosplay cite and refer to their source of information through between texture and performance, but are more of performance-orientated symbolic metaphor. It is common that they use terms such as “modelling, textual performance, translation, transportation, actualization, identification, intertextual or transmedial process and, indeed, ‘embodied citational acts.’” (Mountfort et al., 2018).

Cosplay citation is actually essential in the cosplayers’ decisions and subsequent appropriation of the original source material. As soon as a cosplayer decided to dress up with intention of a specific character, it means that the citation of that particular media texts has taken place. (Mountfort et al., 2018).

References:

Mckay, R. (2019, December 6). Cosplay 101: Everything You Need To Know About It. Who. https://www.who.com.au/what-is-cosplay

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect.

Week 7: Horror Elements

“It is not the physical or mental aberration in itself which horrifies us…but rather the lack of order which these situations seem to imply” (King, 2010).

Horror is a genre of story and film, an entertainment category that the audience read or watch to get scare and frighten. This genre comprises of things that are mysterious, creepy, gruesome, and shocking, both in the story form and imagery form, able to make their audience react physically. According to Stephen King (2010), horror appeals to people because it representing many things that people are afraid to say out loud and allowing them to experience emotions that people are not usually familiar with in normal society. Horror genre “begins to coalesce between the last half of the eighteenth century and the first quarter of the nineteenth” (Carroll, 2003). In the 1930s, horror was popular during that period, as people when through the Depression days, and decided to let go of their anxieties with horror. This period was also “the rise of the so-called ‘Shudder Pulps’, which encompassed everything from Weird Talesto Black Mask.”(King, 2010). 

According to King (2010), Horror can be defined with three basic elements which are‘Revulsion, Horror and Terror’. These three things are the layered elements which made the horror genre works, keeping the audience on edge and interest in the story. 

First, the ‘Revulsion’, this are the moments that created the feeling of disgust for the audience. Can be clearly seen in horror films because of the imagery, an example is the american horror movies franchise, Saw. This movies franchise has many disgusting and gruesome moments, such as in Saw II where the character has to get the key by digging into their eye socket or have his head squashed by helmet with spike. 

Second, the ‘Horror’, this are about the “graphic portray of the unbelievable” (King, 2010). These are moments when audience are face with something that are not natural, abnormality or implausible, as facing with something that are difficult to understand often spark sense of fear in people. For example, the supernatural like aliens, vampires and ghost, these things created sense of fear in people. 

Lastly, the Terror, this are when fear is stimulating by imagination, somethings that are unknown can sock the audience into terror. For example, in the 2019 film ‘Colour out of Space’, the characters experienced and faced with an unknown being which can control them into behaving weirdly.

For myself, a horror story I’ve watched that makes use of all three of these elements are the action/science-fiction horror movies franchise, ‘Alien’. The story has all three elements, the Revulsion, Horror and Terror. Revulsion are for scenes in which we see the aliens comes out from its eggs and attaching itself to a human’s face to later burst out from the character’s chest. Or when human and alien fight and kill each other. Horror as the characters are fighting with extraterrestrial species creatures which are really ugly. Lastly Terror as they are fighting with creatures that they do not have any information on and was not yet understood.

References:

Carroll, N. (2003). The philosophy of horror: Or, paradoxes of the heart. The Nature of Horror. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Fandor. (2017, September 12). 3 levels of Horror According to Stephen King [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EC0DoaaCY

King, S. (2010). Danse Macabre. USA. Retrieved from https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5320793-dt-content-rid-12699647_4/xid-12699647_4

Week 6: Body Horror

“Fictional representation of the body exceeding itself or falling apart, either opening up or being altered past the point where it would be recognised by normative understandings of human corporeality.” (Reyes, 2014). This is how Reyes describes Body Horror which is a term in Gothic and Horror studies, describing “broadly speaking, body horror features the graphic depiction, destruction or degeneration of the human body” (Reyes, 2014). Body Horror are technique to generate viewer’s physical reaction through using the extreme gruesome imagery of body and corporeal transformation or mutation. As well as shocking viewers into experiencing sense of fear, dread and disgusted.

Film like the 2019 ‘Colour out of Space’ which are adapted from H.P Lovecraft’s short story “The colour Out of Space”, make use of the Body Horror to explore themes of the unknown. Colour out of space is “a freaky-deaky, retro-cosmic science-fiction horror about a meteor that slams into Earth unleashing an extraterrestrial organism.” (Clarke, 2020). The family of five witness flashes of purple and found a meteor, that is when the terror began as something unknown is effecting the area and the livings. Everyone in the family, even the dog starts to behave weirdly from usual, the garden has lush mutant flowers grown. After that things got worst and it was gobsmacking and gagging repulsive. The body horror is used within the film to explore themes of the unknown with the representation of an unknown being that seems to be some kind of alien, or some other extra-terrestrial and its power to make the body of human and animals mutated.

At first no one has any idea what that being is, what is its plan or purpose, both viewers and characters in the story were totally in the dark. This is also another way that can create sense of fear for both viewers and characters in the story as according to Lovecraft, “the oldest and strongest emotion of human mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” (Jones, 2020). However, as the story goes on we were given a glimpse of the true horror when a scary unknown creature ran passed the front of Nathan and Teresa’s car. When the two brothers, Benny and Jack found their alpacas in a state of mutation that are beyond human’s recognition of living animal. Then flashes of purple light fuses Jack and his mother, Theresa’s body together into a deranged massand later also transform into an unknown being looking like a monster.These imagerieswere really gruesome, gobsmacking and gagging repulsive, it shocked me into experienced the sense of fear, dread and disgusted. It was really extreme that I did not want to watch it, but at the same time, I was curious into knowing what the creature is and its power. 

So Body Horror in this film are the extreme imageries of the mutated bodies of human and animals from the power of the Unknow purple light or being that shock viewers into feeling scared, dread or disgusted.

References:

Clarke, C. (2020, February 27). Color Out of Space review – Nicolas Cage goes cosmic in freaky sci-fi horror. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/27/color-out-of-space-review-nicolas-cage-joely-richardson-richard-stanley

Reyes, A. (2014). Body Gothic: Corporeal Transgression in Contemporary Literature and Horror Film. University of Wales Press. 

Jones, N. (2020, August 26). Lovecraftian Horror Lecture [Video]. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5273120-dt-content-rid-12699658_4/institution/Papers/ENGL602/Publish/Lovecraftian%20Horror%20Lecture.mp4

Week 5: Shōjo genre

‘Shōjo’ is one of the anime subgenres, it’s definition translate to literally means ‘young girl’ (Napier, 2005), anime where the protagonists character is female. It is also a demographic, basically anime genre that targets young girls, but mostly it is more about the visual and set of the story. The anime’s atmosphere and character design of this genre are often quite dreamy, cute and magical, clear examples of ‘shōjo’ genre is ‘Sailor Moon’ and ‘Cardcapture Sakura’ anime series. (Kahn, 2020).  However, young girls are not the only group of audience or consumers of this subgenre, there are also male consumers as well. 

According to Cavallaro (2006), looking at Miyazaki’s heroin character’s age and appearance, they are definitely ‘shōjo’. But there are differences to the average ‘shōjo’ characters. Miyazaki’s heroin has strong personality and leadership, they are not the typical average passive characters in a dreamland that some male audiences see as “play toys for Lolita complex guys” (Miyazaki, 1988). Miyazaki’s heroin is “active, independent, courageous and inquisitive” (Cavallaro, 2006), yet they also process compassion, gentleness and generosity for others. 

‘Shōjo’ are also a fascinating anime genre, as they intertwine with society views of gender roles and gender transgression. According to Napier (2005), this genre can “encapsulates both the increasing fluidity of gender identity in contemporary popular culture and the tensions between the sexes that characterize a world in which women’s roles are drastically transforming.”

Example of this is Miyazaki’s films, which are often exploring the topic of gender and sexual relations. His characters are portrayed in imaginative ways that surpass the notion and stereotype of feminism and masculinity. Character like Nausicaä of the 1984, ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds’ and San of 1997, ‘Princess Mononoke’, as both characters have strong personality and leadership, as well as being independent and courageous female character. Nausicaä are 16 years old and the princess of the Valley of the Wind. She is brave, intelligent, loyal, compassionate, and capable, she stands tall against all adversaries and is willing to sacrifice her life in order to save those around her. San is of similar age, she was raised by wolves and became a wild, untamed, short temper warrior, she is cold towards the humans, due to what they done to the forest, but she still possesses compassion.

References:

Cavallaro, D. (2006). The animé art of Hayao Miyazaki.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company.

Kahn, J. (2020, February 19). Anime genres explained. Looper. https://www.looper.com/189420/anime-genres-explained/

Napier, S. (2005). Anime from Akira to Howl’s moving castle. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Week 4: Culture Meduim, Anime and Subgenres

In the western, anime is still being considered children’s entertainment, a “sub” culture or low culture medium. However, in Japan, anime is “at present a “popular” or “mas” culture, a “truly a main-stream pop culture phenomenon.” (Napier, 2005). According to Napier (2005) for Japan, anime is considering to be high cultural medium, as it is “an intellectually challenging art form”. Anime allows Japan to become “increasingly significant player in the global cultural economy.” In the 1990s, anime began to developed and extend its’ reach, it became Japan’s new export product, as before that the export product was things such as haiku and martial arts. During this time, anime started to expand around the world, first in Asia countries such as Korea and Taiwan, as well as Southeast Asia, where an anime series ‘Doraemon’ become popular within Thailand. Then in Europe countries such as United Kingdom and France, followed by America (Napier, 2005).

Anime is not only for children like the Disney cartoon animation, it is not all pure and innocent, it also has mature, sexual, dark and violent concept to it. Some of it are able to be great at capturing many concepts and issues of the society and the world, such as history, politics and many other social issues, which “has powerful resonance with contemporary society and culture.” (Napier, 2005). These concepts are link to the subgenres of anime.

Subgenres of anime are quite different to the Western’s subgenres, as it operates in its own unique ways. It is impossible to used the same “rigid frame of reference” of the western animation, to analyse or categories them. As anime are considering to be “a storytelling ecosystem unto itself that must be understood as such.” (Kahn, 2020). There are many subgenre of anime, but the main examples of japanese anime’s subgenres that have great impact and are popular within the western, are Cyberpunk genre and Mecha genre. Cyberpunk genre is fiction story which focus on dystopian or technological world future. Where humanity is struggling and fighting to survive within the society or world that are overpowering by technology and machine. An example of this genre is the 1988 anime Akira, which also have the elements of historical background of Japan as well. Mecha genre, a short form of English word Mechanical, is fiction story about Robot, again technology. According to Napier (2005), these subgenres are appropriate for the current society and world where technology is increasingly becoming one of the important elements that human and society needs.

In conclusion, anime is a high cultural medium for Japan as it is regard as “an intellectually challenging art form” (Napier, 2005). With subgenres which captured many concepts and issues of the society and the world.

References:

Kahn, J. (2020, February 19). Anime genres explained. Looper. https://www.looper.com/189420/anime-genres-explained/

Napier, S. (2005). Anime and Local/Global Identity. In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.15-34). Hampshire: Palgrave/Macmillan.

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan.

Week 3: Gender

The representation of women within The Adventure of Tintin by Herge can be said that there were really little, to none in some albums, it is a big gap with the representation of men. According to Fem (2012) “there are no real female characters except for a couple women who make barely a dent in the storyline.”

If there were any women within the story, “the portrait is hardly flattering” (Mountfort, 2020). Most female characters can only be seen in the background, such as passerby or within the crowd. They often can be seen carrying their children or are doing activities associate with markets or preparing the food. They do not have any dialogue and voice or real role within the story, if the reader did not pay any attention to the background they will never notice any of the women within the background of the setting.

Some female characters who had any dialogue will either be a maid, a wife and/or a mother, who only talked about their husband or children, they never talked about themselves. They also almost always being portray as emotional and weak, they will often than not be seen panicking, crying or fainting and needing help from the protagonist or other male characters. Barely a handful of female characters “have any real agency or if they do, as with diva Madame Bianca Castafiore and, to a lesser extent, General Alcazar’s wife, Peggy, they are often depicted as irritants at best and at worst nags.” (Mountfort, 2020). 

According to Mountfort (2020) in some albums there are “even complete omission of women”, meaning that in some album there were no appearance of female character at all. Such as within Tintin’s seventh volum, ‘On a marché sur la Lune’ or Explorers on the Moon (1954/1959), there were 62 pages without a single female character being seen. And within Tintin’s tenth volum, ‘L’Étoile mystérieuse’ or The Shooting Star (1942/1961) the only time female character are seen “are at the docks where a where a ship is berthed” (Mountfort, 2020), in page 20 and 22.

In conclusion they are very little representation of women within the The Adventure of Tintin. According to Fem (2020) there need to be “more strong female characters in children’s books.” This is because children’s books can play an important role in “changing the way we as a society treat masculinity as though it’s the norm.” (Fem, 2020).

References:

Fem. (2012). “The Adventures of Tintin,” Gender and the Power of Nostalgia. Femmagazine. https://femmagazine.com/the-adventures-of-tintin-gender-and-the-power-of-nostalgia/

Mountfort, P. (2020). ‘Tintin, Gender and Desire’ Journal of Graphic Novels and comics. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. DOI: 10.1080/21504857.2020.1729829

Mountfort, P. (2020, August 4). Tintin and Gender_Part 1. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5314289-dt-content-rid-12497028_4/xid-12497028_4

Mountfort, P. (2020, August 4). Tintin and Gender_Part 2. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5314289-dt-content-rid-12497029_4/xid-12497029_4