John Jaung
1263454 Popular Genre
Tintin Fan
Fiction and Commentary
It was a sunny, warm day in the city
streets of London. It was just like any other day in the urban areas of Belgium with busy streets, the birds chirping obnoxiously and our two protagonists Tintin and Captain
Haddock sitting down whilst sipping on a cup of tea to begin their day. However,
the mood for today wasn’t the same as it used to be between these two good
friends, something was just not right.
“Captain, are you okay? Is something wrong?” Tintin asked.
“Do you even know what day it is Tintin?”
Captain barked impatiently.
“To be
honest it just seems like any other day to me, just been a bit busy writing
articles for the Le Petit Vingtieme. Be sides that it has been just a
completely normal day Captain. Is today supposed to be special?” Tintin asked
slightly worried.
“So
according to you, I am not even worth the importance of a stupid magazine
company you work for? This is just one day in a year and you really forgot? What
in tarnations is this Tintin?! Would you please explain to me? I really can’t
understand what’s happening!” The captain yelling at Tintin’s face with uncontrollable
rage.
“First of
all my job is not stupid Captain! You will never understand what it’s like to
be me and its best that you don’t know any way! I’m just doing what I love,
which is my job you old hag!” Tintin was filled with rage as well.
Captain
Haddock started walking closer to Tintin and they glared eye to eye. Blue ones
met the dull grey eyes of Tintin’s.
“You listen
to me Tintin! Since you don’t give and blistering barnacles about me, I won’t
give you any respect and attention about your job or anything. I can’t believe
after all these years and after all these adventures you forget about this day.
You are the most inconsiderate person I have ever met in my life! How can you
have forgotten my birthday?” Captain shoved Tintin.
Tintin shoved the Captain back.
“stop it Captain! Alright I have forgotten
but you won’t know how I feel right now! After whatever I’ve been through! You just don’t understand what it is
like to be me…” Tintin stated in a slightly whispering tone.
“fine then!” captain screamed as he bolted
towards the door and slammed it.
The Captain
was furious and in an enraged state, quickly left the building and headed
towards his home Malinspike hall. Tintin drank some water and tried breathing
in and out slowly to let off some steam. His hands were over held over his head
and face down towards the table.
“I’m sorry Captain please forgives me…” He sighed holding his tears back.
The Captain
was still filled with rage when he entered Malinspike Hall after his encounter
with Tintin. He went inside the living room and sat down on his sofa with a
grumpy expression. It may have seemed a bit immature, but Haddock was still
very upset at Tintin about the fact that he thought his job was more important
than himself. He was confused whether he himself over reacted or if it was all
Tintin’s fault.
“Of course
it is his fault! He forgot about that one day which only comes by once a year. Even
Nestor remembered my birthday. It is his entire fault!”
He was
certain that today would be one of his most disappointing birthdays of his
life. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock and the doorbell
rang. He wasn’t expecting anyone to come by. He had the feeling of excitement
that it would be Tintin coming to apologize. But it was his old pall Oliver.
“hey there old friend? I’ve forgotten
to bring you some rum that I brought for your birthday! Happy birthday my old chap!” he said smiling.
This brought
a weak smile to the Captain’s face as he loved drinking alcohol. Yet he couldn’t
get Tintin off his mind. Oliver seemed to have noticed the lack of energy in
the Captain.
“Haddock you alright there?” Asked Oliver in a worried tone.
“Well not really old timer…” The captain
whispered.
Do you want to talk about it?”
The captain nodded and let him in. They sat at
the living room and Oliver started to open a bottle of rum that he brought and poured it into
the glass.
“Cheers! It
really means a lot that you are here old friend” said the Captain drinking the
whole drink at once burning down his throat.
“So tell me
what happened?”
“Well… It’s
just Tintin... all the adventures we have gone through, he just doesn’t seem to
understand how I feel. It’s always Tintin that gets all the attention, Tintin
that gets all the praise, everything is just revolved around him without him
giving me the appreciation that I deserve, when I have always been there for
him.” The Captain sighed and poured himself another glass and chugged it
straight away.
“oh what is
this gin? Blimey this drink is great!”
“….”
Thump! And
the Captain’s eyes shut and he fell down head first to the floor. His drink
sure was no ordinary one. Oliver took off his mask and revealed his true
identity.
It was just
one of these days that Tintin was perhaps a little over sensitive and things
weren’t going out the way he planned them to. He suddenly changed direction and
set out his way towards Malinspike Hall.
The door
was left open, which was out of the ordinary; the Captain always keeps his door
shut. So Tintin went inside.
“Captain?!
It’s me Tintin, where are you?” There was no reply.
Tintin
searched around the house and the Captain was nowhere to be seen.
There was an
opened bottle of whiskey and a note left on the table. It read:
“Good day dear boy and you thought I was
out of the picture forever didn’t you? Well sorry to disappoint you, but I am
fed up with your constant meddling in my business. This time I will crush you
for good!
P.S the
Captain is with me.
- Rastapopoulos”
Commentary
The very
influential script reviewer Vogler (1998) once stated that all great filmic
narratives share a similar deep structure which is universally acclaimed. Through
my fan fiction I focused on the very beginning of a story and usually the part
considered being the “separation act”. In this story I wanted to focus more on
the two protagonists in the story Tintin and Captain Haddock and how their
breakdown in their relationship brings a new call to adventure. Tintin always
being the hero of the story is shown here that at times he maybe the classic
protagonist who cares about the welfare of others over his own, but he is also
an ordinary boy at times. Tintin being the hero sometimes expects himself to be
the centre of attention which in this case upset Captain Haddock, the
accomplice. I wanted to portray the humanistic views of these characters by
using even the small matter of the Captain’s birthday to stir up an argument.
Even if Tintin is the hero and mastermind crime solver, he is also a boy that
requires attention and care. So therefore I thought that this scenario would be
great to start to introduce and set up the whole process of a new Tintin
adventure. Like Vogler’s structure of narratives I wanted to address the
setting, characters and basic action of the story. Questions of what happened
to the Captain and how Rastapopoulos dressed up as Captain’s friend Oliver,
plus what happened to Oliver will be raised in bringing out the curiosity of what
will happen next in the story. The catalysis I introduced would be the
disappearance or kidnapping of Captain Haddock. This is the first turning point
of the story precipitated by the appearance of Rastapopoulos. He is introduced
in the ending of the story as the villain who has kidnapped Captain Haddock. This
pushes the pace of the story and pushes it towards the next act in which there
will be much more focus on the action and Tintin’s role of rescuing captain
from Tintin’s nemesis Rastapopoulos.
Even though
Volger’s model of ‘mythic structure’ and ‘character archetypes’ may seem very
general and formulaic, while writing my fan fiction on Tintin, I realised that they
were unintentionally brought up within my story. It could have been due to my long
experience of screening sessions of various popular films and narratives that
follow Vogler’s structure. All in all I would have to agree that Vogler’s formula
presents a flexible set of elements commonly present in many films that are
arguably elements in their popular success. I may have just written and
introduction towards the narrative, but the story I planned out would have led
to various turning points, tests, ordeals and a climax like that of Vogler’s
model structure and more characters would have been introduced as the story
progresses.
By: John
Jaung 1263454
