Pop Genre - brief 2 assesment John Jaung

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