HURRAY FOR THE COUNCIL FOR RACIAL EQUALITY!
Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 09:57AM Here's a follow up to a story from a few days ago.
Sales of a Tintin comic book have rocketed since Britain's Commission for Racial Equality claimed it was racist. Sales of Tintin in the Congo have shot up by 3800 per cent after the CRE watchdog claimed it contained potentially highly offensive material. The comic has reached number eight on internet retailer Amazon's most popular books list, the broadsheet reported. A CRE spokesman accepted that its interjection could have sparked the rise in sales. "It is a delicate balance but because we had a complaint from a member of the public we felt we had no choice," he said, according to the newspaper.
Result! Now more and more people can read about TinTin and his adventures in the Congo - all thanks to the CRE.
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Reader Comments (10)
I know someone who has a 1946 copy of the Rupert Bear Annual.
One of the stories is titled: 'Rupert Bear and the Coons'. (graphic drawings included).
Great. Let's hope sales rocket when the news gets around.
Why Bernard ?. I can understand and support the refusal to censor or ban items of literature which were a product of their times, but why would you actually want sales to rocket of this book.
You're tilting at windmills again, Colm.
I see you don't have the courage of your convictions Bernard.
Colm, there is nothing like watching irritating organisations like the CRE shoot themselves in the foot.
They've tried it on with robertsons jam, camp coffee, jelly babies, now tin tin......in every case the items then become emminently collectable.
If this laughable, tax-funded organisation carries on like this then old colonial stories from the middle of the 19th century onwards will see a great revival as the CRE trolls through the archives, looking for offensive material.
The originator of DV's post was a 'public spirited' and eagle-eyed Solicitor....hope you're not one of them?
Colm:
It would be wonderful to see 'Rupert Bear and the Coons' experience massive sales, because it would be evidence that the buying public was rejecting the pathetic PC censorship and Bowdlerisation that is rapidly becoming the norm when dealing with any product of a past age that can be deemed offensive to any designated victim group in this age.
Plus, seeing the CRE and similar jumped-up hypocritical idiots fuming is always good fun, and they would certainly fume over that particular book.
Bernard and FR
I can't disagree with you about the idiocy of the CRE in these matters but I do think these books should be left alone as products of their time rather than deliberately boosted into bestsellers today for whatever reason.
David,
Here's the American side of this story from our National Public Radio.
Well Allan, it looks like we are all in lockstep PC precision.
Welcome to globalism. Nice link.
Thanks, Daphne. I hope David also follows the link; it will give him a chance to hear the story as reported by our state-supported radio. It is also covered here by the BBC.