Have most people in your country ever heard of... (live in, garage)
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I'm an Anglo-Canadian from Quebec, and growing up I was familiar with Tintin and Asterix, they were the comics we were most likely to see lying around at my English language school. I don't think that the kids I knew liked them as much as French kids did, however, because we had so many other quality media options for children, although I read them. As such, I think that other English kids who grew up in the bilingual belt (Eastern Ontario, bilingual areas of Quebec, Northern New Brunsiwick) may be familiar with them, but perhaps not those in the more homogenously English regions.
I am an American from New York. I grew up (in the late 70s - late 80s) knowing about TinTin from other American kids who had the comics, but I did not read them myself. So at least some Americans knew about them, back at that time. At least in my neighborhood, there were a few popular European publications in addition to TinTin. Most kids had an Asterix book or two and I remember kids passing around coveted issues of Punch in the schoolyard.
Most of Europe knows Tintin for the last 50 years. I think that only in the US it has never become popular until now. It has for years been translated into dozens of languages.
Asterix is very popular in Australia, much more so than Tintin. Personally im suprised that you thought we might not know about it.
I was referring to the origional live action asterix movie "Asterix and Obelix Take on Ceaser", I was really looking forward to that one, and was bit dissapointed by the end result. I have not seen any of the other live action asterix films.
I knew about Tintin growing up in the Sixties and Seventies in Toronto. Now that I live in the States, I'm surprised how few people here have heard of Tintin.
OK, I've been wanting to start this thread for a while.
It's about what could be called our cultural blind spots.
So, I'll start with a timely one.
Tintin - Belgian comic strip character, now featured in a big Hollywood movie.
So, people, had you ever heard of Tintin *before" Spielberg decided to make a movie about him?
And secondly, would you say most people in your country had heard of Tintin? Was he a household name?
I will provide other examples of (perceived) cultural blind spots as well and hopefully others will too.
I remember Tintin from years ago - i.e. grandparents always had books that featured Tintin. But that was way back when I was a kid, which has been awhile.
I haven't heard of Spielberg making a movie about Tintin...but it doesn't surprise me.
I think few Americans would be aware of Tintin being Belgian. I'm sure for both of my parents, Tintin would have been a household name when they were growing up.
Funny thing, one of the first books I can recall "reading" (at an age when I mostly looked at the pictures) and holding in hardcover was one of the Tintin comic books, The Secret of the Unicorn, which was bought for me at a garage sale or something, if I recall correctly.
From what people here are saying (which agrees with my experience), it does seem like many Canadians know. My friend from grade eight said it was his favourite comic character and we grew up in Ontario in the 90s, so it wasn't that long ago.
Actually, I heard some guy, walking down the street, having a conversation about Tintin and his dog, just not too long ago.
On the other hand, I only heard of the Asterix comics as an adult.
As a kid, a cartoon would come on in the mornings...never was a big fan of it, but it was on nonetheless..
Thought it was kind of boring then and still think it is.
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