Can anyone from China explain tattletale to me? Is he like a very ardent communist nationalist? Is that the joke? And if so, is that a common trope?
I don't think it's that the Communist leanings are the joke, so much as the contrasting attitudes expressed by the side character.
The nickname "Tattletale" and the businesslike-appearance suggests a character that is bossy, stuck-up, toadying; a born bureaucrat.
However, the dramatic and romanticized patriotism of protecting the Chinese Communist flag from the rain doesn't immediately fit that fussy image. It's strangely old-fashioned. And as the other characters note by their surprised reactions, it's bizarrely dashing.
Additionally, there's his appearance as a sort of epilogue to the three friends seeing the confession umbrella. As the more "main" characters are still processing the day's events and on getting home, Tattletale skips off in the rain like a dandy.
Effectively, he's a straitlaced-looking individual that is actually surprisingly odd.
I apologize if this is too many words; I think I enjoy over-explaining things.
edit: oh yeah, not from China. But hopefully it was informational.
last edited at Jan 30, 2015 2:31AM