While reading the chapter on the Silver Age in "From Krakow to Krypton", I was amazed at how much the comic book industry was hurt after the 1954 Senate Hearings which claimed that children who were reading comic books were illiterate and becoming delinquents. I find it strange that people thought comic books were promoting illiteracy because even though they do have pictures they also have a lot of words as well so in order to fully enjoy them you need to be able to read. Shouldn't these parents have been happy that their children were at least reading something?
The delinquency thing I don't understand either. By the time kids are old enough to read well they usually understand that the kinds of things they are reading in their comic books aren't actually real. They're not going to start jumping off of tall buildings and beating people up because this is what they read about in their books.
This whole thing reminded me a little of when Harry Potter first became popular. There were a lot of parents who wouldn't let their kids read them and they thought that the books should be banned because they thought that they were going to turn their children evil and make them want to become witches and wizards. Children may like to pretend and dress up like wizards or their favorite super hero but they know that they can't actually fly or cast spells because these things are make believe. I would think that parents would be happy that their children are reading even if it's not a book that's educational; they are still learning to read better.
I thought that was interesting too. I didn't know that the people were so paranoid about what they were trying to find, when it came to the "reds."
ReplyDeleteI also think it's interesting. I find it funny that the Senate was claming that comics were turning Kids into delinquents. This was around the same time period when the government was claiming all these bad side affects of Marijuana (such as people turing into homicidal maniacs, and people developing mental disorders). I make this correlation because we all know now that marijuana doesn't cause mental disorders and murder but yet (and possibly the worst thing) getting very hungry. I think the government was just so worried about everything (especially the media) that would potentially corrupt people. Banning/censoring comics didn't create delinquents, it just made the world less entertaining. The senate was just a bunch of fun-suckers for wanting to censor comics.
ReplyDeleteI was also interested to find out that the government actually was involved in censoring comic books. I agree with your point that children who read comic books know they aren't real. Children were apparently not given enough credit for being able to determine the difference between fantasy and reality. I also think the government censorship of comic books reflected a lack of trust in parents ability to raise their children. If I was a parent whose child read comic books at that time I would probably have been insulted that the government was deciding what my child should and should not read because as a parent that would be my job.
ReplyDeleteI find the censorship of any materials to be offensive. However, I didn't find it surprising that the government would attempt to censor things like comic books. I it s a strange concept in our country that pops up so frequently, from comic books, to books, to newspapers, to music to movies and now video games. Why is it that our government always seems to think its governing a bunch of idiots who can't think for themselves or use reason.
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