The Seduction of the Innocent Debunked.

Morag

Great to see this debunked.


http://io9.com/5985199/how-one-mans-lies-almost-destroyed-the-comics-industry

For over half a century, the comic book industry has been dogged by the work of one man, the anti-comics crusader and psychiatrist Fredric Wertham. His bestselling 1954 book The Seduction of the Innocent convinced parents and politicians alike that comics were a direct cause of violence, drug use, and homosexuality among young people. It led to the restrictive editorial code issued by the Comics Magazine Association of America, and a national movement to keep comics away from children and teens.

Though Wertham claimed his evidence came from thousands of case studies, it turns out that he was lying. A new investigation of Wertham's papers by University of Illinois information studies professor Carol Tilley has revealed that the psychologist fabricated, exaggerated, and selectively edited his data to bolster his argument that comics caused antisocial behavior.

Thwip!

It's terrible that it needed an investigation after this amount of time. That pile of codswallop could've been debunked before it ever reached publication

CastorTroy

Especially when it's obvious tv, movies and video games are what lead to violence.

Morag

CastorTroy wrote: »

Especially when it's obvious tv, movies and video games are what lead to violence.

That attitudes to them stems from the 'research' into comics

JangoFett

I went and bought this book to see what all the fuss was about and I couldn't even get past 50 pages. It's pure propaganda driven by one man's hatred of the comic book industry.

In a weird way, I wanted it be be part of my comic/books about comics collection.