Violence and murder have been central themes in all of literature and oral storytelling, from Homer and the Bible to Shakespeare and the Brothers Grimm.
Fredric Whertham was a fucking idiot and prime example of someone with too much college and not enough common sense. If ANY kid back then acted out a horror scene in one of Bill Gains EC comic books then that kid was fucked in the head from the get go!
+Phayzyre105 Very stupid man, who I consider a menace and enemy of the comicbook world. If he and Stan Lee had ever met, I hope Stan would have spat at him in disgust. Werham is gone now.
Aydan Zeb Woodward Preach it Aydan! Wertham has been gone since 1981 and as far as I'm concerned the comic book world is better off without him and his bullshit!
All this hearing was was a get out of jail free card. Instead of holding the kids who comitted these crimes responsible we always look for excuses be it comic books, video games, movies, anything to blame but the kid who pulled the trigger, the parents who failed in their duties or the kids who turned a blind eye to bullying or knew something was wrong and said nothing
Things can desensitize kids, make them not appreciate the finality of death. Be a good parent and talk to them, make sure they understand that it's fake and it's supposed to shock/scare you, that's what the horror genre is. If you discover that your kid's just a total idiot or a little sociopath then maybe not let them read/watch so much extreme violence. Be intelligent and aware enough to know if they can handle it so nutcases like this guy don't decide for you
Wertham wasn't a bad man; he also testified about how segregation was harmful to black kids in 'Brown v. Board of Education.' He did come out against the mass censorship of comics in the end.
Seduction of the Innocent never actually advocated censorship. Wertham didn't tell the Senate to set up the code. And there's more to a person than just what he thinks about comics.
+William Craig "He did come out against the mass censorship of comics in the end" The only problem with that analogy is the damage had already been done! Fred Whertham should've put his mind in motion before his mouth in gear. A lot of heat to ban EC was coming from these religious nuts who wanted to control everything and I'm sure they were pulling Whertham's strings behind the curtains. I guess these clowns never learned nothing from prohibition which was another noble religious driven experiment that went haywire! Funny thing....nowadays you can walk into a comic shop anywhere in the USA and see horror comics out the wazoo!
Kids could go to a saturday matinee to watch horror movies but not read horror comics ?? Well, he couldn'ty take on Hollywood - the comic industry was a much weaker target.
But they'd make a comeback with Stan Lee's Marvel line, the Warren Magazines (Creepy), the Undergrounds (R. Crumb), and many more. A rating system would have solved this problem easily and it wouldn't be censorship. + John Turturro should play Wm. Gaines if they decide to make a movie out of this.
A Comics Code was adopted 60 years ago and society has improved so much since then. Violence, crime, sociopathic behavior and mental illness is now virtually extinct. 😕
"I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent" by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers (Lymon was a womanizer, a bigamist, and died of a heroin overdose, but he was NOT a JD!)
Wertham was a lot more correct than his detractors gave him credit for. Comics were full of violent confrontation, sexual innuendo and sick horror stories (most poorly written) aimed primarily at kids. Comics have always been an important tool used by the "entertainment industry" to brainwash young males. I grew up on comics and loved the violent combat , over dramatized heroics, horror stuff, etc, but these days I only occasionally read the old superhero stuff for laughs now-- most of that men in tights crap has not held up well over the years. And now look how sick the entertainment for kids is-- worse than Gaines or Wertham could ever imagine.
j m YEAH!!! Let’s go back to the early years before the common era when children’s entertainment was actual murder and gladiatorial combat. When children learned how to kill at a young age because they needed to know how to survive. Much better times than the fake movies and games we have.
@@Diphenhydra Because someone doesn't want comics showing violence and sex to kids it must surely mean they want things to go back how they were in ancient rome, super logic you have there fella
Thank you, teachers and ministers, for making my copy of Vault of Horror #12 worth $29,000! You did collectors a great service that year!
1:50 the best part of this entire thing
With that thick German accent of his, Fredric Wertham sounds like what I imagine the Red Skull sounds like.
excellent observation!!!!! that is SO what he should sound like!
Ethan LaBorde I think he needs to be wearing an SS uniform because his voice certainly sounds like it’s tailor-made for it
If I'm not mistaken Red Skull had a very pronounced Austrian accent.
Violence and murder have been central themes in all of literature and oral storytelling, from Homer and the Bible to Shakespeare and the Brothers Grimm.
William M. Gaines, true American Hero and leader for civil rights!
Fredric Whertham was a fucking idiot and prime example of someone with too much college and not enough common sense. If ANY kid back then acted out a horror scene in one of Bill Gains EC comic books then that kid was fucked in the head from the get go!
+Phayzyre105 Very stupid man, who I consider a menace and enemy of the comicbook world. If he and Stan Lee had ever met, I hope Stan would have spat at him in disgust. Werham is gone now.
Aydan Zeb Woodward Preach it Aydan! Wertham has been gone since 1981 and as far as I'm concerned the comic book world is better off without him and his bullshit!
He was probably mad because his parent's didn't let him read comics when he was young
+Shawn Mykkugan It was more like, Wertham was pissed because he thought Comics were drawing kids away from classical literature.
All this hearing was was a get out of jail free card. Instead of holding the kids who comitted these crimes responsible we always look for excuses be it comic books, video games, movies, anything to blame but the kid who pulled the trigger, the parents who failed in their duties or the kids who turned a blind eye to bullying or knew something was wrong and said nothing
2:09 jokes on them...those comics are worth thousands now!
probably because of how many they trashed.
I bet they all wish they had those comic books today!
Book burnings frighten me. What will be banned next?
Things can desensitize kids, make them not appreciate the finality of death. Be a good parent and talk to them, make sure they understand that it's fake and it's supposed to shock/scare you, that's what the horror genre is. If you discover that your kid's just a total idiot or a little sociopath then maybe not let them read/watch so much extreme violence. Be intelligent and aware enough to know if they can handle it so nutcases like this guy don't decide for you
Wertham wasn't a bad man; he also testified about how segregation was harmful to black kids in 'Brown v. Board of Education.'
He did come out against the mass censorship of comics in the end.
Geez, get a grip. He didn't organize the censorship. He actually came out against it.
Seduction of the Innocent never actually advocated censorship. Wertham didn't tell the Senate to set up the code.
And there's more to a person than just what he thinks about comics.
+William Craig "He did come out against the mass censorship of comics in the end" The only problem with that analogy is the damage had already been done! Fred Whertham should've put his mind in motion before his mouth in gear. A lot of heat to ban EC was coming from these religious nuts who wanted to control everything and I'm sure they were pulling Whertham's strings behind the curtains. I guess these clowns never learned nothing from prohibition which was another noble religious driven experiment that went haywire! Funny thing....nowadays you can walk into a comic shop anywhere in the USA and see horror comics out the wazoo!
He wanted to make it illegal for children under 15 to read comics.
Guy would freak out if he knew modern pew pew video games existed.
aaaaaahhhhh just think of the money those comics are worth now,
Is it just me, or does Fredric Wertham sound similar to Van Helsing with his accent and what he’s doing? (Except Dr. Wertham is wrong in this case.)
Kids could go to a saturday matinee to watch horror movies but not read horror comics ?? Well, he couldn'ty take on Hollywood - the comic industry was a much weaker target.
wonder what he tinks of TV,Video games and the current superhero craze in films
He would falsify data to claim that they are corrupting children's minds
william gaines "early life"
But they'd make a comeback with Stan Lee's Marvel line, the Warren Magazines (Creepy), the Undergrounds (R. Crumb), and many more. A rating system would have solved this problem easily and it wouldn't be censorship. + John Turturro should play Wm. Gaines if they decide to make a movie out of this.
The Man behind G. Gordon Godfrey
AHHHHHHH Their burning some nice Chamber Of Chills books! BASTARDS!
@TheJameslehr I often think MAD Magazine also helped as well a bit
Compare the marvel line and the others you named to classic EC comics again, you might have overlooked quite a difference there.
Where did you get the background sound?
that guy can rot in hell for all i cear i love comics they are not evil he is
the irony
He never said comics in general they’re targeting a certain type
Regarding LODGE4444's comment (which I can't reply to directly), Hollywood was already targeted via the Blacklist.
A Comics Code was adopted 60 years ago and society has improved so much since then. Violence, crime, sociopathic behavior and mental illness is now virtually extinct. 😕
lol whats the end song
"I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent" by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers (Lymon was a womanizer, a bigamist, and died of a heroin overdose, but he was NOT a JD!)
Wertham was a lot more correct than his detractors gave him credit for. Comics were full of violent confrontation, sexual innuendo and sick horror stories (most poorly written) aimed primarily at kids. Comics have always been an important tool used by the "entertainment industry" to brainwash young males. I grew up on comics and loved the violent combat , over dramatized heroics, horror stuff, etc, but these days I only occasionally read the old superhero stuff for laughs now-- most of that men in tights crap has not held up well over the years. And now look how sick the entertainment for kids is-- worse than Gaines or Wertham could ever imagine.
j m YEAH!!! Let’s go back to the early years before the common era when children’s entertainment was actual murder and gladiatorial combat. When children learned how to kill at a young age because they needed to know how to survive. Much better times than the fake movies and games we have.
@@Diphenhydra Because someone doesn't want comics showing violence and sex to kids it must surely mean they want things to go back how they were in ancient rome, super logic you have there fella
@@lucascesar029 clearly you didn't understand my comment.
Wertham was a fear-mongering huckster who pulled his statistics out of his ass and made up his BS on the spot for Seduction of the Innocent.