It seems like everyone thinks that the idea of censoring comics in order to protect children is ridiculous. I think there are some pros and cons to this theory. First of all, one must ask the question of why comics should be censored. Do children think it is all right to do everything that is done in comics? Do kids really imitate the crimes and violence they observe in comics? If it is not the fault of the comics, what are the alternative sources of children’s violence? Next, one must assess why it would be good to censor comics. Or, why it might be harmful to children to censor comics. One might argue that it is bad to censor comics because comics do not sell as well and children won’t want to read them anymore. Another explanation might be that censoring comics might shield children from reality. I think that children must know the true reality of life, and should not be censored from it. However, from what I have read in Comic Book Nation, most of the suggested censorship did not display reality in any shape or form. For example, a man cutting a woman’s head off is not reality and should not be displayed as such. One might argue that a comic does not necessarily represent such acts as reality, but a child might not be able to know whether it is reality or not. Thus, I believe that some comics may have needed censorship since parents could not control everything that their children were reading, but comics should not have been censored to the point where children observe a false sense of reality.
A blog for and about the intersection of comic books and American history.
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