Are comics really as evil as they’re made out to be? Are they secretly a Soviet brainwashing tool to corrupt an entire generation? If not then why is it that they so frequently take the fall for problems in society? One major contributor to the comic industry’s criticism was the size of its audience. As the predecessor to television and film, comics were on the forefront of pop culture for most of the 20th century. With most of the nation reading comics, it was only a matter of time until someone blamed something on them. Similar to today’s violent movies or videogames, comics are an easy scapegoat for actual problems, such as the downfall of the American family. When you imagine the traditional 1950’s American family, you think of a father who worked a nine-to-five job, a stay at home mother who did chores around the house, and one or two kids. The role of parents in this society often alienated children from their own parents. As this generation grew up kids, like in every generation, did stupid things. Parents not able to stomach the blame themselves needed something to point a finger at, and comics fit the role perfectly. In the words of Andrew Smith, “People fear what they can’t understand.” Parents investigating their kid’s comic books cracked the book open to see graphic illustrations and words like “Crime” or “Horror.” With out a second thought it was clear why little Timmy didn’t do his homework the other day. Comics were the first media of pop culture used as a scapegoat by the masses, but they certainly won’t be the last. As long as there are people who don’t understand something, there will be skeptics, as is human nature.
Why blame comics for societal failure? Society blamed comics for the societal failures because it was a fairly new industry, and as things seemed to go “wrong” they figured it must be comic books. When a child grew up during the war, his father was probably killing people and the military and his mother was probably making things in factories to help kill the opposition. The only things kids had to “babysit” them was comic books, and they read many different kinds. So when kids starting acting differently in this new generation the figured it must be the comic books. Society didn’t want to believe it may have been the internal and external scars war causes on the soldiers and their families. Also the fact that young unattended children are reading these comics may not be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. When society fails it always needs a scapegoat then it was comic books next it was rock and roll. Society naturally resist change.
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