One question looming over our documentary, and it's certainly a controversial one, especially for longtime comics readers like myself, is: Was Wertham right?
A simple question indeed, but one that has many more questions packed up in it:
Were his efforts in earnest?
Were they realized in the best way?
Did he understand comics?
Did he perform ethical, honest research?
Were his scientific methods valid?
What was really going on in America that played a role in the increase in juvenile delinquency?
What was happening in the business of comics behind closed doors?
Was the decline in comic book sales the industry's or Wertham's fault? Or neither?
These are only the tip of the comics heap. Our documentary must answer these and many more questions if we are to gain a richer understanding of this time in comics history.
But... there is no denying that Wertham was right about some very important issues in American history. The impact of which has made us a better, fuller nation. [At Left: Louis Redding, local attorney in the Delaware cases, with Thurgood Marshal]
For instance, Fredric Wertham gave testimony that was used in Delaware's Bulah v. Gebhart and Belton v. Gebhart cases to end segregation. Wertham's testimony and the court's decision to end segregation in Delaware was also used in the Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka decision. [At right: Delaware's decision]
[At left: The students represented in Brown v. BOE] Let's hear Dr. Bart Beaty, author of Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture, discuss Dr. Wertham's role in the dismantlement of segregation in U.S. schools and how his efforts in that social injustice compares to his efforts and testimony to end the selling of violent and crime comics to the children of the United states:
In April of 1963 two men sat down to discuss the controversial topic of "violence in the media."
One man had dedicated his life to the study and eradication of it. The other manipulated it to get at the core of the human experience of fear.
These two men, both intriguing minds of the first half of the twentieth century, civilly sparred on the appropriateness of violence in the media and where responsibility for its filtering lies.
Both expatriates, they made lasting impressions on their new home: the United States.
Alfred Hitchcock and Dr. Fredric Wertham.
The back and forth between the experts is gentlemanly, but forceful. Passionate and intellectual. Neither yielding to the other's strong opinion, but reasonable enough to hear and respect it.
Here is a glimpse of what happened on that day:
Many "thank you's" to Stephen O'Day, the great completest and archivist, for the audio recording.
