1981 Fredric Wertham Interview Footage discussing Superman

[@Donomarkable]

That final shot of Superman smiling as someone bashes his head with a tree trunk accompanying Wertham's "for Violence!" is absolutely hilarious

[@bizardugrenier]

le surhomme nietschéen

[@ComicCollectorGeek]

He couldn't see past his own ideology.

[@phayzyre1052]

He couldn’t see past his own nose!

[@creativecatproductions]

It was an angle for his psychiatric career. He needed an angle to make his research, books, and opinions marketable and monetizable. I sincerely doubt he believed any of this nonsense. All that matters is that it made him rich and, indeed, it really did.

[@PrototypeOnDemand]

now I see where they got the idea for Hugo Strange

[@AceMoonshot]

I remember Al Capp talking to him. He pointed out that yes, there were indeed some "bad" comics. But Wertham used that minuscule sampling to tar the entire comic industry. Then Capp said he had done his own research. That over the preceding 10 years, in NYC alone, over 800 medical doctors had been charged with manslaughter. So if he used the Wertham's logic, all doctors must commit manslaughter.

[@AndrewLuke]

'Then we have the case of his pal, Jimmy Olsen. He was a Ginger!' Thanks for uploading. Werthrams pretty selective about when Superman is imaginary and when he's not.

[@notmyname5591]

The one who destroyed Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman. Comics in general.

[@edfurnez6134]

Actually those three comics continued through the comics code, unlike others

[@chuckwhite3033]

That’s it. I’m burning all my Superman books to fight fascism. What oxymoronic nonsense he just uttered.

[@RogerFusselman]

So many people in comics today use Wertham-like arguments when condemning Wertham's own version of the same arguments. I went to rotten panels at comics conventions where superheroes were described as adolescent male power fantasies, a version of the same sneer Wertham gives in the video. People like Joel Schumacher interpret Batman in the same way that Wertham did. Wertham's whole approach was to view superheroics through the lens of contemporary politics, writing his own politics upon a template of what these characters are or ought to be. Arguably, the same thing happens today. All the sneers against superheroes seem to think they should be real world, and that whatever isn't realistic can be used to condemn or criticize the character. Not many people become knife-wielding murderers when they read about the Knights of the Round Table. Your brain is allowed to take concrete images symbolically. When you do, you realize that Superman is an American symbol of immigrant values, someone who became stronger and more powerful by adopting a new home. It's perhaps more appropriate not to constrain heroes by the inadequacies of the real world but to elevate the real world from our own understanding of heroism. At the end of the day, that's what answers Dr. Wertham and his inheritors.

[@thelostintranslation157]

The original old man yelling at clouds.

[@Krang100]

While Doctor Fredric Wertham was a great psychiatrist, he had prejudices to the comics. As in any medium, the subject of the comic could be good or bad. Is unfair to define all the comics as bad, because one comic has a bad subject. The same thing is about Tv shows, music, etc. In 1954 Doctor Wertham had a great influence to the point to almost removed the comic book industry. According to him, comics were bad influence (In 1930 or late 1920, the alcohol drink was forbidden because it was regarded to be bad influence). Fortunately some comics were able to stay (sadly horror and crime comics were removed). Thanks to Stan Lee to gave as AMS 96 - 98 (Harry Osborn's drugs issues) saves the comics industry.

[@ColonelFrontline1152]

. S T A N L E E The Man Who Saved The Comic Book Industry.

[@Madbandit77]

Wertham was a quack.

[@johnpenguinthe3rd13]

Wertham wasn't even a great psychiatrist, he was really horrible at it. I'm taking a guess you read the poorly researched Wikipedia page on him which makes him sounds greater than he really was? He was a HORRIBLE psychiatrist who had no damn clue what he was doing (blaming comic books for juvenile delinquency is just one example of this.Instead of looking at the root of the problem, he blamed comics, something his clients were using a a COPING MECHANISM to escape reality. It wasn't the comics that were harming those kids). I can go on about all the horrible crap that Wertham did, but I'l stop here. All I can say is that don't trust Wikipedia as a source (something which a lot of KZbinrs use when making videos about famous people). Dig deeper while researching him and you will see that Wertham wasn't a good psychiatrist and overall he was NOT an honest person and was NOT a nice guy.

[@kwayneboy1524]

​@@johnpenguinthe3rd13he helped with desegregation and besides he was only bad in regards to comic books and that's not a big deal.

[@andynystrom1519]

The irony of him comparing Superman to Nazism is that Siegel and Shuster were Jewish. I'll grant in the early years Superman did have a might makes right aspect to him but by 1981 using power responsibly was part of his character.

[@CosmoShidan]

Even if Superman’s creators were Jewish, they still drew from white supremacist characters like Tarzan and John Carter. It is possible to see Siegel and Shuster adopting fascist undertones unintentionally.

[@CosmoShidan]

@Connor I did say that they adopted fascistic undertones unintentionally. The fact that they used Superman as a stand-in for Roosevelt, a liberal, of whom would desire law and order, rather than the overthrow of government, (the latter of which is socialist), makes him a preserver of the status quo. This is especially as Supes never tries to dethrone governments or tear down the stock market. Ergo, being a liberal, it makes Supes a fascist in this sense.

[@CosmoShidan]

@@thewkovacs316 John Carter is a white supremacist who is far more powerful than all the colorful persons on Mars, and when you look at the Bourroughs character as one of Superman's inspiration, it's pretty telling.

[@CosmoShidan]

@@thewkovacs316 Indeed it can be interpreted that way, because Star Wars is about rich white people fighting over a throne.

[@CosmoShidan]

@@thewkovacs316 John Carter is confederate soldier. His background entails white supremacy as the Confederate States of America's goal was to maintain white rule over persons of color. I mean, Burroughs was a bigot, as he resented Native Americans and blacks. This could be more evident in his Tarzan stories in which Tarzan is called the "lord of the jungle" and is more powerful than the black men of Africa, which are more indications of white supremacism. Now when you look at how Superman is a white strongman using aggressive tactics to resolve issues, that can be pretty telling.

[@theragoooverlord5021]

Turned out to be right

[@jamescooper-key218]

Nah

[@grth-is6xv]

Ok boomer

[@theragoooverlord5021]

@@grth-is6xv your internet buzzword has missed the mark.

[@364dragonrider]

This is incredibly disrespectful given that superman was CREATED by two jewish men!

[@ComicBookHistorians]

Wertham was Jewish as well

[@364dragonrider]

@@ComicBookHistorians if anything that feels even worse then.

[@CosmoShidan]

@@364dragonrider Dr. Chris Galaver made a video where he asks if superheroes are white supremacists.

[@Spectre2434]

It's definitely a complex issue.

[@tonygriego6382]

Kind of funny the way modern DC has gone out of its way to validate Wertham's criticisms on their characters.

[@reeereeebriieee8661]

What? Explain.

[@TheRealLegoDocOck]

Uberman

[@BobbyMoore2-mp8wb]

🙄🙄

[@ChromeFamily]

Now Superman is gay in the comics…

[@ThanosDestroyeryearsago]

Not Superman, his son. Get it right bruh

[@SWWonders]

@@ThanosDestroyeryearsago and Batman is bisexual

[@zombierobot8769]

​@@SWWondersI'm glad he likes bicycles. I always thought batman would look good with a bicycle.

[@theragoooverlord5021]

@@ThanosDestroyeryearsago oh you mean his very under the legal age son?

[@aokhoinguyenang3992]

@@SWWonders He isn't. There is a panel of him acting gay to seduce his bisexual rival & steal a note book

[@SanSan-kf5qr]

WERTHAM WAS RIGHT

[@phayzyre1052]

He was a stupid old fool

[@xxMorgen_Ronny_Doy]

i really hate him!