Wertham lied

[A beaker full of death]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/bo...k-studies.html

The irony is that we've regressed societally, to the point where people really are interpreting every line in the seediest possible light. e.g., http://superdickery.com/index.php?op...d=32&Itemid=50

[JoeZhang]

Is that why you have a 1950s avatar to match your outlook?

[Gaith]

A beaker full of death wrote:

---

The irony is that we've regressed societally, to the point where people really are interpreting every line in the seediest possible light. e.g., http://superdickery.com/index.php?op...d=32&Itemid=50

You're equating a snarky web site with an intrusive and harassing era of censorship that seriously hampered the careers of perfectly legitimate artists?

Just who is distorting what, here?

[A beaker full of death]

That "snark" as you put it, or entrenched cynicism as I see it, is the reason superheroes have turned drab and dull (Raimi notwithstanding - he still believed in the source material). No one's willing to believe in earnestness anymore. Where Wertham failed this attitude is succeeding.
For that reason I'll make the following prediction: Man of Steel will bomb. Superman is a creature of light and fancy. Any attempt to weigh him down is doomed to failure.
I mean, come on: Hansel & Gretel, Witch Hunters?? Really?

[Kelthaz]

What's wrong with Hansel & Gretel? Sure, the film probably sucks, but at least Hollywood is creating some new IPs rather than regurgitating the same crap over and over again like the upcoming Oz film.

[TheSeeker]

A beaker full of death wrote:

---

I'll make the following prediction: Man of Steel will bomb. Superman is a creature of light and fancy. Any attempt to weigh him down is doomed to failure.

You heard it here first folks!

[Robert Maxwell]

A beaker full of death wrote:

---

That "snark" as you put it, or entrenched cynicism as I see it, is the reason superheroes have turned drab and dull (Raimi notwithstanding - he still believed in the source material). No one's willing to believe in earnestness anymore. Where Wertham failed this attitude is succeeding.
For that reason I'll make the following prediction: Man of Steel will bomb. Superman is a creature of light and fancy. Any attempt to weigh him down is doomed to failure.
I mean, come on: Hansel & Gretel, Witch Hunters?? Really?

What you call "entrenched cynicism" I call "depth." Or at least attempts at achieving it. Nobody wants to see a goody two-shoes Superman in 2013. We expect a bit more complexity these days.

Everything doesn't have to be grim and gritty, but some effort at realism (as in portraying characters as if they were real people) is a good thing.

[Gaith]

Kelthaz wrote:

---

What's wrong with Hansel & Gretel? Sure, the film probably sucks, but at least Hollywood is creating some new IPs rather than regurgitating the same crap over and over again like the upcoming Oz film.

Not sure if serious...

A beaker full of death wrote:

---

That "snark" as you put it, or entrenched cynicism as I see it, is the reason superheroes have turned drab and dull (Raimi notwithstanding - he still believed in the source material). No one's willing to believe in earnestness anymore. Where Wertham failed this attitude is succeeding.
For that reason I'll make the following prediction: Man of Steel will bomb. Superman is a creature of light and fancy. Any attempt to weigh him down is doomed to failure.
I mean, come on: Hansel & Gretel, Witch Hunters?? Really?

Well, there's a thorough and complete non-response to the point I was making in response to your OP...

[BillJ]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

---

Everything doesn't have to be grim and gritty, but some effort at realism (as in portraying characters as if they were real people) is a good thing.

This.

[Hound of UIster]

Kelthaz wrote:

---

What's wrong with Hansel & Gretel? Sure, the film probably sucks, but at least Hollywood is creating some new IPs rather than regurgitating the same crap over and over again like the upcoming Oz film.

Except of course the idea of Hansel/Gretel as witchhunters isn't original. It's been done before in fiction.

[Trekker4747]

A beaker full of death wrote:

---

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/bo...k-studies.html

The irony is that we've regressed societally, to the point where people really are interpreting every line in the seediest possible light. e.g., http://superdickery.com/index.php?op...d=32&Itemid=50

What other way is there to interpret that comic panel?

The men are told anyone they touched has passed on a deadly pathogen. Flash, Atom and Green Lantern all respond with worry for female companions. Who's the first person Batman thinks of? Robin? Sorry, it sort of hard to NOT see the subtext there, it's pretty spelled out that billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne doesn't think of one of the many women he courts but of his teenage male ward.

[Hound of UIster]

But he doesn't have any attachment to any of those women he courts. They are just a cover for his guise as a playboy.

[RandyS]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

---

Everything doesn't have to be grim and gritty.

No, it doesn't, and that's exactly the point. Everything HAS become grim and gritty, and anything that isn't is automatically (and incorrectly) written off as "campy".

And that's just sad.

[Alidar Jarok]

I think his point is that attempts at realism have been interpreted as grim and gritty.

[JarodRussell]

The thing with psychoanalysts is... most of them have an issue themselves, and generalize it and project it on the entire humankind.

Wertham isn't any different from those who say video games make people violent, or watching Seinfeld makes you gay. You can cite studies for any shit.