Why did parents used to sa that comic books rot your brain?

Question

This statement is in no way true and makes no sense. Tell me why you guys think people said this. Television rotting your brain makes at least a little sense. Comic books are just books with pictures and a lot of dialouge.

Answer 1

My parents never used that exact phrase, but that is what they thought. But this was semi-recently after the Fredric Wertham 'expose' book, Seduction of the Innocent. They meant well, but Wertham's book is improperly annotated & poorly researched, with sloppy methodology. I eventually read a copy at the library & although it's premise is alarming, it simply doesn't hold up. FW only researched children with emotional problems or in trouble with the law; since they read comics,ergo, comics were to blame. One could just as easily draw the same conclusion from asking if they were milk drinkers.
Wertham also lied, or was at least sloppy; claiming that "He never attacked E.C. [Publications]"; he reproduced at least one of E.C.'s cover in his photosections with the artist's name whited out. Also, the index was razored out of most copies before shipping, which specifically mentioned one of E.C.'s publisher's names, Tiny Tot publications.
My parents also held a similiar opinion about TV, from even better examples. Gilligan's Island, anyone? The Beverly Hillbillies? McHale's Navy? My Mother, The Car? Get Smart? (Wait a minute, that was fun.) (Missed it by THAT much!)
My parents meant well, but they made an error in taking a "so called" expert's word for it...had they checked out mid '60s DC or Marvel comics, I doubt they would have minded much. They probably would've thought them predictable, boring & unrealistic. Their privilege. My mother lived to see me own my own comics store & was proud of me for making a living at something I enjoyed. And I was able to lend her a copy of Will Eisner's "A Contract With God", and explained to her that THIS was what comics could be, occasionally. (She said that she enjoyed it, but that the inclusion of the sexual element in the last story was unneccessary. Considering that she was as old as Mr. Eisner, I believe that she was entitled to her opinion.)

Answer 2

Well, it doesn't really affect adults, cause their brains are already rotten... It actually affects children who are still studying... Parents say this to their children so that they (the kids) will be encouraged to read books and study, rather than read comic books and fail in their study... I'm sure no parent would want their kid to end up working in a fancy fast-food restaurant one day at age 10 or 12!!! parents even limit their kids from watching too much TV for the same reason...

I don't know, but, that's what I think...

Answer 3

Many of the comic books were very riske, and were violent.
So is TV and now so are video games.

Answer 4

It wasn't quality literature and since comics were printed as cheaply as possible, a true colossal waste

Answer 5

I think a lot of it has to do with the writers trying to make the characters sound like what real people would say, so you see a lot of misspellings, grammatical errors, etc.