Fredric Wertham

Seduction of the Innocent described overt or covert depictions of violence, sex, drug use, and other adult fare within "crime comics"—a term Wertham used to describe not only the popular gangster/murder-oriented titles of the time but also  superhero and horror comics as well—and asserted, based largely on undocumented anecdotes, that reading this material encouraged similar behavior in children.

Comics, especially the crime/horror titles pioneered by EC Comics, were not lacking in gruesome images; Wertham reproduced these extensively, pointing out what he saw as recurring morbid themes such as "injury to the eye" (as depicted in Plastic Man creator Jack Cole's "Murder, Morphine and Me", which he illustrated and probably wrote for publisher Magazine Village's True Crime Comics Vol. 1, #2 (May 1947); it involved dope-dealing protagonist Mary Kennedy nearly getting stabbed in the eye "by a junkie with a hypothermic needle" in her dream sequence). Many of his other conjectures, particularly about hidden sexual themes (e.g. images of female nudity concealed in drawings of muscles and tree bark, or Batman and Robin as gay partners), were met with derision within the comics industry. (Wertham's claim that Wonder Woman had a bondage subtext was somewhat better documented, as her creator William Moulton Marston had admitted as much; however, Wertham also claimed that Wonder Woman's strength and independence made her a lesbian.)

Given the subsequent emergence of organized fandom for comic books among adults who grew up reading them during Comics' Golden Age, it is ironic Wertham at one point in Seduction (pp. 89–90) asserts "I have known many adults who have treasured throughout their lives some of the books they read as children. I have never come across any adult or adolescent who had outgrown comic-book reading who would ever dream of keeping any of these 'books' for any sentimental or other reason."

What is often overlooked in discussions of Seduction of the Innocent is Wertham's analysis of the advertisements that appeared in 1950s comic books and the commercial context in which these publications existed. Wertham objected to not only the violence in the stories but also the fact that air rifles and knives were advertised alongside them. Also rarely mentioned in summaries or reviews of Seduction of the Innocent are Wertham's claims that retailers who did not want to sell material with which they were uncomfortable, such as horror comics, were essentially held to ransom by the distributors. According to Wertham, news vendors were told by the distributors that if they did not sell the objectionable comic books, they would not be allowed to sell any of the other publications being distributed.

The splash made by this book and Wertham's previous credentials as an expert witness, made it inevitable that he would appear before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency led by anti-crime crusader Estes Kefauver. In extensive testimony before the committee, Wertham restated arguments from his book and pointed to comics as a major cause of juvenile crime. Beaty notes "Wertham repeated his call ... [for] national legislation based on the public health ideal that would prohibit the circulation and display of comic books to children under the age of fifteen." The committee's questioning of their next witness, EC publisher William Gaines, focused on violent scenes of the type Wertham had decried. Though the committee's final report did not blame comics for crime, it recommended that the comics industry tone down its content voluntarily; possibly taking this as a veiled threat of potential censorship, publishers developed the Comics Code Authority to censor their own content. The Code banned not only violent images but also entire words and concepts (e.g. "terror" and "zombies") and dictated that criminals must always be punished—thus destroying most EC-style titles, and leaving a sanitized subset of superhero comics as the chief remaining genre. Wertham described the Comics Code as inadequate, while most in the industry found it draconian.

Investigation Into Media Effects Theory

What is Propaganda?



Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed towards influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position by presenting only one side of an argument. Propaganda is usually repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the chosen result in audience attitudes.

This is one of the examples of propaganda, manipulating and influencing people to join the army. J. M. Flagg's 1917 poster, based on the original British Lord Kitchener poster of three years earlier, was used to recruit soldiers for both World War I and World War II. Flagg used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam, and veteran Walter Botts provided the pose.

What is the 'hypodermic theory'?


The Hypodermic Needle Model theory suggests that the media ‘injects’ ideas into a passive audience, like giving a patient a drug. The term 'hypodermic model' has been used to describe the process. The suggestion is that the media work very much like a hypodermic needle – the information they pump into the audience goes one way and has an effect. 

What is the 'cultivation theory'?

Cultivation theory is a social theory which examines the long-term effects of television. "The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spend "living" in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television."

What is the 'two step flow theory'?

The two-step flow of communication or Multistep Flow Model, says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, that in turn are influenced by the mass media. So according to this model, ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population. This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. The term ‘personal influence’ was coined to refer to the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction to that message. Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudes and behaviors and are quite similar to those they influence. The two-step flow theory has improved our understanding of how the mass media influence decision making. The theory refined the ability to predict the influence of media messages on audience behavior, and it helped explain why certain media campaigns may have failed to alter audience attitudes an behavior. The two-step flow theory gave way to the multi-step flow theory of mass communication or diffusion of innovation theory.

To what extent can media texts manipulate or influence behaviour?

Question 1a) Conventions

Question 1a) Post Production

Many different elements were used to create our final product which included, texts, colour correction, the manipulation of speed. More of our production was created after our filming for A2 in our music video. In AS for 'Mindgames' i found myself not being able to use technology efficiently as i do now and the distinct transition of my skills can be seen through the difference in A2 music video compared to my thriller opening. With help of Live Text and and Final Cut, i was able to use many different things such as the colour corrector and the speed determinant to edit my thriller opening to the best of my ability. The difference in the clarity can be spotted as now i am more comfortable and am open to playing with different options and effects in order to make my music video as good as possible. Most of my text was created after production in terms of my music video and i found this more comfortable as i had more experience of the tools i was using from the previous year. AS included me using such tools but nowhere near were they used to same amount as used in A2.

We used Final Cut Express, Photoshop, Safari, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, iPhoto, Garageband, iMac. With the use of digital technology, our productions were almost highlighted and it made our productions evolve swiftly as we used such applications to help produce our videos. The iMac is the main contraption that i used as it hold all the necessary programs i needed to make both my thriller opening and my music video successful and creative. Final Cut was the main program used to cut and edit each video and my skills definitely improved throughout. Photoshop was used in A2 for my digipak and magazine advertisement and it was my first time using it. I was really poor at first but with help from some classmates and some people who had experience with Photoshop, i found it grew on me and was not as complicated as i once thought. Safari, the main source of Internet was used to help gain information, resources, promotion and many other things. Using Safari helped me use Youtube, to watch inspirational videos, guides on how to use programs effectively and to help advertise my production. I used Youtube as the broadcasting station for my videos so that people from around the world are able to view and give feedback to me and comment with others about my work. I also used Twitter and Facebook to help promote my work and see what my friends thought about it as they gave me feedback and critical responses. iPhoto was used mainly to export and just manage my photos for my digipak along with Garagebang which was used only in AS for Mindgames to create our soundtrack with the Piano application.

We used the original soundtrack for A2 and found this to be set out for us as we just used the song of our choice as the base or centre and worked around it. For Mindgames we used Garageband and conducted our own soundtrack with the Piano application to help complement our opening. AS and A2 were extremely different in that with A2 we have to cut specifically to our song and make sure it is sync, whereas in AS we had to create our own soundtrack which complemented our Thriller opening. There was a transition in my progress and learning in the way in which i had just used a soundtrack which complemented my thriller opening in AS but in A2 i used the soundtrack as the centre and found that everything I do must be in relation to the song which is the main focus. With this relationship religiously being recognised between everything I did, there is a clear understanding of my work in post production

We put across many messages in our AS production, such as the stereotypical male antagonist and protagonist as featured in many mainstream films which exemplifies patriarchy. Good vs. Evil is extremely evident with the distinct clothing of the police officer putting across the meaning of authority and how the state are there to protect and serve. Again conforming to patriarchy, a man officer is used to show more stature and power compared to a police woman. These are the keys meanings embedded throughout. For our A2 production the main messages were just fun and excitement and how happiness can come from what you love and your expression of your love. King of The Bongo really shows a character expressing his love for playing the Bongo and how he exposes this in a new city, which he is almost lost in but he feels that with his Bongo, he is never lost. This is the main meaning inserted in our A2 production.