A Look Into The History Of The Comics Code Authority - Book Riot

Fear for the Children in the 1950s

Before the Comics Code Authority, the Motion Picture Production Code (widely called the Hays Code) was applied to most major studio pictures released from 1934 to 1968. It was a self-censorship system to avoid the government censorship that could come down and limit the success of big studio movies. In 1968, this system was replaced with the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) rating system.

The reason this worked for as long as it did was because of the studio system. Hollywood was controlled by several large studios that could essentially decide how to make films that made money. For a long time, this meant sticking to the Hays Code. It had many rules that still influence film today: the requirement that queer characters had to be villainous or suffer tragic fates, regulations against the depiction and discussion of adulterous sex, and various other political rules.

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McCarthyism was also a looming factor in the enforcement of the Hays Code. The House Un-American Activities Committee was investigating a lot of people in the entertainment industry and making random threats based on the fear of people disloyal to American in the post-World War II moment. This general fear of disloyalty made it way down to the five and ten cent comics that kids could pick up at any grocery store.

The Comics Code Authority was established in 1954, Dr. Fredric Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent accused all comics of promoting delinquency and disregard for authority in children. He made this conclusion by asking young delinquents if they read comics, to which they responded yes. At the time, comics were so common and widespread for children that this would be like asking a kid in America today if they know what an iPad is. In the academic journal Information & Culture, Carol L. Tilley argued that Wertham had largely fabricated and exaggerated his findings to arrive at a neat conclusion.

At the time, there was also a series of Senate hearings on the relation of comics to crime, but they did not arrive at the conclusion that comics caused crime. However, parent protests and the general fearfulness around how media influenced children caused the creation of the self-censorship body the Comics Code Authority.