Graphic Novels: Threat or Menace?

Fifty three years after Dr. Fredric Wertham argued in "Seduction of the Innocent" that comic books were corrupting the morals of our youth, a public schoolteacher has been forced to resign -- and faced the threat of criminal prosecution -- for giving a student a graphic novel as a reading assignment.

And not in some Bible Belt backwater either, but rather in a prosperous Connecticut shoreline community whose residents include more than a few faculty members from nearby Yale University.

This is how the story was initially reported on September 20 in the local daily, the New Haven Register:

GUILFORD -- The parents of a freshman student whose teacher resigned after he gave her a sexually explicit illustrated book said Wednesday their daughter has been the target of harassment from fellow students, and they want the school district to do more to clarify the issue with other parents.

The girl's father, who asked that his family remain anonymous because it has already been the target of criticism, described the graphic novel that English teacher Nate Fisher gave the student as "borderline pornography."

The father also noted, later in the story:

"I personally don't ever want him teaching again," he said. "There is nothing that he could say that would account for this. ... That poor judgment is something you can't take back."

So at this point you're thinking, this must be some kind of sleazy predator of a teacher, right? Good thing they got that scumbag out of there, right?

Well, not exactly.

The book, one of a series of comic book novels by Daniel Clowes, is called "Eightball #22."

* * *

The following week, my friend Chris Arnott at the alternative weekly New Haven Advocate wrote a story on the controversy, noting:

Register reporter Rachael Scarborough King shorthanded Clowes' complexities by reporting that the comic "includes references to rape, various sex acts and murder, as well as images of a naked woman, and a peeping tom watching a woman in the shower." Shocking stuff -- though the sex and bloodshed aren't in fact depicted, just talked about, and the nudity is part of a poignant and decidedly non-titillating scene in which a sensitive young woman is afraid her lover will leave her because of an unsightly birthmark. In any case, graphic acts of sex, murder and voyeurism can be found in countless classic works of literature, by such acclaimed writers as Charles Bukowski, Truman Capote, Allen Ginsberg, Ayn Rand, Leo Tolstoy, Gore Vidal, Nick Hornby, Theodore Dreiser, Sam Shepard, Alice Walker, Cormac McCarthy, Jack Kerouac, D.H. Lawrence, John Cheever, Thomas Hardy and Sylvia Plath.

All those writers, as it happens, appear on the official list of 2007 Summer Reading suggestions presented to students by the Guilford High School English department. So do disgraced sex-and-drugs-addled memoirist Augusten Burroughs and bestselling erotic mystery novelist Janet Evanovich, most of whose books have a hot sex scene within the first few pages. It's an enlightened, engrossing, wide-ranging list that might actually attract more young people to read.

Chris also noted:

That cause wasn't helped by the New Haven Register's Sept. 21 "Soundoff" readers poll question, "Are comic book novels too graphic for children?" Some readers responded with such uninformed comments as "Guilford schools and comic books -- it figures," and "Absolutely, period. It is frightening that this event could occur in our educational system."

* * *

On October 17, the Register followed up with "good news": the teacher whose career has most likely been destroyed by a perfect storm of overzealous parents and cowardly school administrators will not be criminally prosecuted.

Oh, happy day!

Guilford Police Deputy Chief Jeffrey Hutchinson said the department received a complaint about Fisher Sept. 4 and has now closed its investigation.

"Basically, we were informed, we investigated it and had contact with the state's attorney's office, and they said there's nothing they're going to prosecute, so we closed the case," Hutchinson said. "There's no criminal charges pending; there's none anticipated."

Hutchinson said he cannot release details of the investigation because it included "uncorroborated allegations."

* * *

Fisher said he gave the student the graphic novel, which features a number of intersecting stories told in comic book form, because she had not done a summer reading assignment. It was part of a collection of his own books that he had in the classroom. He read the book in a graphic novels course when he was a student at the University of Connecticut and had not reviewed it for some time, he said.

"I was literally looking for ... something that she could read over the weekend, something quick, because all the kids had a test on Tuesday, the weekend after, and I didn't want her to start the year behind in her school work," he said. "In my mind, any book that you give to a student that's going to create a reaction like this in the student's family is an inappropriate book, so you'll never hear me say this was an appropriate thing to do. I just think the way it was handled wasn't right, and it was bad for everybody."

After the student's parents brought their concerns to the school administration, Fisher was placed on leave and resigned about two weeks later. He said he was surprised at the school district's reaction to the situation.

"The administration made it clear to me that they didn't want me back, and at that point, I wanted to do what was in the best interest of my career, as well as the town of Guilford, the students and parents and everybody," he said. "I never thought that I would be pulled out of my job without any due process to be able to defend myself or give my version of the events of what happened. I felt like they really didn't take into account anything about my career that had happened before."

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Forcella was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon. In September, he sent an e-mail to high school parents in which he said the graphic novel "rose to a level of unacceptability that is far beyond that of materials normally questioned in educational circles."

This, remember, from a school district whose official reading list includes Bukowski, Ginsberg and Augusten Burroughs. But wait, there's more!

The mother of the girl who received the comic book has asked to remain anonymous because the family had been criticized after Fisher's resignation. She is satisfied with the outcome and thinks the school district "did a great job."

Initially, she said, she was concerned about the teacher's intentions because he gave the graphic novel to only her daughter. But she added that she now believes he made a mistake.

"It is what it is, and we really hope that his intentions were the best, and if that's the case, then we hope that he's able to go on and find another job and continue with his life," she said.

Gosh, isn't that just so very gracious of her? After raging through the guy's life like a California wildfire, she allows as how it would be okay with her if he eventually somehow manages to find something salvagable as he picks through the wreckage she's left behind.

* * *

Finally, yesterday, almost a month after their initial sensationalistic coverage of this shameful episode, the New Haven Register featured an editorial which gently chided the Guilford school district -- which, while commendable, probably would have mattered a lot more oh, say, a month ago, when the Register's front page was portraying the teacher as a possible pedophile.

Guilford High School's teachers and students should have expected better from school system administrators.

Instead, the school's out-of-proportion reaction to a teacher's well-intentioned makeup assignment for a student turned an internal academic issue into a public controversy, complete with a criminal investigation.

At least the teacher, Nate Fisher, will not face criminal charges for assigning a student a graphic novel to read over a weekend to make up for her failure to complete a summer reading assignment.

* * *
Fisher may have shown questionable judgment in assigning the graphic novel. Given the parents' reaction, Fisher says the assignment was inappropriate.

Inappropriate, perhaps; but, not worthy of a criminal investigation nor ending a promising young teacher's career.

Falls somewhat short of the obvious: the teacher should be hired back, with an abject public apology and full back pay.

Originally posted at This Modern World.

Comments

[duffster]

another one for the "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished " file...

[madmonkey]

The mother of the girl who received the comic book has asked to remain anonymous because the family had been criticized after Fisher's resignation.

It's really sooo much easier to destroy another person's life when you don't have to reveal your own identity -- just like the masked Riddler in a Batman . . . comic book!

[cyaker]

Interesting that the parents weren't troubled that there daughter had ignored the assignment. I guess it was a good thing for the teacher that he didn't give her a copy of the Declaration of independence or graphical copies of the bible.

[Meanwhile]

I cannot even pretend to be outraged by this. I've been acutely aware of the politics of teaching all my life. I have an aunt and a cousin who are teachers, and I nearly became one myself, so there is nothing surprising to me in this story.

Honestly, he really should have known better than to think a graphic novel as assigned reading wouldn't have been intensely scrutinized by the parents, and with the most jaundiced of eyes.

The ONLY way that situation could have a happy ending would be if he spoke to the parents and the administration beforehand to explain his intentions and his reasoning.

I see this as more of a life lesson for the teacher. Yes, it is also a grave injustice, but it is one he should have seen coming. It's really just the tip of the iceberg in an ocean of teachers who cannot be effective in their jobs because of parents who refuse to find the middle ground between domineering and negligent.

[sciascia14]

Are we really in a position in this country to be firing (or asking for the resignations of) ANY teachers?

[GrafZeppelin127]

Of course not, but here we are. This is the reason why more bright, creative, dedicated young people don't become teachers; it's become a profession where, as another poster put it, "no good deed goes unpunished."

If you're a teacher, the more intelligent, thoughtful, creative and resourceful you are, the more you run into resistance and persecution from administrators who insist that "you can't do that; you have to do this" without explaining (or even knowing) why. The more you challenge the students, the more objective you are about their abilities and performance, the higher the academic and behavioral standards to which you hold them, the more they and their parents will go out of their way to try to hang you.

Young people both in and entering the profession see this and ask, Who needs it?

The schools are no longer in the business of fostering actual learning; they're in the business of making kids "feel good." As if any person can actually LEARN when all she's ever told is that she, and everything she does, is just wonderful. If the teacher is not willing to do that, then as a parent I must see to it that he NEVER teaches my child, or anyone else's, ever again. My child's feelings are more important than his career.

[Silverstar]

Teacher tried to be nice to the student, and not let her start out behind. So he loses his job. He should have let her suffer the consequences of not doing the assignment. From Time's review, I can't see where the "pornography" comes in. Do I even live in the same country as these people?

[gregapress]

Seriously, he should have just failed the kid. No sense in losing your job trying to help someone who is just going to f**k you over.

[fact finder]

It is called Religious censorship. Better get used to it. Alice in Wonder Land was banned in Florida.

[Giglawyer]

I understand that religious censorship is on the rise. But how is this case an example of religious censorship?

[fact finder]

Read the book " the speech police' Alice In Wonderland was banned because the Southern Baptist members of the State board of Education said that it taught children to fantasize and believe in magic. As magic was the domain of Satan then Alice taught children to believe that Satan was good . It was then as now pure crap but it illustrates the stupidity of the religious right. The book will explain better than I can Giglaweyer.

[LadyXoc]

The age of the girl is never mentioned. At what age does voyeurism and rape become appropriate reading material - recommended by a teacher, no less.
As for the list of authors recommended for summer reading, it would be interesting to see which books are specified. I wouldn't want to give a young person "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, for example, just because it's upsetting and scary - and very unlike most of the other works of that writer.
Quality matters. The nudity of a Greek statue is not the same as that of a comic book character. There were far bloodier plays than Shakespeare's in that era, but few of them have survived - in the end, language makes the difference. One doesn't sit through four hours of Hamlet just to get to the massacre in the final scene.
As the teacher admitted, he showed poor judgment. There's plenty of gratuitous sex and violence accessible to kids; hopefully they are in school to become aware of something better.

[RobinLandseadel]

LadyXoc:

"The age of the girl is never mentioned"

She's a freshman in high school, most likely 4 years older than I was when first stumbling on D.H. Lawrence and finding it all an overblown joke.

Unlike, say Proust. . . .

"Quality matters. The nudity of a Greek statue is not the same as that of a comic book character."

Or De Kooning? Give me Dave Sheridan or Art Spiegelman, anyday.

"There were far bloodier plays than Shakespeare's in that era"

Never caught Roman Polanski's post-Manson Macbeth, eh? Or Coriolanus? Or Pynchon's parody of such-like in The Crying of Lot 49? The more you read, the more blood you will encounter, it's as simple as that.

[GJKBEAR]

You know, reading these comments makes me realize how lucky I was as a kid. My parents managed a theatre and I was an avid reader. I read everything. I was way above my grade level. I was not interested in "teen romances" when I was in Jr High - I preferred Ian Fleming. I can remember when the movie Lolita came out. Everyone was up in arms over it and banning their children from seeing it. My folks said I could see it if I wanted as long as I asked them questions about anything I didn't understand. I did see it. I didn't really understand what all the fuss was about - and I really did not have any questions. I didn't rush right out and have sex with the first older man I ever saw - or even a younger man or a handsome agent.
What is really missing today in families is open, honest dialog! Parents are not really talking to their children anymore - they talk at them. If I had not done a summer reading assignment (although given my love of reading, I probably would have exceeded the assignment) - I would have caught hell from my folks. Too many parents excuse bad behavior from their children and are all too willing to blame everyone else for their child's failings.
It is one reason that I got out of teaching, and one reason that I would not enter a public classroom any longer.
So, did the teacher show poor judgement? Possibly. But, if this girl's parents had just talked to him or even met him beforehand so that they knew anything about him - or even if they had been involved enough to make sure the girl did any assignment; it might have helped. If they had read the graphic novel instead of just judging it by the pictures or if they were involved enough in their child's life outside of just telling her that sex scenes are BAD - the whole situation could have been avoided.

[JustMyWords]

You've got to be kidding - "In Cold Blood" is too upsetting? My, how times have changed. I was assigned that book in the seventh grade...

But seriously, have you not seen the movies targeted at, and avidly watched by, high school age kids? Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Saw, Final Destination...the list is almost endless. These movies surely all more "upsetting" than the graphic novel in question, and make Truman Capote look like a children's nursery rhyme.

And also notice - with the exception of the Saw movies, the characters in these movies are almost invariably teenagers. They are stalked, terrified, mutilated, tortured, and murdered en masse...

[ctuck622]

...And speaking of "backwaters," in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the local NAACP is trying to keep the local high school from performing "To Kill A Mockingbird" unless the "n" word is removed. Talk about missing the point. Another nail in the coffin of "the land of the free." I don't know what's worse, the level of stupidity that must drag its proverbial head out of the sand from time to time and spew forth knee-jerk, thoughtless drivel, or the head-scratching, ass-scratching local-yokel Florida politicians whose measure of success is their measure of corruption.

[HegemonyCricket]

Comic books, their creators, and those that sell or otherwise distribute them are routinely targeted. The odd/arbitrary/political standards applied to funny and not-so-funny books have landed people in jail around the country.

Support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund http://www.cbldf.orgg), or, at least, visit their site, read up on what they do and who they help...then support them.

[RepigsLuvOxycontin]

Similar to RobinLandseadel above, I was given the then-brand-new novel Slaughtrehouse-5 to read in 7th grade. I also was allowed to read Avant-Garde magazine with its many kinds of arty images when I was 9 years old by my parents.

The current attitudes towards children are sickening. WAYYYYY too much pampering and fear for their safety. Maybe we should change Franklin's quote:

"Parents who sacrifice freedom for security will end up with neither, but their children will end up needy, arrogant, and infantilized."

[transendentilist]

You were given "Slauterhouse 5," in the 7th grade? By the school? Pretty deep stuff for a 7th grader.

[AjCarbo12]

Wow I live about 15 min away from Guilford and I cant believe that even took place. I am so sick of hearing about parents who flip out because of matters like this one. The teacher was giving this student an easy chance to catch up in her work and because of that he loses his job. Another example of an uptight parent being offended for no reason and at the expense of a teachers job. Both parents should be ashamed of themselves especially the mother especially after her "nice" comments after about a misunderstanding. How nice of you that you did everything you could to get him fired and now you feel bad for the guy and hope he get another job. What a serious bitch if you ask me. Another parent afraid to let her child experience a sense of reality. It's a fucking book deal with it and stop making a hobby out of being offended it gets old real quick.

[Oldwolf]

Bigotry and stupidity are not new. In 1952 I was in a highschool history class, the teacher gave us an assignment to read Orwell's 1984. My mother pitched a fit at me and the school about the book.She lost on both fronts, fortunately. This past year a small town north of me burned Harry Potter books. That was scarier to me than any horror movie or book.

[GJKBEAR]

This reminds me of the scene in the movie "Footloose" where the parents invade the schools and start burning books they feel are immoral or bad. The John Lithgow character tells them that the "devil is not in the books - he is in their minds and hearts and that they need to go home and sit in judgement on themselves".
You are correct. When in a free America we have people who are so afraid of books and what they say that they will burn them - IT IS SCARY. I always wonder at people who see the DEVIL in everything - it is usually because they are afraid and also sort of ignorant. As cavemen, they were afraid of fire.....No, no, can't do that - better to freeze and just hope that the big round ball thing will rise soon......

[joebaggadonuts]

I think the teacher should sue in for the malicious interference with his right to employment. There must be some lawyer in Connecticut who will take the case.

[shaggles]

The sad thing is that the teacher is being really reasonable about it. Sounds like a good guy. The country could use a lot more teachers like him.

[whillice]

The real crime is he didn't assign her a very good graphic novel.

Watchmen by Allan Moore is one of the only "funny books" that truly rises to the muster of literary worth. Although, if they're teaching Bukowski and Ayn Rand in high school, I guess their standards are pretty low, so you could throw in some Frank Miller....

[RobinLandseadel]

Alison Bechtel's "Fun House" is exquisite.

http://www.dailycandy.com/philadelphia/article/26112/Fun+House

And Art Spielgleman's "Maus" is practically in the canon. Wake up, literary language is constantly shifting and morphing, changing modes and means of address, you don't want to be left out in the cold with your dog-eared copy of 'Anatomy of Melancholy' now, do you?

[RichardLiberty]

You should read more comics before you make such a statement. Watchmen is 20 years old and while very good (the movie is out next year), it doesn't age well. Besides, an issue of Sandman has won the Hugo Award for Fantasy (#19 I believe) so there are obviously better choices. I have read the Eightball "Ice Haven" issue and thought it was not quite as good as Clowes' previous storyline "Ghost World". For a much more relevent reading experience, try "DMZ" or "The Daily News".

[wedgie]

Bukowski rocks.

**

[wsblake]

Arnott forget Shakespeare in his list of famous authors. The Bard's tragedies are all virtual bloodbaths by the final curtain- and the Elizabethans couldn't get enough of it. Nothing new here, but it is still scary,nonetheless. Every totalitarian regime worth its salt from Mussolini to Hitler, to the Soviet's to paranoid periods in Amerika have found plenty to censor-