# Did Mad Magazine change our world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631 "2016-04-09T11:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/1 "2016-04-09T11:19:12Z")
It seems absurd to assert a kids humor magazine could significantly affect a nation’s culture…but, I believe it did just that. In it’s heyday (50’s – 70’s), **Mad Magazine** had wide circulation and it was read primarily by those with the most pliable, developing minds: kids. Those kids grew up and changed America. William Gains’ band of irreverent editors, writers, artists and contributors taught generations of kids via satire to think critically of the world they live in; to trust nothing at face value. Thinking back, it certainly influenced my critical worldview of everything from marketing to pop culture to politics. The _ **Influence** _ section of [this wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_(magazine))makes a good case for Mads’ significance: > [@](#): > > Los Angeles Times’ Robert Boyd wrote, “All I really need to know I learned from Mad magazine.” > [@](#): > > Brian Siano in The Humanist, wrote, “For the smarter kids of two generations, Mad was a revelation: it was the first to tell us that the toys we were being sold were garbage, our teachers were phonies, our leaders were fools, our religious counselors were hypocrites, and even our parents were lying to us about damn near everything.” \ > [@](#): > > Pulitzer Prize–winning art comics maven Art Spiegelman said, "The message Mad had in general is, ‘The media is lying to you, and we are part of the media.’ It was basically… ‘Think for yourselves, kids.’” > [@](#): > > Comics historian Tom Spurgeon picked Mad as the medium’s top series of all time, writing, “At the height of its influence, Mad was The Simpsons, The Daily Show and The Onion combined.” > [@](#): > > Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam wrote, “Mad became the Bible for me and my whole generation.” > [@](#): > > Roger Ebert wrote, “I learned to be a movie critic by reading Mad magazine…Mad’s parodies made me aware of the machine inside the skin—“ \ > [@](#): > > Patti Smith said, “After Mad, drugs were nothing.” Do you agree that **Mad Magazine** significantly affected America? And, since American culture reaches globally, did Mad affect the world? Or, is that going to far? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631)._