San Diego Comic-Con: These Are My People
by James HudnallFor many years, the press would come down to San Diego Comic-Con International to take pictures and interview attendees. The results were always the same. They would look for those with the most outlandish costumes and the report would be: “San Diego Comic Con International has arrived again. Look at all the freaks that showed up. Aren’t these people crazy? Back you you, Dan.”
Ah, the press. They just never get it right. Most people at the con dress like anyone else. It’ a small percent that wear costumes, but they stick out. Most of those people are there to have fun. They’re letting their hair down for the weekend. It’s like Halloween for geeks.
Imagine if the press were actually fair minded (ROFL!), then you might see something like this:
“Here we are at the Superbowl. Look at all these nutty loons wearing football jerseys in the crowds, and waving around the foam hands. How crazy are these people anyway? They even have riots in the streets. Back to you, Steve.”
Or…
“Here we are at the Rockapalooza. Look at all these wasted weirdos wearing rock clothes and all that goofy makeup. What makes them imagine their air guitar fantasies rate in the real world? Get a life, losers! Back to you, Jane.”
There really isn’t that much difference between people at Comic-Con and any other kind of fandom. The fans of comics, movies and TV are from the same walks of life the rest of humanity. And their interest in these things do not really make them less important or more absurd than fans of sports or music or whatever you can name. I mean, I have yet to hear about Comic Convention fans rioting in the streets and torching cars.
When I was leaving Comic-Con for the last time this year, a car pulling out of the lot passed the shuttle bus I was on with OBAMA SUCKS emblazoned on the rear window. I smiled. What do you know, we have diversity of opinion in fandom too. And then, at the first stop a guy in a Count Chockula outfit was getting off and he asked the driver directions to catch another bus. I had to smile again. I mean, there’s something really fun hanging around with a comic book crowd. Where else can go go and be surrounded by storm troopers, Batman wannabes, guys in Thor costumes, girls in Anime garb or riding a bus with Count Chockula?
These are my people. I have been around fans most of my life and generally, I find them entertaining. I have made friends at the Cons over the years who are doctors, cops, scientists, waiters, chefs, mechanics, musicians, actors, you name it. They come from all walks of life and from all over the world. They’re people like you and I, they just happen to enjoy what the Con has to offer. I have been to rock concerts and sports events and none of those things compares to the spectacle and interactive nature of a comic con.
In a Sports event or concert you are expected to sit down and watch the show, then leave. You might have a tailgate party first. But in comic cons you have a lot of different options. You can meet your favorite creators, listen to panels, play games, enter contests, see movies, hang out with people, go to a series of parties and dinners, engage in sing-a-longs, hell, I could go on and on. It’s like a festival, and there’s all sorts of fun to be had. That’s probably a large part of why it’s become such a huge success.
And success is one of the reasons the press stopped making fun of the Con attendees. They still look for people in costumes to interview, but their tone is more respectful. After all, the Con is a huge cash cow for the city of San Diego. It revitalizes downtown better than Christmas does. The restaurants and bars are full to bursting, The shops see lots of business and the hotels are booked solid for miles around. And that means lots of tax revenue for the city and state. No only that, the film business takes it very seriously. It’s a great place for them to reach the fans an talk directly to their potential audience.
The Con brings a lot of smiles to a lot of faces every year. If you had been there this weekend you would never know we lived in the worst recession since the great depression. The place was jumping and the money was flowing.
Good times were had all around. I can’t wait till the next one.
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50 Comments
You summed up my own personal feelings perfectly. I'd just like to add two words:
Booth. Babes.
As I sit here listening to FSM's new release of the complete, remastered Star Trek II score, I ponder for a moment…
…when it comes to fandom, I've always walked this thin line between playing things cool (read: not dressing up) and going full tilt boogie (dressing up, podcasts, fan videos, editing Wikipedia articles, etc.). I went with some friends to the MegaCon in Orlando and one of my friends said, "Hey, Scott, check out the cute girl in the Poison Ivy outfit. You should ask her to pose for a photo." And since I'm shy, I said, "I can't ask a total stranger to do that."
I realize they WANT to have their photos taken but it felt awkward. And if I felt awkward at a damn sci-fi/comic convention, then what hope is there for me.
Next time, I'll have to go with the flow. I still want to dress up one day: either as a ghostbuster or Indiana Jones (circa Last Crusade when he wears a black necktie).
As I sit here listening to FSM's new release of the complete, remastered Star Trek II score, I ponder for a moment…
…when it comes to fandom, I've always walked this thin line between playing things cool (read: not dressing up, feigning ignorance at certain things) and going full tilt boogie (dressing up, podcasts, fan videos, editing Wikipedia articles, etc.). I went with some friends to the MegaCon in Orlando and one of my friends said, "Hey, Scott, check out the cute girl in the Poison Ivy outfit. You should ask her to pose for a photo." And since I'm shy, I said, "I can't ask a total stranger to do that."
I realize they WANT to have their photos taken but it felt awkward. And if I felt awkward at a damn sci-fi/comic convention, then what hope is there for me.
Next time, I'll have to go with the flow. I still want to dress up one day: either as a ghostbuster or Indiana Jones (circa Last Crusade when he wears a black necktie).
As I sit here listening to FSM's new release of the complete, remastered Star Trek II score, I ponder for a moment…
…when it comes to fandom, I've always walked this thin line between playing things cool (read: not dressing up, feigning ignorance about certain things) and going full tilt boogie (dressing up, podcasts, fan videos, editing Wikipedia articles, etc.). I went with some friends to the MegaCon in Orlando and one of my friends said, "Hey, Scott, check out the cute girl in the Poison Ivy outfit. You should ask her to pose for a photo." And since I'm shy, I said, "I can't ask a total stranger to do that."
I realize they WANT to have their photos taken but it felt awkward. And if I felt awkward at a damn sci-fi/comic convention, then what hope is there for me.
Next time, I'll have to go with the flow. I still want to dress up one day: either as a ghostbuster or Indiana Jones (circa Last Crusade when he wears a black necktie).
Yup that about sum's it up! Not too much into the Comic-Con thing, but man do the geeks know how to pick the babes!
One of the things I miss most about not living in CA anymore is the Con!
There's no line-walking for me. I'm full-tilt nerd. Heck, just look at my avatar. My license plate number is also my username.
Don't feel awkward at all asking for pictures! Believe me, there is no greater satisfaction for a costumer than having people ask to take their picture. It's kind of a payoff for the time/money spent on them. Comic-Con is fully awesome and I went fully broke. I love it!
I don't fully understand Comic-Con. I guess I am really old or something. But one thing you will never hear from me is a bad word about the people involved. Even if you don't appreciate the games, the comics, or the movies you absolutely have to appreciate the marketing genius behind it all. As I said, I don't fully understand the whole thing, but when I hear old people (my age) bash it as stupid or childish, I tell them to take a look at the numbers. Look at the money made in the industry. It's stunning! The artistic talent needed to make one of the new video games surpasses anything Hollywood is capable of by a wide margin. Maybe that's why Hollywood makes every video game into a movie.
You.ve got to go as a ghostbuster and get some friends to do it with you. My daughter always looks for those guys costume and this is the first year in the last 5 that she has been to that she did not see a group of ghostbusters. She usually makes up a costume for Sat and this year she went as a punk fairy. You should do it. She loves taking pics of other people. Here's hoping you do.
debbie –
Thanks for the encouragement! And I do have a couple friends who're crazy enough to do it. Sooner or later, I'll have to get started on my own proton pack.
Go ahead and ask. It's a great way to meet people.
Also that is why writers are writing the backstory and dialog for the video games coming out.
Grrr.
Arghh.
I'm glad I'm one of your Peeps.
It was my first time going and it was a total blast. I can't wait until next year.
We should have a BH meetup for those of us in the industry & are fellow geeks!
Just have to chime in with the fellow nerd support. One of us! One of us! One of us!
" I mean, I have yet to hear about Comic Convention fans rioting in the streets and torching cars."
James that's because incinerating the entire city with death rays powered by the bubbles stolen from the local brewery is just so much more cooler.
I miss con. I didn't get to go this year, my daughter is too young to go. And I also retired my giant sign. The old sandwhich board of doom was heavy but worth it for the attention.
That's the whole fun of con, is that you can get the attention you want or blend in with all the other crazies. It's all up to you because as you say, they are your people. We're all fun loving geeks, nerds, wierdos, warzies, trekkies, doctors, comic book fans; and anything else.
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Thanks Scott for mentioning the remastered Star Trek II score.
I've been waiting to hear about something like it for years. Just ordered it too.
I've got a friend who goes as part of a group of steampunk ghostbusters. The packs even light up and shoot steam.
He's a great and friendly guy, and I know that they love having their pictures taken. Like anyone else, they enjoy public recognition of their talents and creativity.
Now if I show up to Comic-Con, am I a stupid American like the comedian Bill Maher says about Americans?
Michael Moore said same thing, that Americans are stupid.
Perhaps it is true, I am stupid for thinking Americans will ever give up comedians and film directors who call Americans stupid; it really is stupid that so many Americans love, obsessively, to be abused by the entertainment industry over and again.
Changing SciFi to SyFy is a marketing ploy designed to get the NON-geeks interested. Me, I prefer SciFi. Seems the people at SciFi(SyFy) felt that people would take them more seriously with the name change.
I'm not in marketing, but that makes zero sense to me. I know what SciFi is. Why take a known product and change the name just for the heck of it?
I suppose for the same reason Coca-Cola changed Coke to New Coke. Eventually Coca-Cola had to bring back Coke as Original Coke. The new stuff just wasn't selling.
but they didn't call it a whole new name like Cougke or something. they called it new Coke. and no one liked it
how soon before they go back to SciFi?
It's kind of like Brinks home security becomming BroadBand or whatever.
I woked for years in the Funeral industry. When you acquire a known entitly you preserve the goodwill established and add to the name, not change it.
I know Syfy is a minor change but it is a new name and is different enough from the original to cause questions.
I agree, but……………I don't own the channel. I wouldn't have changed the name.
Have you written to them yet?
no i'm just simmering here in my rapidly subsiding rage.
I watch the station rather infrequently which is wierd since I love scifi in general.
I might send them a sternly worded email if I can get myself worked back up.
Me, I prefer the name SciFi.
I am watching Battlestar Galactica now. I watch Eureka faithfully.
OH, you should definitely do it! These are people who know and understand what you're doing and why. They aren't like the rest of the world. Cons are the place where introverts like myself can let down our hair and be ourselves in all our geeky glory and talk about geeky things without drawing strange looks from everyone else.
Some of the most fun I've had was dressing up at a Con to pay tribute to a favorite character.
I've heard 3 different stories about why Sci Fi became SyFy:
1. The guys in the suits decided that "Sci Fi" was only popular with dorks who live in their mothers' basements, "real people," especially women, are embarrassed to be watching anything called science fiction, and in order to expand beyond the "loser" market, they needed to change the name.
2. Everyone is into texting now, and "SyFy" is easier to text than "Sci Fi" (this is not true, BTW).
3. "SyFy" can be trademarked while "Sci Fi" cannot, so they changed the name for legal reasons.
I know what I believe, but I'll let everyone make up his/her own mind on the subject.
Bill Maher is stupid. So is Michael Moore
SciFi or SyFy makes no difference if it is actually more fantasy-oriented and not so much sci-fi. There should be a REAL Sci-Fi channel with original sci-fi movies and avsteady stream of old standbys (Them, A.I., Close Encounters, Alien, The Day The earth Stood Still, etc). Shows like The Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits (old ones preferred to new, please)get a venue. Would it kill someone to make original films of newer hard sci-fi stories???? And The Ringworld books are practically screaming to be made into a series. The possibilities are as vast and as promosing as space itself, and yet…
The "SyFy" channel runs original movies about prehistoric beasts and natural disasters, mostly.
BSG was an awesome series.
We spotted Dennis Miller and son in the general audience at last year's Comicon. Does that count for anything?
I doesn't matter to me if it's SciFi or SyFy, I just wish they would get rid of that idiotic wrestling. Why is that on there?
Well put, James. I totally agree with you about Comic-Con, the fans and the media. I've been saying the same thing about sports fans for years! Good to see you at the Big *Show and look forward to seeing you there next year!
I also saw the BBC's Jonathan Ross and character actress Mindy Sterling in the exhibit hall. Anyone else have other sightings of celebs doing the fan thing?
I have never been to Comic-Con. I did go to the Texas A&M SciFi convention about 18 years ago back when I was in college the first time.
My inner nerd is waking up and getting excited about going.
BY the way why is this SyFy BS? some marketing genius thought tat made more sense?
http://the2minshate.blogspot.com/
rasslin' on a science fiction channel. that proves it doesn't it?
That's gotta be the best thing I've read about ComicCon anywhere! Good job, Mr. Hudnall!
Fine, but someone has to recieve my misdirected wrath!!!
<a href=”http://the2minshate.blogspot.com/” target=”_blank”>http://the2minshate.blogspot.com/
If they ar going to hav wrestling on SciFi then the wrestlers should be forced to were Godzilla, Mothra, Goldar costumes etc.
I must agree. Whenever I see the 'SyFy' soft white logo on the television, I immediately think it's a commercial for fabric softener.
And trying to market SciFi for non-geek appeal sounds to me like missing the point entirely. Perhaps instead of trying to replicate the same pap other "non-geek" channels are already offering, they might consider raising the quality of their fare (i.e., no more cheesy monster-of-the-week original movies) and returning to their roots. There's a reason it was called 'The Sci Fi Channel' and not 'Channel 6 General Audience Programming'.
From what I've read, each of these points seems to be a reason they've quoted for the change.
Of course, none of these points are *true* (except possibly #3, though I immediately think 'Well, what if you make it one word: SciFi'?), but when has that ever stopped clueless suits from engaging in some Executive Meddling?
At the very least, let us see Mexican luchador wrestling.
"Stupidity is distinct from irrationality because stupidity denotes an incapability or unwillingness to properly consider the relevant information "-wiki
"Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking or acting without inclusion of rationality. The term is used, usually pejoratively, to describe thinking and actions that are, or appear to be, less useful or illogical than other more rational alternatives. " – wiki
I would agree that Moore is stupid but also irrational to the extent his limited cognitive abilities allow him. I would argue that Maher is irrational. He is fully capable of understanding the concept of 2 plus 2 but insists that it is five anyways based on his own drug laden utopian driven paranoia.
But then again I may just be stupid.
Big Hollywood’s ComiCon updates…
Update: John Nolte provides plenty of photos….
[...] with their exhibition, My Giant Colouring Book. The brothers are known for their … San Diego Comic-Con: These Are My PeopleI didn't get to go this year, my daughter is too young to go. And I also retired my giant sign. [...]
[...] Aren’t these people crazy? Back you you, Dan.” Ah, the press. They just never get it right. Most people at the con dress like bighollywood.breitbart.com [...]
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