I spent nearly 4 hours watching and reading coverage of this year’s Comic-Con 2010, and after it was all said and done I felt very empty. What began as an article supporting the excitement and recent burst of hype in the media changed quickly. I knew that I had a journalistic responsibility to expose how hype has effected me and the world in which we live in. So while writing this article it turned into something very different, I hope you enjoy.
The time is here, Comic-Con 2010 has come and gone, who cares right? Well some people do, over 100,000 in fact. Comic-Con, for those who do not know what it is or see it as just a “nerd-fest”, has slowly become in its 40 years of existence the quintessential media event of the year. CNN, The New York Times, and Time Magazine – all different mediums of highly prestigious and primarily current-event oriented news have covered it. “It” in question is a 4 day event held every year at the San Diego Convention Center in Southern California. Comic-Con offers everything from celebrity panels to exclusive footage that won’t be seen anywhere else for almost a year. It is a nerd haven where those who are usually neglected by the “popular crowd” take center stage and are embraced for all the nerdyness that they can dish out. The past few years have been effected by the winds of change however.
While the convention used to usually consist of those that I previously mentioned, with the recent “SuperHero Film Boom”, it now is something that has morphed into a hype fest of sorts. The nerds of the world have been given the spotlight and branded with a dollar sign above their greasy unpolished foreheads. Unfortunately, instead of fighting the system as this culture has so often done before, being cast into obscurity for so long has had the opposite effect. Nerds display themselves proudly and have become a product sold to the highest bidder. This society has lived their lives without the respect they so often seek for far too long and now that they have their “moment in the sun” they aren’t looking for shade anytime soon.
What has happened as a result, is a transformation of something that was created as a conference for those who feel different to now a freak show for the mass public to scoff at and then benefit from. It is because of this negative effect that I can’t help but wonder is hype a good thing? “Hype” to most is just another word for anticipated excitement and yet to the rich fat-cats of the world it is just another way to add more zero’s to their bank account. With these “exclusive looks” and “collectors items” we as consumers are supposed to feel special and elite. Yet when the very people who want you to pump their gas or serve them coffee are those who fund such an “elite” status it’s difficult not to question it’s merit. Comic-Con has become nothing more than an oversized and overcrowded “Monorail-Tour” at Universal Studios where the audience is given an “inside look” at how movies are really made when it’s nowhere near close.
We are shuttled around like cattle, being told to be excited because something is happening when really the cover has been thrown over our eyes. It feels to me almost like the scene in the film “Big Fish” where the ringmaster of the circus gives a ridiculously long interlude for a giant and when he is finally revealed, he is no taller than someone slightly above average. Following this revelation, we then see what an actual giant looks like and the crowd snaps silent, including the ringmaster. What I mean by this analogy is that Comic-Con is an amazing event when it’s done right, but recently it has become just a parade of the slightly average. I attended Comic-Con at the “beginning of the end” as they call it, and the sad part is I could feel it. While I attended the celebrity panels and felt that lovely false sense of entitlement I mentioned, it wasn’t until I saw what comic-con truly was that I realized it’s fraud.
Comic-Con should be a unification of what we all value most in storytelling; actual storytelling. Instead, the studios of the world have invaded ours in which we created like a sheep in wolf’s clothing (or latex, depending on the costume). To better formulate my point let me use a real world example. The “Harry Potter” novels are rich detailed stories and have taken the time both in the written word and screen in order to prove this point. Rather than cast a “flavor of the week” actor or actress, these films use relatable unknowns as their leads and classically-trained actors to support this ever-expanding universe. To contrast, the “Twilight” novels and films are ones that unlike “Potter” weren’t based around a deeply complex character or in a world unlike anything we could imagine. These poorly written books and disgustingly low quality array of films rely on the very thing you shouldn’t; hype. Hype is destroying so many things around us and yet we just accept it, hoping like it’s predecessors it will simply pass on.
What I valued most about the times I went to Comic-Con, was when I sat down one-on-one with an author or an artist and was able to talk to them about the process that went into creating that particular piece of work. Yet when we are constantly bombarded with what “is” hip and what “will be” big we lose sight of what actually is beautiful and significant in this world. Art is something that should be examined, and something that should be appreciated. But when things are rushed like a panel where a fan can’t even ask a question (“Chuck”) or a multi-million dollar film that takes less time to develop than to make (“Twilight”), we lose sight of why we love these things to begin with. I’m not condemning fandom or even vampires for that matter, but what I’m saying is slow down. Hype relies solely on speed and yet because of that, substance suffers in the process. If you want to make me excited, put in the time and effort in order to do so. Because when you do, films like “Inception” happen and yet when you don’t, well, let’s just say something much worse happens instead.
Though it’s not too late, there is still hope but we must act now and we must support what deserves and truly needs it. Go to an art gallery and tell me that after looking at a piece for 5 minutes you know what the painting means. If so, then maybe there is not as much hope as I thought. But if not, then from one nerd to another let me tell you thank you and may the force be with you….always.
