Geeks – the Comic Strip

With each passing year, it seems Hollywood seems to be steamrolling over what San Diego Comic-Con used to be, and what it always was to its millions of attendees.

This last few years has seen the Hollywood industry pushing more and more shows and movies at the event, that have nothing to do with what Comic-Con was always about. They’re also devouring more and more space, too.

You’re now getting shows like Glee, Psyche, Sons of Anarchy, and a slew of sitcoms, teen dramas, proceedurals,  and other non-geek genre shows being promoted at San Diego Comic-Con, along with movies that most geeks and other die-hard SDCC attendees would not be even seen dead near. Heck, they’re even trying to push in reality shows, too.

And with each year, the Hollywood booths grow larger and larger, pushing out comic book vendors and upcoming artists, as their booths devour more and more of the dealers hall. It’s become more of a promotions hall, where stuff is shown rather than sold. The dealers and vendors are disappearing, as they can no longer afford the raising floor rates, and making less money due to the fact that those who do lots of spending are being driven away by the higher ticket prices, and by the overwhelming presence of stuff that does not interest them.

Literally, many people, attendees, vendors and other people have commented on forums, to media and through other sources, that they are seeing SDCC being changed from a public event about comics and the geek genre, into more of a Hollywood Entertainment Expo thing, and with higher tickets going to a point where most general public find it unacceptable and can no longer afford, it’s also becoming more and more of a private back-slapping party for Studios and their guests and those who are willing to pay high prices to be a part of it.

Also, this past few years has seen a higher influx of people attending, who would usually never be seen anywhere near anything geek. They are more the wannabe Hollywood followers, whom you usually see trying to be discovered or departing with broken souls away from the casting couch.They’re not there for comics and collectibles, they’re there hoping to be discovered by some passing casting agent or celebrity.

The place looks more like an open Hollywood casting call or an American Idol audition call, rather than a geek event.

The question is, when Hollywood has finished devouring the Comic-Con and turned it into Sundance 2: Electric Boogaloo, then what? Do they throw it away when they tire of it? Or will they set their collective sites on the next big conventions, and do the same to them? How much promotion does Hollywood think it needs?

The SDCC organisers need to rethink their plans. They need to move the Hollywood non-genre stuff off-site to other locations, and try to bring SDCC back from being a Hollywood event and bring it back to it’s geek core.

They also need to work out a ticket system so people who aren’t interested in the convention, can buy tickets to certain promotions and events that are held off-site, like the Hollywood blockbuster non-genre events (Twilight, Glee, etc.), but cannot attend the main convention.

That will ease the crowds, and stem some of the rising resentment that the main con attendees feel about the not-geeks being there, and taking over their turf.

SDCC needs to find a balance that works, without driving away it’s main core attendees, rather than catering to the fickle wannabes, who’ll soon abandon the event for the next big thing or wherever Hollywood moves it’s hot property promotions to.

I could go on for days about the whole thing, but I’ll leave it there, for now.