If a city smack dab in an Arabian desert is the holiest of places to 1.5 billion souls, a city smack dab in the most republican of regions very well may be mecca for legions of comic book and high concept film fans from all over the world. Comicon, which ends today, is the most renowned convention of comic and film geeks in the world. Each year bajillions of nerds of various stripes high tail it to San Diego to rub elbows, and other appendages, with other like minded individuals. It has become an almost religious pilgrimage for many and each year, it becomes larger.
For the last few years though, it has seen a shift in demographics. No longer is Comicon filled only with 35 year old, basement dwelling uber-geeks, hell-bent on discussing whether or not Ant Man should have a place on the Avenger’s roster. When the producers of Twilight decided to showcase the first film in the franchise at Comicon, they changed the future of that mostly male experience.
Again this year, the producers of the Twilight franchise chose to preview their upcoming sequel at Comicon and 12 year old girls the world over suddenly flocked to San Diego to pledge allegiance to the stars of the films.
I think anything that promotes literacy in young children is a great thing. Even if that thing is a series of books that totally destroy the vampire mythos and turn it into a teen-beat version of horror. There is absolutely nothing remotely negative about it if it prompts young people to read, especially young girls to develop a thirst for reading. While I personally find nothing worthwhile in the books, that doesn’t mean they aren’t good for their specific audience.
Kevin Smith, whom I truly admire as both a filmmaker and unabashed nerd, spoke at Comicon and as he often does, he presented the dismissive geeks with a helpful dose of STFU! Pretty funny and well put.