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femmarvelnerd · 6 years

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Ace Comic Con Seattle

So it has taken me an extra day to take some time to figure out what to say about my experience at Ace Comic Con. It was my first Con, so maybe I didn’t know what to expect, but I left just feeling weird about the whole thing.

So first, the celebrities had jam-packed schedules. I was to get Tom Hiddleston’s autograph and a photo op on Sunday, so when things got delayed, I took a look at his schedule. He had about 20 minutes to get through 50+ people, with back to back 20 minutes for new people. This didn’t even give time for him to walk from one area to the other, and I don’t believe a lunch time or a break was ever scheduled in. Which is insane. What--you are supposed to be happy, engaged, and alert nonstop to thousands of people for three days straight?

So I come with a huge amount of understanding and empathy when I say my experience “meeting” him was meh.

In the morning for the autograph, the girl in front of me must have asked for a hug or something, and he said he couldn’t do that, and she walked away. The guy/staff next to him says, “I see what you mean! Boundaries, man.” And Tom responds, “Yeah, they are super important.”

Obviously, hearing this, I did not feel like I could be like, “Hey, thank you for getting me into Marvel,” or “Hey, the Hollow Crown dvds I am asking you to autograph was the last birthday gift from my dad before he died,” because honestly--boundaries. I did not think he would give a fuck. Would likely be nice about it, but not give a fuck. I would have been saying those things for my own sake, not for his. His work’s positive affect on my life does not effect his.

That said, he seem surprised that I had the Hollow Crown and said he was very proud of his work in it. But then we confusedly bumbled through where and what for him to sign, and since I had just taken an anti anxiety pill before stepping into his area, my brain had nothing to give me. Which, I really wish I had thought of this beforehand, because asking him to perform the emotional labor of making a decision was just another mental stress I didn’t need to ask of him.

So instead of anything about myself, I asked if he was enjoying his time in the PNW. He paused and then in a rather unconvincing, almost monotone voice said, “I am having a great time.” Which, once again, I do not blame him for totally not feeling it. I wished him a good stay in Seattle and moved on.

Later, he was about an hour late to the photo op. I was sad to be missing most of Hayley Atwell’s panel, but once again, this wasn’t his fault--the scheduling was insane. But when the line moved through, it was crazy fast. I may have had 1.5 seconds. It was so fast my hair is literally moving in front of my face from me getting into position. And I didn’t attempt a pose/to speak to him--I just went straight for what they expected of me, because I felt everyone was overwhelmed at this point. So once again, I didn’t even make eye contact with him, but I briefly put my hand on his waist. Woo. I thanked him for his time and boogied out of there. And don’t be surprised that I do not show you my photo--between the hair, the crazy eyes, and my head was literally crooked, I am not sharing that with anyone. But I also wasnt going to ask for a reshoot. $200 to put my arm around Tom Hiddleston for a second is what I apparently paid for. A reshoot would have just added to the stress and the chaos, and this whole thing just emphasized to me: I am not important. Nothing about me is more important than anyone else here, and asking for more just felt wrong.

That said, he is clearly a great actor, because there were no smiles during the autograph signings but he was able to plaster it on for photos, and was even able to seem like a person after a full day of this stuff, when he went out for his panel.

Overall, I am not wanting to go back to a comic con. Especially not to pay extra for maybe a total of 5-7 seconds of nearby time with a celebrity. I did not walk away feeling like I “met” him. I feel like I can say I was near him and got an autograph. Also briefly touched him. Which brings me to my next thought.

It felt like we were very much so commodifying a human being. Rampant capitalism made it so it was like we were dehumanizing these celebrities to the status of robots, and taking every last inch of them that we could. And it felt dirty.

Add on the panels q&a’s where everyone thought it was okay to take that time to make the celebrity say hi to a friend (one or two people, ok, but 10 people per panel? C’mon. This isnt about you or your friend. You are given a special opportunity. Ask them a question that will appeal to them and the audience). Many people also did this weird thing during q&a where they said, “I love you,” and would stare at them waiting until it was almost awkward and they would respond, “love you too....”. Reminder: You do not love them. You love their work. You love their public persona. You love what they choose to do with their time and what they allow you to see. But as much as you internet stalk them, you do not KNOW them. And even if you feel the need to say, “I love you,” quickly move on to your question, because making them have to say it back is just weird and continues to dehumanize them. They are already so limited in how they can behave at these things and it just pushed another boundary.

Most people have heard how rude those girls were during the Stan, Mackie, Holland panel so I wont get into it too much. It was shockingly rude, it was not okay, and there should have been a person there who was able to take the mic away and move it along. Or, there should have been a person these people would tell their questions to beforehand to get approved. Though, I will say they were likely attempting to play off the bantering that had been occurring on stage, it fell extremely flat. Reminder: If you are not a part of the inner circle, you should not try to banter like you are--especially if that bantering involves cutting remarks. This isn’t just about celebrities but also a good life lesson.

After all that general negativity, I want to say some nice things.

The celebrities all pulled off not having a meltdown, which is more than I could have done. So kudos to them.

Kevin Smith was the highlight. He was a great moderator for the panels, and was hilarious during his own panel.

Hayley Atwell is extremely intelligent and poised and I want to be more like her.

Matthew Lillard was there during a D&D panel, and though at first he was being a bit of a sour sport about people bringing up his old acting roles, he eventually embraced it, making it a fun time for everyone there.

And finally: Droids. Everything is better with droids. R2-D2s galore, a BB-8, R5-D4(my fav.) and several others. I went there with Marvel in mind, but walked away with Star Wars droids in my heart.

And if you stayed with me to the end of this review, I am impressed. I do not want people to stay away from Cons, but I hope my experience will at least shed some light, and help people remember proper behavior, and maybe help them make some financial decisions about what is most important to them.

#ace comic con #tom hiddleston #seattle #kevin smith #matthew lillard #hayley atwell #droids #i honestly wont blame most of those marvel folks if they never want to do cons again after this #but maybe they are all this bad and they knew that going in?#capitalism #celebrities #ps--the celebrities do not owe us anything #we choose to spend our time being their fan and supporting them #but they are not responsibly for our choices and do not owe any particular one of us anything

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