It has been teetering on the edge for a few years, but we will call it- the San Diego Comic-Con has been Sundanced. For those who do not understand this concept, let us explain. The Sundance Film Festival, started by Robert Redford as a way to help burgeoning filmmakers, became highly commercialized towards the end of the 1990s. Now, it is nearly impossible to submit true independent works, as the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Diablo Cody to name but a few, are also under the "independent" umbrella.

The line in the sand, what pounded the original mission's gravestone into the cold January Utah ground, was the entertainment news takeover. Now that 'Entertainment Weekly', 'People Magazine', and celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton have taken up residence, what made Sundance so great is now mostly gone. Is this really a bad thing, to let a larger portion of the public in on minor film projects? No, but it does leave most starving filmmakers, writers, producers, and film students somewhat in the lurch. Enough about Sundance, as you are probably asking where the 'Comic-Con' is in this rambling explanation.

The problem here is that the same entertainment news wave, the crushing blow of commercialized media, has swept over the San Diego Comic-Con. Years ago, if you asked someone on the street about the SDCC they wouldn't know what you were talking about. Now, anyone who reads Entertainment Weekly, watches a celebrity news show, or goes online, has a pretty solid clue. The original mission of Comic-Con was a convention for comic book writers, publishing companies, and their fans. Now a significant portion of attendees and followers, if asked the question, "What comics are you going to check out?", they would immediately shake their heads and ask, "What are you talking about?" One of the factors in this multimedia turnover of Comic-Con was the gargantuan success of superhero and comic-based films. Once these films moved into Comic-Con, other films and eventually television shows moved in; as the production companies also wanted to promote other material.

Seth Rogen © PR Photos

What made this year's SDCC a talking point amongst those already fannishly involved with the convention were the inclusion of Michael Ausiello, of the 'Ausiello Files' blog in 'Entertainment Weekly' and the fanboys and girls of 'Twilight'. The Ausiello interviews were a great success. The highest value was addition of video interviews that allowed fans unable to attend the Con to feel somewhat included. Now, these fans just mentioned, are not your original fans (The comic/graphic novel base), but are what we like to call, the Second Wave Fans. These are the fans that became involved because of the films, television shows, and video games section of the Con.

To make things complicated, a new rogue Wave was born this year: the 'Twilighters.' This division of fandom is quite unlike any other. So much so, most the other legions of fans did their best to avoid this group. We are not just talking about merely walking the other way, or avoiding eye contact. This has become close to a Jets versus Sharks rivalry straight out of 'West Side Story'. For example, this year, a popular shirt worn by Joss Whedon fans of the Second Wave Fans included the saying, "And then Buffy staked Edward. The End."

Twilight Saga: New Moon' Comic-Con Press Conference © PR Photos

The largest question raised by many of the fans asked why 'Twilight' was even at the Con. This question, and all questions and rumblings from the comic fans who do not approve of the multimedia section, brings us to our own question: what was the original point? The original point of the SDCC was to give fans a place where they could become involved in the medium they loved. To have a place where they could speak, in what other people would call another language, and be understood; to wear costumes and uniforms the 'outside world' would possibly never understand. Most importantly, to have a place that was wedgie and spitball free (we kid). So in the end, is there any weight to casting aside other fandoms? Or would that be the most hypocritical move outside of, say, Wolverines Revenge's decisions?


Story by Sarah Lafferty
Starpulse contributing writer

Follow Sarah on twitter at starbuckscout.