So I went to my first Dragon*Con event this past weekend. It was Fascinating with a capital F. A variety of thoughts cross my mind with which to blog, but the first I'll tackle is the topic of celebrity.
This year's Con (yes, I already have some knowledge of the lingo) had the most Star Trek celebrities that have ever attended a Con event - there were nine of them. There were four Firefly celebrities, three Heroes celebrities, and several other well-known actors, like Sean Astin from LOTR; Matthew Lewis from Harry Potter; Erin Gray from Silver Spoons...talk about fan excitement! See http://www.dragoncon.org/ for more details.
You could meet celebrities and get autographs by going to the "Walk of Fame" conference area where they would sit when they weren't in a panel or recovering from a hangover. They were courteous, sometimes distant, but always interested in following the rules. Autographs required payment; pictures were not allowed in many cases; and handshakes were ok, depending on who you were talking to. I made the mistake of asking one celebrity how much an autograph was while slapping some money on the table and got a really uncomfortable look and a shrug. Protocol was: I was supposed to ask the handler sitting next to him. It's almost like the celebrities don't realize that they are making money off the fans? Who knows. The other thing that was really awkward was when you made eye contact with a celebrity who didn't have a line in front of them, but were too shy or self-conscious to go bounding over and say, "I LOVED you in Witchblade!"
Anyway, I also attended some of the "panels" for the celebrities. These involved one or more celebrities coming in at the front of a large (or small) conference room for an hour, and then audience members would get in line to ask the celebrity a question. Sometimes the questions would be around the person's acting, or the story line of a show/movie, or a fetish that the actor had. Amusing!
It was all so surreal. I would be at the Walk of Fame and see George Takei and Walter Koenig sitting next to each other. Walter had this weird smile on his face every time I looked at him. I got an autograph from Dominic Keating from Star Trek, but I didn't really want it. I got it merely because I didn't realize I could just meet him. Hayden Panettiere had a large line but she moved through autographs like she was signing checks. Then you would have the guys with the large lines, like James Marsters, Nathan Fillion, and Alan Tudyk. A smile, a handshake, a bit of interest about my name, and let's move on. What could I say of interest that they hadn't heard before? I wasn't really there to get to know them. Then you'd see someone like James Hong standing out in the lobby, looking forlorn...his sex symbol days were over. Had they really ever begun?
I can't help but wonder what these celebrities are thinking. They could be 1) grateful for fans; 2) feeling awkward if they don't have many; 3) feeling weird about taking money for autographs; 4) making fun of all the weirdos at these things. I wonder if some of the older ones feel some irritation for the young upstarts that get all of the lines. I wonder if some of them want to meet the other celebrities but are too shy to do it, like I was. I wonder if they went back to their hotel room at night and just watched TV.
Celebrities really are just people, and we flock to them like miners ran to California during the Gold Rush. It was really cool meeting the ones I did, and getting all of the autographs I did. But...back to real life and dealing with the "celebrities" at work.
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