I’m just settling in here at the Bayside Hilton next to the San Diego Convention Center. Killer view, badge pick-up within the hour. It’s all happening, etc. But I find myself pondering the “Con” aspect of it all more and more these days.
Of course, I disagree with David Poland’s notion that the festivities here don’t manage to move the needle at all. The mood is set, legions of journalists (every Tom, Dick and Harry with a Blogspot or a Live Journal gets in as “press” these days) spread the word and a culture is born right here, every year. It’s an unknowable variable, of course. Things can go one way or the other, and nothing will necessarily be made or broken. But the publicity opportunity is rather undeniable.
Which brings me back to a point I made just this afternoon, the idea of the web universe largely playing the role of extended mouthpiece for a studio system more and more desperate to reach audiences and drum up excitement in advance of their product’s unveiling. It’s marketing 101. But it’s not journalism, any more than the cut-and-paste press releases you find in the trades every morning.
So why do we cover it?
What can be said of the fearless Edward Norton, who recently became an on-screen comic book hero? I never understood his choice to take on the role of Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Incredible Hulk. And now, post-release, I’m still puzzled.