Comic Con 2012, and why I no longer care

Though I really hope people haven't come to expect this of me, you may be wondering why I haven't been periodically snapping in with conversations regarding the happenings at this year's San Diego Comic Con. Quite often the source of a great deal of buzz regarding major films on the horizon, the convention has in the past been something to aspire towards visiting. The con has over the past two years been receiving a certain downgrading, not only in hype. Much more enthusiasm is being spent on a film that's not likely to crack my top 10 at the end of the year, though will likely still be rather exceptional. But there's quite obviously an outside factor in why I'm no longer as interested in the famed con.

I don't watch trailers anymore. I've made a case of avoiding trailers for films I am rather highly anticipating or have heard good things about. Why? Because, for all intents and purposes, I already have enough reason to believe that the films will be good. Marketing is meant to spark audience interest in a film, and it's only for films that I have major doubts on that I make exceptions with. So since I have set a taboo against a pointless form of media corruption, what is the point of going to a convention that specializes in pushing marketing for films that are, for the most part, not even close to release? The closest thing that comes to mind is hot chicks in cosplay, but even that isn't enticing enough.

Fact of the matter is that Comic Con is not a film festival, and therefore will never hold my gaze or attention as much as those will. And the festival season is just on the horizon, so why even put any indulgence into a mindless convention of hollow hype that I often do not agree with? So as not to just complain about something that no longer holds much interest for me, I will comment on the goings on of this particular convention. "Dredd" seems to be that special film that fans get a chance to see in advance this year, following the trend in past years that hit a peak in 2011 when Nicolas Winding Refn brought "Drive" to play.

"Dredd" has come to a rather positive reception, and though that seems odd at first glance, let's not forget the crowd it's playing to, nor the environment it's playing in. There have been precious few presentations of interest, but "Elysium" recently sent fans ablaze in a similar fashion as "Prometheus" did last year. In other words, do not get your hopes too high over something that's far from release. As far as big announcements go, Edgar Wright's next film, "The World's End", has finally been given the greenlight by Universal after years of rumors, plans, and negotiations. All the best wishes too him. Continuing in the vein of such fun films as "Hot Fuzz" and "Shaun of the Dead" isn't such a bad thing to announce.

But perhaps the biggest and most disappointing news of the con happened before it was even underway, when a 53-year-old woman was accidentally killed in a car crash while waiting in line for the "Twilight: Breaking Dawn" panel. This was long before it was scheduled to happen, and to me seems such a depressing sign of hype gone overboard. Even worse were some of the comments on the tragedy, with men making jokes at her expense. To them, I have only one thing to say. A person died. In this world, that is never something to laugh at.