The Graying of Fandom

[billroper]

I talked with daisy_knotwise about the status of the Worldcon over lunch. For a long time, it was the premier science-fiction event of the year. Since back in 1976 with MidAmeriCon in Kansas City, it's been big, with memberships in the multiple thousands -- at least for U.S. sites.

But you know, it's not the premier SF event any more. Either Dragoncon or the San Diego Comicon have a much better claim to that title, based simply on the number of people who gather there who are interested in science fiction. And it's a crowd that skews younger than the Worldcon crowd too, at a time when we're sitting around at our regional cons and lamenting the graying of fandom and declining attendance.

And there are moments when I'm cynically led to wonder if that's not what some folks want, especially for the Worldcon. I've long heard folks lamenting that the Worldcon was too big, that there were too many people there who didn't belong at Worldcon.

So you do things to make going to Worldcon less attractive. I remember when the Worldcon dealers room was the most wonderful bazaar in the world. But the rooms in Winnipeg and Toronto were weak and sickly things, because the U.S. dealers were effectively locked out. It didn't do much for the art show either.

Of course, with the Canadian Worldcons, there's no NASFiC, but that hardly matters any more, because the NASFiC's been a weak and sickly thing itself since it was once hijacked by Dragoncon. The last NASFiC that I went to was in L.A. in 1999 and -- as I recall -- barely a thousand fans showed up. I don't remember what NASFiC attendance figures used to be like for sure, but I remember having a fine time in Louisville, and Austin, and Phoenix.

I didn't even bother to go to the NASFiC in Collinsville this year. Sad, isn't it, when I can't muster enough enthusiasm to drive a few hundred miles for the NASFiC? (Mind you, Gretchen's surgery would have caused me to abandon any plan I had, but I never had a plan.)

So if Worldcon voting fandom is saying "screw the dealers" and "screw the artists", it can't be any great surprise if they're discovering that they can make more money elsewhere -- maybe not in places I want to go, but I'm not making my living as a dealer, so I don't have to go there.

And the Worldcon gets less attractive and the marginal fans go elsewhere too. And fandom gets a little grayer.

It's a shame too. SF's never been stronger in the mass media than it is now. But to a lot of fans, media's a dirty word. Written SF's the thing that counts.

And, you know, I love written SF. And I love good SF and fantasy films and TV. And I still love my comic books.

You know why I ended up a voracious reader of science fiction? Two words: Julie Schwartz.

I read Green Lantern. I read Adam Strange. I read the bleeding Atomic Knights.

And later, I graduated to the hard stuff.

Where are we going to find that next generation of readers?

Comments

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Bill, you know I love you like a brother. Actually, rather more than my brother.

You don't get it.

You don't get any of it.

First: As scs_11 pointed out in the previous thread, the non-US dealers get kinda screwed by US worldcons. More to the point, I can't think of anyone who votes for dealer convenience... except some of the dealers.

Second: You say it yourself, when you say "SF's never been stronger in the mass media than it is now." You try to justify the Old Guard by following that with, "But to a lot of fans, media's a dirty word. Written SF's the thing that counts."

No, Bill. No, it's not. Not anymore.

There are lots and lots and lots of people who do get into the written SF by way of stuff they see on TV or in the movies or in comics. But the point is, the written word not only is not the only outlet anymore, it's nowhere near the biggest. I'm at Dragon*Con this weekend, and I've seen costumes of every type and stripe (including a Spaceman Spiff with a toy tiger on his shoulder). One of my very favorite? A normally-dressed young woman with a green diamond above her head: an active Sim.

The young people are following the media they're used to, just as you did. Thing is, you are invoking the media as it was fifty years ago. Julie Schwarz!? I could bring Cap'n Billy's Whiz Bang into it if you like, but I think you get it, you just don't get it. There are many, many ways for people to get into fandom these days.

And, Bill...? As they always do, the young look at those who cling to what they know... and they see the old. As huskiebear says, there isn't much call for blacksmiths these days, either. Times change. Technology changes.

SF is the literature of imagination, of dynamism, of youth. Of being young at heart and having dreams. Don't lose that just because the WorldCon isn't what you wish it was anymore.

Wait a moment...

[(Anonymous)]

While I certainly agree that the young are flocking to DragonCon in droves, and that the quality of some of their panels equates/exceeds that of panels I've seen anywhere else, and that the dealers and hucksters are many and varied...there's one little difference between DCon and a "more traditional" SF con. And I've been to DCon in 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000 (give or take) and 2003, and my husband to the first 2 of those and to 2005, so I don't think we're too far out of touch.

I could take my then younger sons to a "more traditional" con, and know that all the PG-13 and up material would be either after they went to bed, or behind closed panel doors.

This is manifestly *not* the case at DCon. Take your young child or pre-teen out during any of the late-afternoon and evening festivities, and you'll get to explain why those black-clad Goths are out hunting Christians, or why that woman is flogging that 3/4 naked man, or why that other woman is wearing body paint. Now, if you're up for that, more power to you. If not - well, DCon's a poor substitute for a convention in that case. That which is old is not automatically good, that which is young is not automatically better.

[scs-11.livejournal.com]

Tom and I seem to be on the same page here. I love written SF, I love 'Serenity' and 'Buffy' and a few remaining comics. If the worldcon and crew are insisting on litrachoor first, should we be surprised that folks with other primary interests vote with their feet and hit Dragoncon?

I'm having a lot of fun with the furries and the Browncoats and the Stilyagi these days. In fact, the Stilyagi are a great example of the right vs the wrong way to deal with changing fandom. They look at SF, see what's fun, what draws people and what's interesting. Then they cater to it. The result is a fun, interesting con that draws more people each year. And many of those attendees are in their 20s. Sounds to me like the right answer. Too bad Worldcon can't see it.

[billroper]

Since you and scs_11 both seem to have misunderstood me, I obviously haven't been clear enough.

I don't have a problem with the fact that for many fans of SF and fantasy, the current gateway drugs aren't likely to involve the written word. I think that's a good thing. I cherish the fact that I can turn on the TV and find that a program like Heroes (for which I coincidentally bought the DVD set today) is a hit.

I have a problem with the fact that the ship is well out of the dock and it seems to me that many of the people involved with the Worldcon are standing on the dock going, "Bunch of young whippersnappers! What's the point to all this media nonsense anyway? When I was a wee lad, I read Astounding Science Fiction and I pubbed my ish and I once got a Harry Warner LOC!"

I would like to be more inclusive, not less inclusive. And I use Julie Schwartz as an example, because I think Julie did get it and because I'm one of a generation of SF fans that Julie helped create. Just like Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and now Tim Kring busily created more generations of fans.

Who don't go to Worldcon.

Because Worldcon doesn't want them.