Con Man

A philosophical journey at Pittsburgh's Steel City Con

Note: I have been hearing from several people who want to be part of the “5 Questions for Interesting People” series. I have a list and will be booting that up soon. Please let me know if you want to participate or know of someone else who does. Now, on to the show.

I’m probably a bit old for this, but there’s a paradox there: I’m so old, I don’t care what you think anymore. It’s a fringe benefit to offset the persistent pain in my right foot, I guess.

What am I too old for, you ask? My local pop culture convention; that thing we used to call “Comic Con.”

The weekend that March swung into April, I was at Steel City Con in Pittsburgh. I shelled out for the three-day pass, such is the depth of my childish enthusiasm for the show. I’ve been a regular attendee at the 3x/year event, but something about this weekend was especially memorable and meaningful to me.

To be clear, my love for Steel City Con was minted last August when John Carpenter came to the show. I shelled out an obscene number of dollars for the VIP pass for that show, but how could I not? John Carpenter is my favorite artist and this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for someone like me to meet him. That show was sublime.

Last December was amazing too, in its own way. My family and I got a group photo with the four actors who played the Hobbits in the Lord of the Rings films. And my youngest got the chance to meet the actor who plays Dustin in Stranger Things. I was happy to pay for these memories for my family, but the event was desperately, dangerously over-sold and the crowds were actually frightening. I was considering finding a new hobby, but then the con announced that they were making fundamental structural changes to the event to make it safer. To boot, they invited several actors from the John Carpenter Cinematic Universe (including Adrienne Barbeau, though she eventually delayed her appearance to next December. Drat). So I decided to give it a go with the three-day pass.

It was a great decision. The con was smoothly run and the crowds managed better than I ever remember. The pace of the weekend was so leisurely that I was able to get my autographs, shop for art and collectibles, and watch several Q&A panels with celebrity guests.

The stress-free nature of the event allowed me to really bask in the experience and the weekend turned out to be not only entertaining, but surprisingly thought-provoking and even, dare I say, philosophical.

Community

It’s hard to know where to start, so just let me begin with the community-building aspect of these conventions. As I’ve written about before, I think the idea of “Nerd Culture” is both passé and meaningless in the modern media landscape. That said, there is something about being around groups of people who are brought together by their fandoms and common interests. I neither know nor really want to know anything about anime or animation in general, but I am legitimately warmed by seeing strangers come together over the excitement of seeing someone else who knows about “their thing.” I get a kick out of seeing other people glow with joy at the colorful costumes that are utterly meaningless to me. The very idea that instant community and camaraderie can exist in our polarized and isolated world gives me a beautiful, very human feeling.

I myself experienced this a couple of times.

My interests, which lean toward rather idiosyncratic varieties of horror, can often make me feel someone unseen and alone amongst the “normies” who populate most of my world. So I lit up when I saw a cosplayer dressed as Jason Voorhees — and VERY SPECIFICALLY, Jason from Friday the 13th Part II, before the hockey mask is introduced to the franchise. I excitedly asked for a picture and the unknown cosplayer graciously agreed.

I also had a taste of this community as I waited in line to meet Tom Atkins, the lead from my favorite John Carpenter film, The Fog, as well as numerous other films (not the least of which being the enigmatic masterpiece Halloween III: Season of the Witch). I was wearing a tee-shirt that I am entirely too proud of: a campy, vacation-themed shirt featuring “Foggy Antonio Bay,” from The Fog (it’s a horror shirt I can wear in public without appearing to be weird to the normies — a kind of Shibboleth for my particular fandom). Sure enough there were two other fans in line with shirts from The Fog, one wearing his copy of my very own! Meeting Atkins and getting him to sign my Fog poster (also signed by John Carpenter) and standing for a picture with him was icing on the cake.

The artists who populate the cons are also a joy to me. I am particularly drawn to art that demonstrates an insider’s appreciation of the movies I love. One of my favorites is Cory from Vile Consumption. He does these amazing mashup pieces that combine classic horror films with classic comic book covers (as well as other themes like his Scary Stories series). The little details he puts into his work shows a deep appreciation for his subject matter. Just in “getting the gag,” I feel like an insider, rather than an outsider like I usually do. This weekend, I spent quite a bit of time chatting with Cory about movies and other things (his insight about why Fright Night Part II has not been released on streaming or Blu-Ray is, let me just say AMAZING). One thing we found common ground on was the ridiculously shallow treatment Zack Snyder’s DC films have gotten from mainstream critics and some fans. Just hearing someone agree with me about this was practically life-changing.

But where I really appreciated Cory’s thoughts most was on the general state of film-reception and criticism in general. Really the whole point of this Substack is to pull back from the hot-take culture that we are mired in (thus the name UnTaking). Horror fans in particular can be brutally territorial about the works that comprise their fandom and no group has more VERY STRONG OPINIONS about what is “awesome” and what “sucks.” I believe that the next fight I will undertake is making the case that the David Gordon Green Halloween trilogy is actually fascinating, not terrible, particularly Halloween Ends.

Suffice it to say that I love horror more than I do many horror fans. I can’t describe how refreshing it was to have a discussion about these movies with someone who prioritizes appreciation over boundary-policing. Go to Vile Consumption and by some amazing art from Cory.

Interesting People, Celebrity Edition

Cory is just one of the many “Interesting People” I encountered at Steel City Con this month. The stars of the show were equally fascinating, though for a variety of reasons. Many, like Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher were just joyously funny and warm with their fans during their panels. Others, like Richard Dean Anderson, whose MacGuyver defined much of my childhood, were quirky and self-effacing (and in Anderson’s case, hilariously intent on correcting the grammar of his fans as they posed questions for him).

Richard Dreyfus seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea of celebrity. He was polite and accommodating during his panel, but a seething tension stirred just under the surface. Dreyfus was clearly too concerned about the state of democracy in America to just blissfully answer questions about Jaws and What About Bob? (though he did finally relent and admit that Bill Murray was, in his words, “an asshole”). At the end of the day, though I thoroughly enjoyed Dreyfus’s panel and found him fascinating, ultimately he made me a little sad at how he has let his anger and disappointment about the world undermine his ability to just bask in the appreciation of his fans for his work.

Kelsey Grammer, apparently making his first con appearance, was extremely engaging and funny with fans at the panel he shared with George Wendt. He did carry a bit of an aura with him that made me think that rumors of an inflated ego may be true — his panel was usurped by his own moderator who very awkwardly took the mic from the designated Steel City Con moderator, who did a fine job all weekend to my mind. The panel was engaging, but seems overly manicured and one felt that Norm was left sitting at the corner of the bar all alone again.

Jesse Ventura was kind of a force of nature and one can see why he has such a dedicated fan base. I remember “The Body” as a flamboyant wrestling heavy and ringside commentator, but his career has blossomed into wild and unpredictable directions. Someone should make a biopic about him as he is almost without precedent in American popular culture. His answers to audience questions flew off into outrageous, often uncomfortable directions. Often he would say something that I found myself inspired by: “THERE SHOULD BE NO BILLIONAIRES IN AMERICA — YOU DIDN’T EARN THAT MONEY!! Then, with a speed that led to existential whiplash, he would follow with statements that made me want to crawl under the carpet: “CAN YOU BELIEVE THEIR GOING TO SELL THE WWE TO THE ARABS?? THE AYATOLLAH WON’T EVEN LET WOMEN IN PUBLIC WITHOUT MASKS!! If there has ever been someone immunized against cultural cancellation, Jesse Ventura is that man. No speech has left me so simultaneously exhilarated and horrified.

I loved all the celebrity panels, but Dolph Lundgren stood apart as uniquely fascinating. The man best known as an action movie bad guy turns out to be my nominee for “The World’s Most Interesting Man.” From his academic background in petroleum engineering, to the behind-the-scenes stories about his acting career, to his heartfelt discussion about his experience with an abusive father and his subsequent work in mental health advocacy, no single person was as fascinating as Dolph Lundgren. If you get the chance, you should look into his story.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how I had the chance to meet Nick Castle as well. The man who played the OG Michael Myers and who directed the classic 80’s sci-fi film The Last Starfighter is truly the nicest person you would ever want to meet. As he was signing my Michael Myers Funko Pop, I asked him about what is was like directing the Music Man himself, Robert Preston in Starfighter. He laughed and told me all about how it came to be and how wonderful Preston was to work with. The whole conversation gave me a thrill as it put me in touch with a huge chunk of the movie history that means so much to me.

Conclusion: Richard Masur is The Man

There is just too much to unpack here about the weekend, but I need to tell you about Richard Masur.

If you are my age, you’ve doubtlessly seen Masur in about 1 million roles. He essentially defines the template for the character actor we often call “That Guy.” One of the roles he is best known for is Clark, the dog keeper in John Carpenter’s seminal The Thing. I had the chance to meet him and talk for a few minutes (I also happen to own a Thing tee-shirt that is inspired by his role, bearing the logo for “Outpost 31 Huskies.” He was delighted by this and insisted on signing it after our photo, which … what am I gonna say? No?).

The day before, in his panel with Tom Adkins and Nick Castle, Masur said a lot about the state of film reception and criticism that struck me. In our conversation, I told him how much I appreciated those thoughts (without mentioning this here Substack). We had a wonderful discussion about critics and how so many reviews simply boil down to a critic wishing it had been done another way, in Masur’s view. This has always been my essential complaint about modern criticism, both from the fan perspective (who wished Michael Myers had been more of a zombie, killing machine in Halloween Ends) as well as from the professional critic who seeks ways in which new films are possibly “problematic” over all other concerns. The critiques of both groups boil down to, “I would have done it differently.” Richard Masur gave me some new frameworks to think about this phenomenon, but he was also so kind and soft-spoken about it.

I know that my irritation at the state of critics can sometimes cause me to take a tone that basically duplicates the ranting kind of critique I rail against. Masur offered me another model: a gentle calm way of speaking bluntly and honestly, but without the debilitating anger of, say, a Richard Dreyfus. It is a model I will try and emulate as I go forward.

I realize this was a long one. If you’re still with me, thanks for reading. I had a lot to unpack from this amazing weekend at the convention. I really want to make Steel City Con part of the seasonal rhythm of my life. Perhaps we can meet up there sometime?