Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
NBC probe centers on staffer in shooting story error
05 Apr 2012
Tyler Perry Pulled Over, Accuses White Cops of Racial Profiling via Facebook
05 Apr 2012
"Shaken Baby Syndrome" used in defense of Trayvon Martin's killer
12:24pm EDT
Analysis: Justice Kagan--Giving liberals a rhetorical lift
05 Apr 2012
Navy jet crashes into Virginia buildings, injuring six
|
4:32pm EDT
Discussed
810
Obama confident Supreme Court will uphold healthcare law
295
Tyler Perry Pulled Over, Accuses White Cops of Racial Profiling via Facebook
290
Analysis: Justice Kagan–Giving liberals a rhetorical lift
Watched
Google sees tech in eyeglasses
Thu, Apr 5 2012
Transgender beauty says she wants to compete for Miss Universe
Tue, Apr 3 2012
Coast Guard begins sinking ghost ship
3:32am EDT
Morgan Spurlock gets inside Comic-Con with new film
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
LA's Getty Center puts Herb Ritts in perspective
Wed, Apr 4 2012
Taboo-breaking Saudi films spur debate in staid kingdom
Wed, Apr 4 2012
"Hunger Games" gorges on $214 million global debut
Sun, Mar 25 2012
Megabomb "John Carter" may be Hollywood's biggest loser
Tue, Mar 20 2012
Justice Dept warns Apple, publishers over e-books
Thu, Mar 8 2012
Analysis & Opinion
‘Hunger Games’ feeds fan cravings with 2nd box office win
Filmgoers to eat up more ‘Hunger Games’
Related Topics
Entertainment »
Fashion »
People »
Documentary director Morgan Spurlock arrives at the 84th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 26, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson
By Jordan Riefe
LOS ANGELES |
Fri Apr 6, 2012 5:25pm EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Famous for skewering fast food restaurants in "Super Size Me" and product placement in "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," Morgan Spurlock's latest film documentary takes an empathetic view of Comic-Con, the world's largest pop culture trade convention that hosts some 130,000 fans each summer in San Diego.
"Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope," which opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, looks at the convention from the perspective of five characters: a "fan boy" aiming to propose to his fiancée but without enough time away from her to pick up a ring, an artist looking for validation from comic book professionals who finds himself on a new career path, another artist who is the opposite, and a costume designer showcasing her work with the hope of being recognized by industry pros.
Spurlock recently sat down with Reuters to talk about fan boys, the convention and the future of comic books.
Q: How is it that the comic book world used to be for kids and now it's for kids of all ages?
A: "If you look at how much more popular and bigger the blockbuster films have become, how much bigger and more popular and immersive the video games have become, how much bigger and more involved comic books -- where they were seen as being this kids' things -- have continued to grow and mature, you see the business has kind of grown to realize there's different people they can target along the way. And also, this thing that used to be seen as being so fringe became incredibly popular. That's why it's become a very large kind of mainstream success and why it's so big."
Q: Many people see Comic-Con as having grown from a small event for comic book lovers in 1970 to this huge event that some claim Hollywood is taking over with its blockbuster films and TV shows based on superheroes and sci-fi characters. Is that true?
A: "No. Hollywood's taken over (media) coverage of Comic-Con. That's what Hollywood's taken over because the story they want to tell is, ‘Oh, look, Angelina's here to talk about her new movie.' We all bought into that stupid idea of celebrity being valuable. Like that's the only thing we want to talk about. Nobody wants to talk about the small artist who's over there launching his own comic book label who's been working out of his house 'cause that's not news to them, it's not sexy enough. There's a deeper level and experience of Comic-Con that exists but nobody in the news wants to talk about it."
Q: Your movie certainly focuses on that, particularly the artists and costume designer hoping to get a big break.
A: "I don't think people realize this idea of Comic-Con as a job fare. There are people who go there with the hopes and the dreams of breaking into this business as an artist, as a costume designer. There are thousands of people going there trying to do that exact same thing every year. I think that's amazing."
Q: What impact has the Internet and social media on the show and the industry?
A: "On the Internet you learn even quickly that, ‘Wow, I'm not the only person who likes this in my hometown. It's me and that guy in China and those people in Canada and the guy in Brazil, we all love the same thing.' Now you have the ability to connect on such a deeper level with people who share the same passions and desires, obsessions that you do. I think that's also what's made this grow exponentially. You can create real community around properties on a much bigger, deeper level."
Q: The comic book trader in the movie has such a hard time selling anything until he drops his prices. Is that emblematic of the comic book trade overall?
A: "People say comic books are dying. I say books, period, are dying. I buy more comics now than I ever had. I download them straight to my iPad. The art form is flourishing as it ever has. People aren't buying paper comics cause it's just this thing, this piece of paper. Do I need to collect that paper comic to know that I enjoyed and read the comic?"
Q: How vital do you think comic book culture is to the larger culture?
A: "I think that anything that can create an excitement around storytelling in a visual format, there's something there that you need to treasure and you need to continue to embrace."
(Reporting By Jordan Riefe; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Entertainment
Fashion
People
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.