SMOF News, volume 1, issue 39

Checking on the latest fictional con, and news in brief.

Fictional Con Review: Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)

How conventions are depicted in mass media shapes public perception and sets new fans’ expectations, so it falls well within the scope of this newsletter to check on the latest fictional conventions to see what the world is being told about fandom.

The fictional con in this case is Fan Con Los Angeles, a large media con held at the LA Convention Center. Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers depicts it as an event full of Hollywood has-beens eking out a living selling autographs and souvenirs of their old glory.

In the bad old days, media fans were stereotyped as socially awkward young white men who lived in their parents’ basements. This being the modern era, this movie allows that there are young white female fans as well, and even a very, very occasional nonwhite fan. Fans are shown to be energetic but passive consumers; there’s a sign pointing to an artist alley seen briefly, and a possibly homemade costume or two, but no other trace of active fandom. Official-looking outfits and accessories are much more prominent than any fan works.

Outside of the con, a crucial part of the plot turns on determining whether the main human character, who incidentally is a Black woman, qualifies as a real fan or not. Real fandom is determined to lie in having episode numbers and trivia memorized. It fits right in with the overall theme of the movie, which comes across as a lecture on the Disney corporation’s thoughts about letting anyone else come anywhere near its intellectual property. Rated PG, 98 minutes, streaming on Disney+

In Brief

• With the only bid for the 2024 World Science Fiction Convention being for Glasgow, Scotland, there is expected to be a 2024 North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC being held only in years when Worldcon is outside North America). A bid to hold that NASFiC in Buffalo, New York will be announced at Balticon this weekend. A minimal website is already available with links to social media presences.

• Metropol Con (originally April 28-30, 2023, Berlin, Germany) is faced with a dilemma after next year’s Leipzig Book Fair was rescheduled onto the same weekend. The con says, “We’re sorting through all our options right now,” and will provide updates when a decision is made about what to do.

• Northwest IdolFest (October 21-23, Seattle, Washington, USA) has added Kaho Shibuya as a guest.

• The Glasgow bid for Worldcon has commissioned its own limited-edition gin, GIn2024, “with freshness of citrus balanced well with spice, and using Science Fiction & Fantasy inspired botanicals”. It can only be shipped to addresses in the UK.

Event Calendar

Weekend of May 27-29

• Balticon 56, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• ConQuesT 53, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

• MisCon 36: Carnival of Wonders, Missoula, Montana, USA

• Satellite 7, Glasgow, UK

• Fargo CoreCon: The Great Age of Dragons, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• Åcon 11 (relaxacon), Mariehamn, Finland

• WisCon (feminist sf), Madison, Wisconsin, USA

• Mephit Mini Con 23 (anthropomorphic), Kirchen/Sieg, Germany

• ConFuzzled (anthropomorphic), Birmingham, UK

• AnthrOhio 2022: Tech Noir (anthropomorphic), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• KublaCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA

• GOBFest (gaming), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• ReCon (gaming), Kernersville, North Carolina, USA

• PrairieCon (gaming), Brandon, Manitoba

• Rocky Top Game Con, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

• Nordsken 2022 (gaming), Skellefteå, Sweden

• Gamex 2022 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• Lincon 2022 (gaming), Linköping, Sweden

• Richmond Open 2022 (gaming), Richmond, Virginia, USA

• BGG.Spring (boardgames), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Enfilade! 2022 (miniatures gaming), Olympia, Washington, USA

• FanimeCon (anime), San Jose, California, USA

• Naka-Kon (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA

• Anime Onsen, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

• Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Thy Geekdom Con (anime), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Animazement (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

• Momocon (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Mizucon (anime), Miami, Florida, USA

• Sabaku Con (anime), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• Naka-Kon 2022 (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA

• MomoCon 2022 (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Phoenix Fan Fusion (media), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• MCM London Comic Con, London, UK

• Fantasy Basel (media), Basel, Switzerland

• Star Wars Celebration 2022, Anaheim, California, USA

Weekend of June 3-5

• ConCarolinas 2021, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Oz-Stravaganza 2022 (Wizard of Oz), Chittenango, New York, USA

• Biggest Little Fur Con 2022 (anthropomorphic), Reno, Nevada, USA

• DieCon 20-22 (gaming), Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• UK Games Expo (gaming), Birmingham, UK

• Y-Con 2022 (gaming), Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

• North Texas RPG Con (vintage tabletop RPGs), Irving, Texas, USA

• A-Kon 31 (anime), Irving, Texas, USA

• Black Hills Con (anime), Rapid City, South Dakota, USA

• KimoKawaii (anime), Conroe, Texas, USA

• DoKomi (anime), Düsseldorf, Germany

• Anime Riverside 2022, Riverside, California, USA

• ExpOtaku Torremolinos 2022 (anime), Torremolinos, Spain

• FedCon (media), Bonn, Germany

• Awesome Con (media), Washington, DC, USA

• 3 Rivers Comicon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

• ColossalCon 2021 (media), Sandusky, Ohio, USA

• Alabama Comic Con / KimestuCon 2022, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

• Whinny City Pony Con 2022: Super Hero Showdown: The Return! (My Little Pony), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

Weekend of June 10-12

• Robert E. Howard Days, Cross Plains, Texas, USA

• 44th Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois, USA

• NEWh3re (music), online

• Heroes, Villains, and Blerds (art), Winter Park, Florida, USA

• StratosFur (anthropomorphic), Houston, Texas, USA

• Origins Game Fair 2022, Columbus, Ohio, USA

• NordConline (gaming), online

• Bayou Wars 2022 (miniatures gaming), D’Iberville, Mississippi, USA

• AnimeCon 2022, Rijswijk, Netherlands

• Anime Blues Con, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• Space Coast Comic Con, Viera, Florida, USA

• Anime Town: Utah, Farmington, Utah, USA

• Anime Marathon, Königslutter am Elm, Germany

• Anime Lubbock, Lubbock, Texas, USA

• Oz Comic-Con: Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

• North Country Comic Con, Watertown, New York, USA

• SWFL SpaceCon (media), Fort Meyers, Florida, USA

Weekend of June 17-19

• LibertyCon 34, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• YetiCon, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

• Pyrkon, Poznań, Poland

• 4th Street Fantasy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• CastleCon 11 (anthropomorphic), Horb, Germany

• Arcon 38: Multivertshuset (gaming), Oslo, Norway

• Q-Con Lite (gaming), Belfast, UK

• Congress of Gamers Summer Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA

• South Texas Gamers Expo (video games), McAllen, Texas, USA

• Wie.MAI.KAI (anime), Flörsheim am Main, Germany

• YUMiCON (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Anime Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

• Cosplacon 2022 (anime), Jefferson City, Missouri, USA

• Desucon 2022 (anime), Lahti, Finland

• Fan Expo Dallas (media), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Sci-Fi Valley Con (media), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

• Austria Comic Con, Linz, Austria

• Smallville Comic Con, Smallville, Kansas, USA

• CanterCon (My Little Pony), Tempe, Arizona, USA

Weekend of June 24-26

• SoonerCon 30, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

• PortConMaine, Portland, Maine, USA

• Cosplay America, Cary, North Carolina, USA

• RAGECON 7 (gaming), Sparks, Nevada, USA

• Magic City Con (gaming), Birmingham, Alabama, USA

• Neo Anime Oasis:01, Boise, Idaho, USA

• ExpOtaku Zaragoza (anime), Zaragoza, Spain

• SunnyCon Anime Expo, St. James Park, UK

• Anime Festival Wichita, Wichita, Kansas, USA

• Kyokai Con (anime), Harlingen, Texas, USA

• OMG!con 2022 (anime), Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

• Anime Festival Orlando 2022, Orlando, Florida, USA

• JAFAX 2022: Let the Games Begin (anime), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• Heroes Convention (comics), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Forest City Comicon, London, Ontario, Canada

• Sci-Fi on the Rock (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

• Mississippi Comic Convention, Jackson, Mississippi, USA

• Comic Con Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

• Rail City Fan Fest (media), Saint Albans, Vermont, USA

• TrekFest 37 (Star Trek), Riverside, Iowa, USA

• My Little Pony Fair, Tampa, Florida, USA

• LeakyCon (Harry Potter), Orlando, Florida, USA

Coda

• There can be only one Josh (Lincoln Journal-Star)

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