Post by Cale on Jun 13, 2012 2:35:49 GMT -5
As long as there have been people, there have been fans and they don't even have to be great at what they do, just so long as they're known of. This praising or adoration of others has lead to the urge to meet them and maybe touch upon a small part of them in ourselves.
I recall when our family was only 4 strong, we went to meet Robert Englund (Freddie Kruger) at a horror convention. He was set up at the end of a long table on stage, in front of rows and rows of chairs where his fans would move along and sit until their chance came up to meet Robert. His 'handlers' were made up of his own family and friends and they couldn't be happier to talk to you. An autograph was $30 and we could choose from a great number of pictures/poses. When the picture handler heard our 2 boys quarreling over which picture to choose, she told me to take another picture so they could each have one, on the house. Robert took a good 5 minutes with us, talking to the boys, loudly reenacting some of his famous lines, personalizing their pictures, and finally posing with them for our own camera. The look on my kid's faces said it all, our Robert Englund experience left us overjoyed and truly satisfied.
Rob Zombie expressed in some movie commentary that he believes in being decent to his fans because although he might not remember meeting and spending time with them, they would remember their experience with him for the rest of their lives. Celebrities like Rob and the people who share this belief are truly rare and I found that out when my family and I vended/attended Wizard World Philadelphia.
Of all the people my children were blessed to meet, I wanted them to meet Stan Lee. He's an important figure in our household and he inspires us creatively. An acquaintance of mine said she would love to have an autograph for a friend of hers. This was meant to be, so I made my plans. After arriving at Wizard World and getting settled, I scoped out how to achieve my 2 goals.
Photo Op booths were everywhere and had huge signs indicating how much each celebrity charges for a professional photo with them. I don't even remember the cost of one with Stan, but I know it wasn't affordable. I figured once we got in front of him, I'd hand my camera to the person behind me to snap a picture of us smiling with Stan. I've done it with other celebs, how different could this be?
"Stan doesn't have ANYTHING on his table for you to get signed, you have to BRING items to him! You have to purchase autograph tickets from the booth behind us BEFORE getting in line to see Stan! There is NO flash photography allowed while Stan is signing your items! There is NO flash photography allowed from outside the lines! Do not ask to shake hands, fist bump, high five, elbow bump Stan because if you do, you will be told to go to the back of the line!", the handlers were yelling from Stan's line. They also mentioned more about what types of items could and couldn't be signed and so on and so forth, but I was mostly worried about the photography bit.
I coordinated the timing so that my youngest who was 17 months at the time would only be in line maybe 10 minutes max and would not be grumpy. It didn't matter anyhow, since we were pushed through the line too quickly to react to what was happening. Our turn came up, I handed a handler my autograph ticket and I handed another handler the comic to be signed, which had a personal quote. I was told, "Stan's only signing his name." Then we were in front of Stan, he was smiling his warm friendly smile. He signed the comic, my oldest said "Hi" to which Stan replied "Hi" and I was carrying my toddler. I thanked him and moved out of the line. When I came to my senses, I snapped some quick blurry photos with my phone and was yelled at by the biggest, loudest, handler. He scared my little one, so I opted to calm her down rather than start a scene.
Sure Stan is getting older, but that's no excuse to allow terrible people to be in charge of an industry catering to fans. My boys (now 11 and 10) were surprised when they went up to 'The Walking Dead' star Norman Reedus. We're huge fans, of both the show and Reedus, who has a strong following from 'Boondock Saints', which my kids are not grown enough to see yet. On a side note, that's not the reason why I haven't seen it. My oldest, Derek, asked in depth questions about the show and they listened intently as Reedus gave great answers and told extra tidbits not included in anyone's official interviews. By the end of it, Reedus's handler, who we've seen at other shows but not as a handler, tells Derek and Caleb that they have to purchase an autograph to take a picture with Norman Reedus. Reedus looks over to his handler and says, "They know more about the show than you do. They're getting a picture!" Derek had that same beautiful look on his face like when he met Robert Englund, while he recounted this story to his father and I.
As affronted as I was at the attitudes of Stan's handlers, I think I was mostly disappointed in myself because I wanted to say, "Stan, thank you for all that you've created and will continue to create because it's important to myself and my kids that your characters inspire hope, integrity, and dignity. Thank you so much for that." Sadly, my opportunity came and went, and the people who benefited from my sorry excuse of an experience are Stan's handlers, agents, Wizard World and all the people running the gambit (no pun intended) on Stan. Some may argue that this has become a business and push aside all I've had to say, but I wasn't the only one in that line and lines like these are growing by the second. Where do we as true believers fit in?
I recall when our family was only 4 strong, we went to meet Robert Englund (Freddie Kruger) at a horror convention. He was set up at the end of a long table on stage, in front of rows and rows of chairs where his fans would move along and sit until their chance came up to meet Robert. His 'handlers' were made up of his own family and friends and they couldn't be happier to talk to you. An autograph was $30 and we could choose from a great number of pictures/poses. When the picture handler heard our 2 boys quarreling over which picture to choose, she told me to take another picture so they could each have one, on the house. Robert took a good 5 minutes with us, talking to the boys, loudly reenacting some of his famous lines, personalizing their pictures, and finally posing with them for our own camera. The look on my kid's faces said it all, our Robert Englund experience left us overjoyed and truly satisfied.
Rob Zombie expressed in some movie commentary that he believes in being decent to his fans because although he might not remember meeting and spending time with them, they would remember their experience with him for the rest of their lives. Celebrities like Rob and the people who share this belief are truly rare and I found that out when my family and I vended/attended Wizard World Philadelphia.
Of all the people my children were blessed to meet, I wanted them to meet Stan Lee. He's an important figure in our household and he inspires us creatively. An acquaintance of mine said she would love to have an autograph for a friend of hers. This was meant to be, so I made my plans. After arriving at Wizard World and getting settled, I scoped out how to achieve my 2 goals.
Photo Op booths were everywhere and had huge signs indicating how much each celebrity charges for a professional photo with them. I don't even remember the cost of one with Stan, but I know it wasn't affordable. I figured once we got in front of him, I'd hand my camera to the person behind me to snap a picture of us smiling with Stan. I've done it with other celebs, how different could this be?
"Stan doesn't have ANYTHING on his table for you to get signed, you have to BRING items to him! You have to purchase autograph tickets from the booth behind us BEFORE getting in line to see Stan! There is NO flash photography allowed while Stan is signing your items! There is NO flash photography allowed from outside the lines! Do not ask to shake hands, fist bump, high five, elbow bump Stan because if you do, you will be told to go to the back of the line!", the handlers were yelling from Stan's line. They also mentioned more about what types of items could and couldn't be signed and so on and so forth, but I was mostly worried about the photography bit.
I coordinated the timing so that my youngest who was 17 months at the time would only be in line maybe 10 minutes max and would not be grumpy. It didn't matter anyhow, since we were pushed through the line too quickly to react to what was happening. Our turn came up, I handed a handler my autograph ticket and I handed another handler the comic to be signed, which had a personal quote. I was told, "Stan's only signing his name." Then we were in front of Stan, he was smiling his warm friendly smile. He signed the comic, my oldest said "Hi" to which Stan replied "Hi" and I was carrying my toddler. I thanked him and moved out of the line. When I came to my senses, I snapped some quick blurry photos with my phone and was yelled at by the biggest, loudest, handler. He scared my little one, so I opted to calm her down rather than start a scene.
Sure Stan is getting older, but that's no excuse to allow terrible people to be in charge of an industry catering to fans. My boys (now 11 and 10) were surprised when they went up to 'The Walking Dead' star Norman Reedus. We're huge fans, of both the show and Reedus, who has a strong following from 'Boondock Saints', which my kids are not grown enough to see yet. On a side note, that's not the reason why I haven't seen it. My oldest, Derek, asked in depth questions about the show and they listened intently as Reedus gave great answers and told extra tidbits not included in anyone's official interviews. By the end of it, Reedus's handler, who we've seen at other shows but not as a handler, tells Derek and Caleb that they have to purchase an autograph to take a picture with Norman Reedus. Reedus looks over to his handler and says, "They know more about the show than you do. They're getting a picture!" Derek had that same beautiful look on his face like when he met Robert Englund, while he recounted this story to his father and I.
As affronted as I was at the attitudes of Stan's handlers, I think I was mostly disappointed in myself because I wanted to say, "Stan, thank you for all that you've created and will continue to create because it's important to myself and my kids that your characters inspire hope, integrity, and dignity. Thank you so much for that." Sadly, my opportunity came and went, and the people who benefited from my sorry excuse of an experience are Stan's handlers, agents, Wizard World and all the people running the gambit (no pun intended) on Stan. Some may argue that this has become a business and push aside all I've had to say, but I wasn't the only one in that line and lines like these are growing by the second. Where do we as true believers fit in?