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FANS AND FREAKS: THE CULTURE OF COMICS AND CONVENTIONS
Produced and Directed by Stephen and Suzie Lackey
Edited by Stephen Lackey
Director of Photography - Suzie LackeyBy now, we've all seen that Saturday Night Skit with William Shatner telling his fans to get a life. Compounded with the documentary TREKKIES, Star Trek fans exist on the lowest rung of the social food chain. Xena fans will get the chance to fornicate before those cats do. Geekdom isn't limited just to Trekkies, or Trekkers as some prefer to be called, but the public views us all the same. The image of the stereotypical fanboy is a frightening one that's never been more accurately personified than on The Simpson's in the form of Comic Book Guy - overweight, smelly, and possessing an intellect limited to the works of Stan Lee and Gene Roddenberry.
Geeks come in all shapes and sizes are aren't just limited to quivering slobs. As I sat at the bar during a HorrorFind convention, a hotel patron asked me if I knew what was going on at the hotel. As the relatively normal looking guy that I am (devastatingly handsome with the occasional athletic build), the man assumed I wasn't part of the fun. After I explained what was taking place he asked if it was like "one of those Star Trek conventions." My response, "same premise, different geek."
Stephen and Suzie Lackey's FANS AND FREAKS is an overview of the world of fandom and the different strains contained within. I'm a proud anime fan and horror fan who attends all the D.C./Baltimore area conventions, but I also have a passing affinity for Star Trek and comic books to which I don't attend shows. Not that there's anything wrong with those fans, it's just that I know I'd feel uncomfortable. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the anthropomorphic scares me even more.
The Lackey's don't try to explore fandom from an expose standpoint. They aren't trying to get to the root of fandom and examine the sociological needs for conventions designed to bring like-minded people together. They're trying to give a glossing overview of the various types of fandom and those who inhabit the world to illustrate to the outside world that freaks and geeks are people too.
As if there was any doubt.
Chances are if you frequent this site you fall into the category of fanboy yourself. There's nothing wrong with that, and don't ever be ashamed to be yourself. As the quote at the close of the movie says, "when we lose the right to be different, we loose the right to be free." Charles Evans Hughes.
FANS AND FREAKS is a documentary that can be appreciated by fandom because it never mocks - unlike TREKKIES or the countless Star Wars documentaries that chastise the oddball crowd for wallowing in the pop-culture. FANS AND FREAKS doesn't look down its cinematic nose because it was produced by people who were using it as an excuse to lovingly explore the world of fandom themselves. While the Lackey's provide the obligatory celebrity interviews by the likes of con staples Karen Black, Dick Warlock, and Jerry Only of the Misfits, the Lackey's provide equal time to the people who introduced them to fandom including Chris Dyer of Outer Limits Comics and anime fan Ambera McGee (who's enthusiastically cute in her girl-type Ranma outfit). After all, it's generally other fans who bring new fans into the fold, so why not pay tribute. In fact, FANS AND FREAKS feels like that old friend beckoning you to try something new. If you've ever so much as had a passing thought about attending a con but were afraid of what to expect, give FANS AND FREAKS a look.
(oh, and in case anyone was wondering about my confession of geekness, tell me if YOU were able to pick out uninterviewed IronCat Comics owner Steve Bennet standing in the background during the movie's final moments - geekdom confirmed!)