San Diego Comic-Con 2021 Thanksgiving event suffers backlash
By Ariba Bhuvad
San Diego Comic-Con went digital last year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, organizers announced they would once again be going virtual for 2021, and expressed their hope for a return to normalcy in 2022.
However, this time around they are holding a smaller event in the fall: the “Comic-Con Special Edition” is scheduled to take place over Thanksgiving weekend in November, and not everyone is pleased about it.
San Diego Comic-Con faces backlash
Per The Hollywood Reporter, there has been considerable backlash from talent and producers over the Thanksgiving event. “We love San Diego Comic-Con and would love to support, but what actor or producer is going to give up their first post-vaccine Thanksgiving holiday with family to travel to San Diego to publicize a project?” said a rep from a studio that has had Hall H events in the past. They’ve got a point. It seems pretty unfair for studios to ask their employees to keep Thanksgiving weekend open on the off-chance they decide to send them to this event.
Another rep put it like this: “During the pandemic, we’ve had Wonder Woman and The Mandalorian, but what we haven’t had is a hug from our parents and grandparents. Talent are not going to want to give up time with their families at Thanksgiving this year of all years. I have no idea what the organizers are thinking.”
Apart from the Thanksgiving weekend angle, there is still a question of safety. Yes, folks are getting vaccinated, but cases are on the rise again with new variants popping up. We have no idea what the world will look like around Thanksgiving, so to plan an event like this seems reckless. I love San Diego Comic-Con as much as the next person, but I’d rather suck it up and wait until 2022 to have the full-blown experience which will likely be way safer.
San Diego Comic-Con responds to the backlash
In response to these concerns, SDCC organizers released a lengthy statement explaining why they chose the weekend they did, and why they’re having this event at all. “Of the dates presented with the fewest restrictions, Friday through Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend seemed to be the best balance of available space and our envisioned event,” it reads.
"Our decision to hold an in-person event in 2021 was driven by a number of factors. Our primary hope was to be able to gather in-person as a community, something we have not been able to do since early last year."
The statement also clarifies that there’s a chance the event won’t happen at all, since there is still a global pandemic to deal with, as if we didn’t already know. The statement doesn’t say anything about the economics of the con. Its absence has been difficult for San Diego businesses that see a lot of revenue from the event.
I guess we’ll see how this plays out in the coming months.
But wait, New York Comic-Con wants to play too!
But San Diego Comic-Con isn’t the only game in town. According to The Hollywood Reporter, New York Comic Con is planning an in-person event.
If SDCC is going to do something, then why should NYCC be left out, right? Apparently, Reed POP, the company that organizes the event, is looking into having its own in-person event on October 7-10. There will also be a virtual element.
Details have yet to be announced about the capacity, panels, etc., but something tells me this isn’t going to go over well.
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