There’s something sad about FanExpo

Picture thousands of nerds, geeks, Peter Parker wallflower types and Star Wars Kids in full Jedi costumes. Imagine hundreds of overweight women spilling out of their Princess Lea bikini costumes parading around the Toronto Convention Centre and you have some idea of what it is like to visit FanExpo Canada.

This is where Hollywood’s B-list actors and senior citizens sign autographs or sit around trying not to look bored. There was something sad about seeing 93-year-old Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine sitting alone with his handler, waiting for someone to request a $30 autograph. I watched as Borgnine was later helped into a wheelchair and wondered why he was at the expo as a sci-fi guest.

As I wandered around the show floor, 66 year-old Peter Mayhew limped past me with a cane. This gentle giant who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars film looked frail instead of menacing.

I get that FanExpo is an opportunity for people to meet comic book artists, writers, actors and directors but I don’t understand the whole costume subculture. I felt like I was in a large room with a lot of very lonely people trying to escape from reality.

FanExpo continues tomorrow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and wraps up on Sunday August 29.

Posted in at 12:38 AM