Mundane is Not a Noun
Science Fiction Lit Conventions are gatherings for people unique and bizarre, and members should have nothing but good things to say about them. Why don't they? A respected Con attendee speaks out.
*reprinted from TANSTAAFL, the magazine of the Stilyagi Air and Pressure Corps and the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association
I've attended the three major Metro-Detroit area annual
conventions since my college days, amassing a gigantic number of
friends and even fans of my own from places all over the country
who had the simple love of SF literature in common. Just about
everyone I know has attended at least one, and I have
wholeheartedly encouraged coworkers, family members, and total
strangers to share in this phenomenon, having had a generally
wonderful time in these ten years.
After only three conventions, I had already decided where my
place was. Starstruck by the creative work of people who came
dressed to the nines to the Masquerade Dance each Saturday night,
I found a ready home among fannish costumers and since then I've
made myself out as something of a celebrity. I believe I reached
a plateau of sorts when, while hosting one of these gala events,
I said hello to the audience and everyone in the room - around
two hundred, I think, responded with an exuberant, "Hi,
Freon!"
Everybody knows me. I'm that crazy costumer. "What'll he
have this year; he'll probably outdo himself again, as usual.
Remember when he came dressed up as…"
So you know me. But there's a problem.
As they have for many others, Cons have been a channel for
self-expression for me. I don't know whether it's rooted in a
deep psychological fault that makes me actively want to be
someone or something else, whether I like having extra limbs to
swing around, or whether I'm plain nuts. But I have a good time.
So what's the problem?
SF/Fantasy Cons in Michigan are in danger.
Cons are in trouble today because an air of exclusivity has
evolved in our membership. I don't mean that we are all
discriminating, or prejudging people and scaring them away, or
anything…
Yes, I do.
Membership is dropping steadily in Michigan Fandom cons.
Everyone I see at these events comes out of duty or habit, but
not because they heard that it was fun. There's no new
blood. Why?
Aside from the draw generated by guests of honor pulled from
an overwhelming wealth of SF/Fantasy talent, what is it that
these Cons depend on to survive? Most people I know, who frequent
these events, don't even know. Did you know that they are all run
by volunteer organizations? Did you know that membership dollars
go into accommodating the GOH's, reserve the hotel, swing deals
with concessions, and finance programming and publicity for the
event, instead of disappearing into some fat guy's wallet? Did
you also know that if you have a bad time with the hotel staff
and promise never to come to this con again, that you are not
hurting the hotel at all, you are just hurting the con?
More than a few people have a bad time at these events because
they walk in the door with a problem. They express
themselves, all right.
The room isn't ready. I've stood in line at registration too
long. I've been sick all month. I had to move all their stuff
into their room all by myself in the rain. There's no smoking in
the lobby. The smoking Con suite is too small. There are no
videos. So-and-so isn't here yet, and I've been waiting
for them. They won't let me wear my broadsword and blunderbuss.
That lady over there is staring at me. I'm not having fun here
and I won't come back next year. So the Convention becomes
a victim. Why are members so miserable?
Who isn't?
A reality check is required, folks. This sort of thing happens
all the time, to people all over the world. We are still
human beings, and we bend and sway with the rest of humanity, and
suffer as they suffer. There is no preferential treatment for Fen.
We get a good rate for a hotel room for three days, period.
We are never guaranteed that we won't get poured on while
unpacking, inhale smoke, or end up sobbing on someone's shoulder
in the stairwell each Friday night. These problems come into the
place with us. We suffer because no matter how much we deny it,
we are normal people with normal problems.
So why are we pushing other normal people away?
I've heard people sneering about 'mundanes'. I've heard bad
things about hotels that book Cons with other groups, say, a
wedding reception, or a business meeting. Who can forget the
legendary Bar Mitzvah con, or the Jehovah's Witnesses con? The
culture clash at those times was phenomenal, and the negative
impact was huge. "Not for us, of course; we're Fen!
It's not our problem if people can't cope with the way we act and
dress at our Con, because we are the fannish community, and we
don't behave like 'mundanes', and who let them in here to spoil
our fun, anyway? Let's give them a bad time! Let's scare them
off."
Fans have turned self-expression into oppression.
Well, mundanity has its ways of biting back. Nowadays, I
wonder if any sane, normal SF fan would come near a Con with a
twenty-foot pole, after being driven out by these people.
Confused? Okay, try this on for size: the first Con I went to
I had to be dragged kicking and screaming because of what I'd
heard. I found my niche, liked it, and continue to attend. I'm
happy. I'm not miserable. I have a secret. I've never held a
derisive thought against mundanity in all those years because,
and this is the important point, I was… mundane!
You might be shocked. "But the 'mundanes' have come to be
the root of all fannish problems," you say. "Mundane
hotel staff can't book a Con correctly. Mundanes stare and/or run
in fright when they walk into a group of fen. Mundanes get drunk
at the hotel bar and make passes at scantily dressed masqueraders.
Mundanes call the front desk because the dance is getting too
loud. Mundanes complain about the smoke."
But there's something important to be said, here. If you
replace the word MUNDANE with the word HUMAN BEING in all of the
above, you get what people around here call REALITY.
The distinction between them does not exist. I've told that to
everyone I know. Having a hotel reserved does not keep reality
out. And if fen are allowed to continue thinking this way or,
worse, act with this sort of exclusivity in mind, then
new people will enter fandom.
Being a fan is not exclusive. If something exists at a Con
that drives normal fans out, then the Con will eventually cease
to exist. At our cons, that something seems to be discrimination.
Fans are discriminating against normal people!
I am not knocking individuality. I'm not saying that fans
should not be themselves. What I am saying is that they should
not blame their problems on a race of people who don't exist.
Instead of smiling smugly and saying, 'this is too much for the
mundane in the suit sitting next to me', they should look at
themselves, and ask, 'is this too much for mundanity', and maybe,
for the sake of the Con, tone it down. That person next to
you may, or may not, buy a badge next year, for
himself, for his spouse, or maybe even his children. It is all up
to you to convince him, one way or the other. And chances
are that he won't if you're dissing him because he's a 'mundane'.
Given all of this, the equation comes clear: FANS don't go,
because Cons won't solve their own problems for them. HUMAN
BEINGS won't go because there are FANS there. What's left?
Something must change.
For my part, I can do many things. I can keep encouraging new
membership. I can keep pulling people into the fold, and making
their stay memorable. I work to replenish the enthusiasm that has
flagged among us, and I can keep my own enthusiasm high. It won't
be hard for me, I'm a big fan of these events and the
individuality that they stand for.
For your part, a lesson, or some advice: don't look down on
anyone for their mundanity. It's inherent. We are all HUMAN
BEINGS. When you walk into a hotel someday, wanting to get a
night's sleep, and the Shriners are going at it downstairs, you
may appreciate a bit of my meaning.
And for the oppressors: if you think someone is too straight
for fandom, you are wrong, and you should get out. Take
your party somewhere else. You are being biased as well as being
in denial. At my con, I prefer open minds.
Books by Me
