Luke Fuentes, 5, waits patiently as his yellow bug eyes are switched on. He grabs a pair of spiny praying mantis claws made of paper mache and begins roaring and destroying a four foot tall Japanese city of cardboard and duct tape.
A job well done, he looks back at his dad and giggles.
Luke and about 1,300 fans of Godzilla and other monster films gathered at the Crown Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel & Convention Center this past weekend to celebrate their favorite sci-fi genre. The event was the 16th annual G-Fest.
What sets G-Fest apart from other, larger pop culture niche conventions such as Star Wars or Japanese animation, “anime,” is its specific influence from the fans. Supported completely on a volunteer basis, G-Fest is an accessible event, even for families and children.
“Here it's run by the fans for the fans and not by anyone trying to make any money,” says Dave Fuentes, a father of five who attended with three of his children. “It's really very family oriented and that's what I liked about it. It wasn't just a bunch of fanboys getting together.”
Fuentes appreciates the special attention paid to children in activities such as the art contest. The contest pits home projects by convention guests of all ages against those of pro model makers.
Unlike the Star Wars convention where his family stood in lines for hours and the events were planned by Lucasfilm, Fuentes prefers G-Fest for its personal quality and has made it a tradition for his family.
For three days each year, conventioneers get a chance to see their beloved films on a theater-sized screen, buy and sell rare toys from around the world, show off costume and model-making skills, and generally fill up on all things “daikaiju,” or giant monster in Japanese.
With a childhood interest in monster films that followed him into his adult life, J.D. Lees started a small fanzine about seventeen years ago that has grown into G-Fan, a Web site and quarterly print publication compiled entirely of articles and submissions from fans and enthusiasts. Their yearly meeting in Chicago has evolved into what the convention is today.
“One of the reasons that I think it works is we do have a core that keeps coming back and we're all held together by the magazine,” says Lees. Despite special effects that are unquestionably trumped by the big budget summer blockbusters of today, Lees sites a “youthfully ability to suspend disbelief” for the enduring popularity of daikaiju style movies.
“Godzilla fans, I think, have this thing that they enjoy the step away from reality that exists in those movies...They enjoy the special effects and want to know when th
ey're being done and how.”
G-Fest provides a unique exposure to a rare yet tight-knit sub-genre of science fiction that fans from the Chicago area like John Redlich would have trouble finding otherwise. “Twenty years ago you wouldn't be able to imagine something like this. There were some little niche stores here and there, some I only heard about on public access. So, this feeds the addiction.”
G-Fest meets yearly in Chicago and is set next year for the second weekend in July. Entrance for a day was $22 and a weekend pass was only $40, making it an affordable, light-hearted event for all the monsters in your family.
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Notes:
My very first story for Medill methods :)
