Wondercon - A Pop Culture Celebration

Wondercon 2014: April 18th - 20th

Wondercon is an annual gathering for your popular culture needs! Media, literature, trading cards, education, oddities and tons of cosplay fill the Anaheim Convention Center. Just so you know, Wondercon is officially staying in Anaheim. But it is better this way, if Wondercon went back to San Francisco, we would have to share the space with iWorld. No! Just No! Besides, a trip to Wondercon and then walking up the street to Disneyland is a great deal! 

Originally, I would go to Wondercon to shop and haggle for rare model figures but this time I did a few things differently. I attended panels with directors, authors, writers, actors and illustrators of my favorite television shows and cartoons to add more field notes to this study as well as introduce my friend to her first con. She was shocked when she saw people standing outside the doors on Thursday when we could pick up our tickets. An older woman stopped us and said, "I love everyone's smiles. Even you! Everyone comes out with their bags smiling." I replied,"Its the magic of Wondercon!" A girl in front of us started sobbing when she picked up her bag. I gave her a tissue and she said, "I can't believe it! This is my first time!" Even the Wondercon employees gave her high fives. I told the woman that we did see a few tears. She laughed and said, "Tears for now smiles tomorrow!" Indeed they were =) I saw the girl the next day in costume skipping happily to the showroom. 

My friend had a few revelations and reflections about popular culture in her life and why she felt excluded from popular culture experiences as a child. She concluded that it was cultural and economics related. Some of the problems educator's mentioned in literature I have read and the words of those I have worked with have revolved around a problem of economics.  Many felt popular culture demands consumers spend money to be a part of the culture. It is a misconception that money is needed to participate in popular culture or feel a part of the culture. I explained this to my friend after her conclusion. When our imaginations create worlds and stories are told or written, it becomes popular culture when references of mainstream characters become our own creation. For me, its like legos building heroes. For my friend, instead of feeling regret, she has chosen to start dreaming now. 

An example of this dream, hero, imagination building is with fuse beads in early childhood and elementary schools. While I love doing this project, many of my fellow educators feel it is a one sided project. However, Wondercon revealed many for sale. Many of the school agers I work with create their own icons from Minecraft and other video games. Here are some displayed at Wondercon for sale.  I had to take the picture quickly since there is a sign that say no pictures! Sorry for the blur. Fuse bead art allows children to create their own visions of their favorite characters and games.

Various cartoon characters and superheroes!

Disney and Pokemon are examples of various merchandise available for all economic ranges all over the world. One of the interesting aspects of  Pikachu adventures is when Pikachu is on an adventure with his friends there is a limited amount of  human speech for the majority of the film. Also, children do not need to purchase films to understand Pikachu's language because their friends and classmates can pass on the details of the story while teaching them the meanings of all the Pika-pika-chu-chu's. Popular culture is about the connections we make beyond ourselves to the world outside. The connections we make with other people is how popular culture is transferred verbally, physically, internationally, domestically, virtually and physically. As long as adults and children are still seeing, hearing. speaking and writing to convey the worlds of their imagination, popular culture will continue to grow from our minds and hearts into the pages of books and artwork for all to enjoy!