Once again, the hosts of InnerSPACE (Space TV’s Sci Fi genre news program) will be moderating panels, interviewing guests, and rubbing elbows with expo-goers at this year’s Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, April 27th-29th. This year, Teddy Wilson and Ajay Fry will be introducing their newest co-host Cynthia Loyst to the geeky awesomeness of Calgary’s Expo. I spoke with Teddy and Cynthia to get their thoughts on the expo, genre, LGBT characters in sci-fi, and upcoming events.
Given the increasing size and the growing response the expo is generating year after year, I was curious about their thoughts on how we’re seeing cosplay and genre migrate into the mainstream. Teddy gave a recent example of the success of genre with the opening weekend box office gross of The Hunger Games. "A really great young adult dystopian sci-fi film that is now the #1 opening of any non-sequel film in cinema history. You can look at that as real evidence that this type of genre content has really gone beyond the tipping point in terms of pop culture and mainstream." It’s the third biggest opening of all time, beaten by two other films, both again genre: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight. Cynthia added that we should stop thinking of it in terms of genre anymore because the overall concept of science fiction or fantasy has expanded out so far. "It’s permeating so many different realms now." Part of this comes down to the premium put on smart content, and "as fans of sci-fi and genre, we believed for a long time that it’s the smartest type of content out there," Teddy said.
The other area which the hosts have seen grow at expos is the amount of people dressing up ("cosplay"). The growth in cosplay has increased with the growth in conventions like the Calgary Expo. "Often when you talk to convention goers if they’re not dressed up, if they’re not cosplaying that first time, the overarching sense of it is I think I’m going to dress up next time," said Teddy.
Furthermore, the growth in cosplay may be due to fact a lot of the design and costume elements from sci-fi and fantasy genres are seeping into the mainstream, according to Cynthia. "I was in New York this past weekend and I was in this department store, very high end, called Lord and Taylor. There was this very expensive display of cufflinks. They were all Star Wars inspired. A couple months ago during New York Fashion Week, Helmut Lang...did a whole Game of Thrones inspired Fall collection." In addition, many cosplayers at conventions make their own costumes, and this is spilling into the mainstream "Do-It-Yourself" crowd on sites like etsy.com. People who don’t consider themselves geeks or into the genre may make stuff "inspired by" the outfits from a particular show or comic book. Or as Teddy puts it: "...it’s rapidly becoming Halloween every day of the year; we couldn’t be more thrilled about that."
Of course, the REAL thrill for the InnerSPACE folks this year is the Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) reunion. They are both thrilled and nervous, as Cynthia told me. "Teddy and Ajay have had more experience moderating panels with the Star Trek crew and often – I’m not sure if this comes from William Shatner himself, but he’s been known to take over...and moderate for himself. A lot of the Star Trek guys tend to do that." It will be interesting to see how well that will fall out with this many cast members.
Teddy is incredibly pumped, as he grew up watching this show. Just being on the same stage as the cast is like a holodeck fantasy come true. "It’s going to be amazing. Just to have the nine original cast members on the same stage. It’s the first time it’s happened in over 20 years, so I think it’s really a testament to the strength and the prestige of the Calgary Expo that this is happening there in your own back yard."
Admittedly, there are a few people going to the expo not just because of Star Trek. Another guest the hosts are anticipating is Lance Henriksen. Cynthia is a huge fan of Alien, and a huge horror junkie; she remembers Lance for his work on Pumpkinhead. As well, she’s looking forward to meeting Robert Englund: "...if someone had told my 13 year old self that I would eventually meet Freddy Krueger, I would have said WHAAT!?"
Teddy is anticipating running into Katee Sackoff and Aaron Douglas from Battlestar Galactica once more. "They do quite a few conventions but they’re always amazing guests. I think Battlestar Galactica changed the face of modern sci-fi. I don’t think you can overstate it enough how much of an impact that show and actors like Katee and Aaron have had on the current world of sci-fi." As well, the hosts are looking forward to meeting the idea man behind Marvel Comics – the amazing Stan Lee.
Considering such heavyweights from the industry with so many years of experience will be at the expo, I asked Cynthia and Teddy for their thoughts on how gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender characters are now depicted in sci-fi/horror/fantasy genres from when Star Trek: The Next Generation was on-air. On ST:TNG, two episodes which addressed GLBT sexuality include "The Outcast" and "The Host".
Cynthia knows people still have reservations about those episodes; given the time period they were produced she thought the episodes were fantastic. She feels "The Outcast" was an attack on the gay conversion therapy and as for "The Host" - in her opinion, the way it addressed the idea of differing sexuality was subtle and sophisticated. People who might have otherwise turned the channel if they didn’t want to think about homosexuality may have paid attention instead because it was portrayed in this different context. She adds that "I think we’re seeing constant examples in science fiction that really push the envelope forward. I think science fiction has always been doing that in many ways."
In terms of recent television series, we’re seeing characters like Jack Harkness from Torchwood whose sexuality could be best described as "omnisexual". In the television adaptation of Game of Thrones, Renly Baratheon is openly gay (while his sexuality was only obliquely hinted at in the books). In addition, Cynthia likes Lafayette Reynold from True Blood: "his character is such a great combination of being fierce and smart and strong and vulnerable...to me he transcends the stereotypical depictions that sometimes can happen in mainstream television." In a way science fiction has always extended the idea of gender, she added. We watch people interact with alien species or robots when they’re having intimate encounters and we may find out our ideas of heteronormativity being challenged.
Teddy agrees, adding while there still may be a bit of timidity around the subject of differing sexuality, it’s no more than other genres may display. That being said, sci-fi does tend to be on the cutting edge at times – for instance, the first interracial kiss on television occurred on the original Star Trek. Teddy acknowledges people were disappointed there wasn’t an actual gay or lesbian character on ST:TNG. Since then, there have been LGBT characters like Willow on Buffy, Sam Adama on Caprica, and Susan on Babylon 5 to name a few. I suspect if ST:TNG were being produced today, there would probably be a LGBT character included in the cast.
Post-expo, this summer promises to be a busy one for the hosts of InnerSPACE , Teddy told me. "This is going to be an absolute dynamite summer for genre movies..." what with films like The Avengers, Men in Black 3, Prometheus, The Amazing Spider-man, Total Recall, The Dark Knight Rises, along with odder fair like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
"In terms of Space highlights, there are tonnes. Cynthia and I as well as our co-host Ajay are HUGE fans of Being Human; so the North American version – the season 2 finale is on April 9...we’re really exciting for that. Being Human (UK) is wrapping up its fourth season in April," Teddy said. Additionally, Cynthia added they’re looking forward to the new season of Alphas and of course the seventh season of Doctor Who this Fall. Another favourite show of Teddy’s is the reality show Face Off. "It’s a competition based show, and it’s all special effects makeup and prosthetic makeup artists...it’s just a really great show. Cynthia’s a huge fan of horror and the prosthetics." Whether you’re into genre films, or makeup, or reality TV, you get sucked in because it’s really fascinating to watch on so many levels.
Finally, Teddy wanted everyone to know that they are "...really thrilled to be going back out to the Calgary Expo and to bring Cynthia out there for the first time...this is just a convention that is exceptional not only for its size (over 30,000 people last year) but also for the fact it’s a volunteer run non-profit organization. We just felt so warmly welcomed by Calgary last year, and we’re absolutely thrilled to get our frontier spirit on and be back out there in April."
Related Articles
Contributor Evan Kayne |
Locale Calgary |
Person Cynthia Loyst | Teddy Wilson |
Topic Calgary Expo | Celebrity Interview | Comic Expo | InnerSPACE |
