"Celebrity" Conventions: A Gathering Of Those Who Openly Hate the Poor

Conventions are Of the Rich, By the Rich, & For the Rich

Edit: Absolutely nothing has been funnier to me than the fan girls deliberately missing the entire point of this post, and thinking I'm bashing their cherished parasocial relationships with celebrities. This entire post is about the disgusting price gouging Creation participates in, deliberately excluding the poor from their events. Please go cry somewhere else with your manufactured outrage.

The Era of the Convention. This is where we have been for the last 15 years or so.

Corporations pay celebrities to show up at Convention Centers where they sign autographs & take photos with fans. Fans of certain television series, movie franchises, video games, comic books, etc, all line up eagerly and spend money they don’t have, many going into massive credit card debt just for the opportunity for a celebrity to pretend they give a rat’s ass about them for 10 seconds. And it’s over.

I have known public figures & “celebrities” for a long time. They’re not who you think they are. They’re just people. They’re not Gods. They have flaws, character defects, and a lot of mental illness.

Have you noticed the one defining theme of Conventions?

Money. You have it, or you don’t get the “opportunity” to see these elusive “stars” up close & personal.

Each celebrity is paid to be there the entire weekend. Paid to interact with fans & paid to take photos. Their hotels are covered, their food is covered, their travel is covered, and they get hefty percentage takes on top of everything else just to stand with you for a few seconds.

What are they doing when they’re not contractually obligated to be at a certain table signing autographs, a certain spot to take pictures, or a stage to chat about their “experiences”? Avoiding you. That’s what.

They could, in fact, wander around and talk to their fans in between their times they are obligated to appear. They don’t. They run backstage & hide amongst themselves until the time comes again when they are forced by contract & money to talk to you.

If you think this is done because they love their fans, you’re the same person as those who believe the stripper is in love with them.

No, they’d never lower themselves to interact with fans without being paid immense amounts of money for it. They prove this at every single Convention.

How? By avoiding the public every time they aren’t forced to be around them, hiding themselves “backstage” to avoid any contact.

By the Corporations refusing to allow you to take pictures yourself unless under certain conditions.

For example, I paid $90 to go to a Supernatural Convention for a day.

What did this get me? The opportunity to see “celebrities” from afar.

I was banned from taking pictures of them while they were out signing autographs. I was banned from taking video of them on stage. I was banned from taking photos except for special circumstances, in special locations, from an extremely far away angle.

That $90 got me absolutely nothing of value.

Here’s me defying the Staff & doing it anyway. Hey, I paid to be here. I should be allowed to talk to & photograph ANYONE in this venue. After all, no one is complaining and threatening to take my phone when I’m taking a photo of a vendor in the SAME room. No one is threatening to take my phone if I take a picture of another fan in cosplay.

They only threaten when it comes to their cash cows. The “superior” humans who grant them the ability to make money.

You want that photo? It’ll be $40-$200. You want to talk to them, even for a second? That’ll be $50-$300. It all depends on how “big” the “celebrity” is.

I’ve been friends with people who have done Conventions & other public appearances. You know what they do when they actually care about you? You’re their friend. They take you backstage. You go out to dinner. And they complain about their “obsessed fans” to you, as though they’re an exhausting, draining, annoying part of their day. That is exactly what happens. I’ve lived it. And your dumbass is paying $2000+ in many cases just to get the “opportunity” for them to be nice to your face, then complain about you behind your back.

If they cared, they wouldn’t be in a situation where they were charging you $200+ every time to see them for 10 seconds. You wouldn’t have to shout at them from across the room.

They wouldn’t be walking around with bodyguards to “protect” them from YOU.

You’re the willful idiot who thinks they care about you when all the evidence in front of your face is proving that they only care about they money they get & avoiding you at all costs otherwise.

Here’s a photo I paid for, $40, with DJ Qualls

Everyone who wasn’t paying was ignored. Until you go up with that credit card in hand, you might as well not even exist. That’s how this works. That’s exactly how I was treated all day.

So, let’s go over the costs that a company like Creation charges for these “perks” of seeing average human beings with flaws & issues, shall we?

$90-$1600 for a weekend pass to just enter the Convention. If you pay at least $800 to enter, you get a few extras: such as 3-5 autographs included. A “Gold” member gets to sit less far from the stage. So does the Silver & Copper Packages. Gold is $1600. You also get to sit at a “private” hour long event where 2 “celebrities” answer questions at a microphone far away from you.

It’s $55-$300 for one 10 second encounter with a photo. It’s $55-$200 for one 10 second encounter for an autograph. You want a meet & greet experience for 30 minutes with 20 other people? That’s extra, and you better bid HIGH in an auction to share that time with other people. We’re talking in the thousands. Any other person on the planet in the room with you is free, obviously, because they’re not on television. So they’re not “special”.

Not to mention hotels hike the rates up for these Conventions. Staying Friday-Monday at this hotel was approximately $1500 for a room. I’m not even joking. Even staying next door hiked the price from $125/night to $350/night for the weekend.

Oh, hey.. you want your tarot cards read by a “celebrity”? That’s $250. You want to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with one? $250. You want to go to a before or after event with one? $175. You want to snack in your pajamas for an hour with 50 people & 2 “celebrities”? $300.

Make sure you put your phones away & don’t make us take them, the Event staff say. After all, nothing is free. You will pay for every single second you get to spend with another human who just so happened to be on TV once. They’re superior to you, so you have to pay for it. Don’t you already know that?

Let’s not forget the “Roadhouse” room. You pay $25 a day for access to a different vendor room where you can play board games & spend more money.

If you’re not paying for any of these things & just the admission? You get nothing. You talk to no one. You see no one. No one talks to you. You get access to seeing them from afar. You get no pictures. You get no memories. But hey, you CAN spend a LOT of money on merchandise!

Basically, in order to be able to afford being around celebrities, you either already have to be in the upper classes, someone who makes more than enough money to be well off in life like they are. Or, you make a middle amount of money & put yourself into massive credit card debt just to do it.

It’s not for the 40% of us under the poverty line, that’s for sure. We aren’t “good enough” to meet with these “superior celebrities”. After all, if you don’t have thousands of dollars to fork out, you aren’t worthy. You don’t deserve to be there. You don’t deserve to speak to human beings just like you, who just work in a different industry than you. They’re better than you. And that is reinforced every waking second on the floor of these Conventions.

Oh, you don’t have any money? Too bad. You get to see no one. You get to talk to no one. No one approaches you. No one gives you the time of day.

(Edit: I would like to point out I didn’t ONCE even SEE the “big celebrities”. Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, etc. They were too busy backstage avoiding people with their bodyguards surrounding them. They certainly had no time for us poor people who paid $90 for the benefit of being able to pay more money on other things, and got nothing out of it. I saw Rob Benedict, Richard Speight, DJ Qualls, Matt Cohen, Samantha Smith, Ruth Connell, and Mark Sheppard. You had to pay more to interact. No poor people allowed!)

Just like everywhere else, classism is on full display here. You’re not worth our time if you have no money. Only people with certain amounts of money are worthy of breathing our air.

The longer I stayed, the more disgusted with it I got. The more I was told I had to pay to take photos of the place, and the people, I was disgusted. The more I was told they’d take my personal property, I wanted to scream.

These people are no better than I am. They’re just people. They’re broken human beings with flaws & mental issues like everyone else. But because they have a job that puts a spotlight on them instead of delivering groceries, building houses, fixing cars, or cleaning buildings, they’re “better”. They need security & bodyguards! How dare other humans who aren’t on that level approach them. Don’t you know who your superiors are? Back off, you disgusting peasant! You will pay to be near us, or you can fuck off!

I tried having one conversation without paying. Oh, that went poorly, of course. This was with the actress who played Mary Winchester - Samantha Smith. I complimented her and said she was more beautiful in person. Her face made an immediate disgust/contempt look, then she smiled all big at me and thanked me (the acting was apparent). She then said the “boys” were far better looking so that’s why she was not looking great on camera. I said, “To some, I guess. I don’t see the appeal, personally” (Edit: I don’t find married men to be attractive. I was raised to believe it’s disrespectful & disgusting, not to mention classless to fawn over the looks of a married man). The disgust face was back. She looked down & I was asked by the “handler” if I was going to pay for an autograph. I said I couldn’t afford to, and she told me to leave so those who could would come up instead. No one was in line or even close at the time.

Bottom Line: If you’re poor, these people hate you. They want no part of you. They want you go away with your peasant filth. They don’t actually care about their fans. If they did, everything they did would not cost an arm & a leg to the average person. You would be able to just chat with them like you do anyone else.

I can go up to anyone else at a store & tell them how beautiful they look, and no one tells me to pay. I don’t get shooed away.

But, deal with a “celebrity” and you better be rich as well. Otherwise, you’re unworthy & unwanted. The more money you have, the better you are treated. The more you spend, the more they will pretend to care about you.

You are being swindled. End of story.

So, what would be the proof they cared about their fans? Doing a free event where they simply showed up and walked around and talked to the average person who wanted to be there. They would graciously take photos or give autographs. They could do this once a year. Supernatural Convention for everyone else who isn’t rich. But, they’d never. There’s no money to be made. They’d be forced to interact with poor humans for free. Oh, the horror! Sure, they care about their fans. Only in your fantasy world.

Final Edit:

Conventions should cost the public how much it costs the company to pay to get the “celebrities” there, their accommodations, and the staff. Then divide that number by the number of the people attending.

Photo Ops should be no more than $75, regardless of the “caliber” of the “star”.

Autographs should be no more than $25-50 at the most.

Meet and Greets shouldn’t cost more than $100 per person. That’s just absurd.

No, making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with a celebrity should not cost you $250. At most, each person should be paying $25 for such a thing.

A “celebrity" pretending to read your tarot should not cost $250. Really? How absurd. Tarot readers charge $10. I see no reason why one who doesn’t do it for a living gets paid 25xs more.

Pajama Party for 50 with snacks? $50 at most. This $300 price tag is pure greed.

In North Carolina, if you’re in a public setting around other people, it is within your 1st Amendment right to take a photo of ANYONE at all. The only exclusions are private bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. So, if a “celebrity” is in a public building, surrounded by 1,000 people, guess what? It’s illegal to tell someone they can’t photograph them. I found it interesting that no one cared when I took photos of vendors or other fans. Of course not. They can’t make money off them. It’s not about privacy, it’s about money.

Selfies should cost no more than $10. I don’t care WHO it is. You’re using your own camera and it takes the person 2 seconds to take it. Anything more is a complete rip off.

The fact so many people want to tell me these prices are acceptable and I need to just “understand how Cons work” are delusional and classist. This is the ONLY con I’ve ever seen that has these abhorrently greedy prices. Because they KNOW y’all are obsessed and stupid enough to pay them.