‘Culture without borders’ at Florida Supercon

By: Adrian Herrera | Life! Editor

adrian.herrera@fiusm.com

This year’s Florida Supercon saw over 10,000 people pass through its gates as comic book and anime fans from all over the state congregated in the Miami Beach Convention Center for four days of panels, screenings, cosplay competitions and of course, loads of merch.

Maneuvering around the fanboys, the manga girls and countless iterations of Marvel’s punch-line dropping assassin, Deadpool, through rows of booths and tables loaded with art, memorabilia and creators, eager to meet fans and discuss their work, it was easy to forget that not many years ago this was a niche culture. Not so in today’s world.

Perhaps actor Jason Mewes of “Clerks,” “Mallrats,” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” put it best at his Saturday afternoon Q&A session when a fan asked how he felt about a new generation of kids discovering his older movies after seeing the upcoming sequels.
“The cool thing is, kids from this generation will understand the old movies even more, especially ‘Mallrats’ that deals so heavily with comic books. Twenty years ago, when the movie came out, not that many people knew about comics. Now it’s pop culture and this generation will get it right away.”

Through Marvel’s blockbuster movies like “The Avengers,” “Star Wars” video games and theme parks, and shows like “The Walking Dead,” what used to be “nerd” culture has simply become pop culture. Nowhere is this more evident than at Supercon where the most seemingly unlikely blends of people can be found side by side, staring starry-eyed at their favorite writer or oohing and ahhing over an original print from a much-loved artist.

As Christian Gil, a junior majoring in communications put it, “here, you’ll meet a person you don’t think you’d meet on campus, and then you end up seeing the same people you met at Supercon on campus and you end up becoming friends.”

From t-shirt-and-jeans clad dads with their wives and children in tow, to super-fans in all out “Dragon Age” cosplay, people like Gil have a place to enjoy culture without borders.

Check out our cosplay video and supercon gallery!

Video by: Jasmine Romero

Photos By: Adrian Herrera, Yves Miranda, Evelyn Zapata, and Jasmine Romero

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