A Short Review of A Supernatural Convention

Last weekend was my first Creation Supernatural Convention (I had previously gone to an academic conference on Supernatural hosted by DePaul University)

Overview:

I overall had a great time. There is something amazing about the Supernatural Family. And yes it really is a family.

• For some fandoms the characters define the fandom
• For other fandoms the actors define the fandom
• For other fandoms the mythology/world building defines the fandom
• For other fandoms the symbolism  defines the fandom

For the Supernatural Family all these things are combined. The cast calls the fans family and the fans consider the cast family. Together they have shown their power in supporting good causes. Everything from Stoke and Diabetes awareness, to Building free public high schools, to working to create our own Mental Health Hotline to support all those who are struggling. 

While I don't think I can clearly articulate how special the Supernatural Family is I think part of it might be that those who have seen the show have experienced a common experience which creates a "Band of brothers". 

The show has explored many issues over the years: Alcoholism, Alcoholism effects on others, Family, Adopted Family, Found Family, What we owe family, What is owed to us by family, Trauma, Depression, Numbness, The role of fate, Finding home, Fandom itself, Ambition, The meaning of free will, Faith, What happens when Angels lose faith in God, What happens when God is MIA .......

Some highlights from the Con:

• Having the opportunity to ask Mark Sheppard a Question during his panel. I asked if Crowley (The King of Hell) knew he was loved. And I actually got a semi serious answer from Mark (which is uncommon) about how there is a difference between being told you are loved and knowing you are loved. Which implies I have to keep worrying about my poor Cowley

• Death's panel (Julian Richings) where we learned that Julian thinks Death's final thoughts while being Killed were "You bugger", also  how his death as Death was less surprising then another show where he reacuring character was killed with out informing him.  

• Osric Chau (Kevin Tran: A prophet of the lord): We determined at the Con that Kevin should be God's Wife (Husband), God aka Chuck (Rob Benedict) agreed, Osric gave the advice that it is better to do a ton of short imperfect projects then try to get one perfect. Also learned that the song Sweet Caroline is now Sweet Osric Chau (I mean both God and Gabriel said so, so it must be true)

• There were many other highlights but I don't have the time to go on. 

Notes on the Convention as a Convention

As a creation event it was run differently then many of the smaller fan run or academic fan conferences I have attended. The main thing which stood out to me was there was only one track of programming. But I have to say that those panels were lots of fun. And the whole convention felt like a 3 day rock concert because of Louden Swain was our house band. Overall I would describe it as a family reunion where it was great to catch up, especially with actors who have not been on the show in over a decade but still are family.