At this year’s fourth annualSilicon Valley Comic Con, not everyone’s outfit was a costume.
Taking place once again at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center over three days, the 2019 installment of SVCC — the brainchild of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak — welcomed an estimated 70,000 guests to enjoy everything from a life-size replica of NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover to the presence of pop culture celebrities like former WWF wrestling champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Anson Mount of “Star Trek: Discovery” and Morena Baccarin of “Deadpool,” among many others. Walking the floor of the convention, uniformed officers patrolling the venue blended well with fans dressed as characters from the worlds of Harry Potter, “Star Wars” and Marvel.
Still, you could spot them if you were keeping an eye out.
Trip Hunter, founding partner and CEO of SVCC, confirmed that additional security resources were put in place once the event kicked off Friday, Aug. 16, as a response to the recent mass shootings in Ohio, Texas and, closes to home, at the Gilroy Garlic Festival last month.
But though police presence was more apparent and patrons had to enter through metal detectors for the first time, Hunter added that the goal was to ensure everyone felt safe while still having a great weekend. Welcoming thousands of attendees, many of whom are dressed in costumes with weapon accessories — which include everything from Thor’s hammer to the copious replica firearms required to faithfully cosplay as Neo from “The Matrix” — SVCC officials had to get a little creative.
“There’s a balance that we try to hit from a security standpoint,” Hunter said. “You want to create an environment where everybody’s safe, obviously. You want to make security good and tough, but you don’t want to do it to the extent where it compromises people’s ability to have fun.”
Organizers implemented a substantial policy specifically tailored for cosplayers that details what’s allowed when it comes to materials, forms and actions governing costume weapons. This year’s festivities also included a weapons tent at the entrance, which Hunter explains is now a common feature at most major conventions with a cosplay component.
“With all that has been going recently, there are always safety concerns with going anywhere, but we definitely felt safe at the convention,” said San Jose resident Vi Rodriquez, who attended with 8-year-old son Johnny dressed as John Wick and husband Vincent dressed as Mike Myers from “Halloween.”
Fortunately, there was a plethora of beloved celebrities, interactive panels and innovative demonstrations to keep everyone’s focus on SVCC.
“Aquaman” star Jason Momoa drew huge lines when he arrived Saturday, Aug. 17, to take photographs with fans, while “MythBusters” co-host Adam Savage entertained questions from fans (including one very misguided attempt to get Savage to admit the moon landing was a hoax) in the venue’s Grand Ballroom.
Elsewhere, Jamie and Oliver Phelps, better known as Fred and George Weasley from the Harry Potter films, appeared to have slipped a love potion to a crowd gathered to hear stories from the years they spent filming the eight-picture franchise.
By Saturday afternoon, a lightsaber duel erupted, thanks to the faithful choreography of the local Jedi in the Golden Gate Knights. Condensing the most climactic moments from across the “Star Wars” franchise, the “Saga of the Saber” played out on the convention center’s upper concourse.
Hard to have a bad time when you turn the corner and there’s a (sanctioned) lightsaber duel!#SVCCpic.twitter.com/XTjpF775iE
— Zack Ruskin (@zackruskin)August 18, 2019
Inevitably, the event’s main attraction was what everyone was wearing. As safety protocols have changed to better reflect today’s world in the wake of the #MeToo movement, so too have attitudes surrounding cosplay. For the Bronx cosplayer known as Jay Justice, the presence of large, freestanding signs throughout the convention that read “Cosplay is not consent” represent a promising start.
“This was started because people tend to see people in costume as community property,” Justice said. “They think that they have the right to touch you without consent. I’m talking pulling down a cosplayer’s skirt because they wanted to see if she’s wearing underwear. These are real things that have happened.”
Incidents like the ones described by Justice are what inspired San Francisco cosplayer Elizabeth Schweizer, also known as Sushi Killer, to start a campaign in 2013 composed of photographs of cosplayers holding a whiteboard with the campaign motto and, in some cases, their own stories of harassment.
This year, organizers did include a panel named for the cause that Justice participated in Friday night, but Schweizer said there’s still more work to be done. It’s the little things, like people asking for a photograph before they take it or not assuming that just because you’re dressed as Superman, you can invade the space of someone cosplaying as Lois Lane.
“The problem is not recent,” Schweizer said. “It’s systemic. However, it is nice to know that, at least within our niche subculture community, there are people who care enough to prioritize the safety and feelings of people in costume — many of whom are minors — who come to these things.”
The final day’s programming on Sunday, Aug. 18, concluded with Harry Potter trivia for young muggles, a panel discussing alternative endings to the controversial conclusion of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” and a veritable rising of the machines when actors from the first three films in “The Terminator” franchise reunited for the weekend’s marquee event.
尽管前加州州长nd franchise cornerstone Arnold Schwarzenegger was on the premises to sign autographs and take photographs, he did not ultimately appear on the panel with Michael Biehn, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick and Kristanna Loken, as many fans had hoped.
Instead, it was “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” co-stars Furlong and Patrick who drew the biggest applause as they reminisced about their time working with Schwarzenegger, actress Linda Hamilton and director James Cameron.
Furlong also confirmed his long-anticipated return to the franchise in “Terminator: Dark Fate,” due to hits theaters Nov. 1.
“It’s a small role,” he said, “but I’m definitely in it.”
More photos
Photo: Cody Glenn / Special To The Chronicle
Mia Serna of Merced applies makeup for her Pennywise costume from the horror film “It.”
Related articles
Silicon Valley Comic Con 2019: An insider’s guide
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Momoa and more booked for Silicon Valley Comic Con 2019