Hi there!
I’m french and I’d like to add my two cents to this discussion.
I went to three conventions so far, all of them in France and I met people from different countries there. I never went to a convention abroad so I can’t really tell but I don’t think there are real differences between people because of their nationality. If there are differences, these are differences related to ages mainly even if imho these differences aren’t so big.
I think EVERY fan coming to a convention wants to have fun! Lol And every fan laughs when it’s funny. Of course, some of the youngest among us tend to be more demonstrative maybe but I really don’t think this is related to their nationality. Maybe french fandom is a little younger than other fandoms. According to what I saw during the conventions and what I read or saw on the net about conventions abroad I tend to think so. In France, the average Stargate Fan is about 15-20. I’m 31 lol so I’m quite considered as a dinosaur.
Your behaviour isn’t the same when you’re 20, 30, 40 or 50. And we know that the youngest tend to consider that adults are nuts lol so it can explain little tensions during conventions.
but we don't understand when some of some among you tell us " shut down" when we applauds for example
Yes I agree, we shouldn’t hear such things during a convention, there are other ways to tell when you are annoyed by the behaviour of someone.
In france we discover what a convention is (even if we have a bad experience for the moment sorry of that) we are newbie when we go to convention, we are full of exitacion, of entousiasm. Sure we look us on a bad eye because we are more noisy. but i assur you is not by lack of respect for you
Enthusiasm and excitation during a convention isn’t a lack of respect for anyone I think, you’re right, and the most important, really, is that anyone respects each other. As far as I am concerned, I go to conventions to have fun, to hear the actors talk about their job and to meet other fans because this is SO MUCH fun! And as long as other fans don’t bother me and prevent me from hearing or seeing the actors, I’m ok. As long as they don’t judge my own behaviour either! Telling me I’m too calm or not fun enough!
Further, another thing that I noticed that was different between our cultures was the type of questions asked. For example, at this year's Gatecon, I think it was a girl from the French contingent asked Amanda, Chris and Michael a question when they were on stage that was way out of line and was VERY offensive to the majority of people there. The question was regarding what religion the actors were. In anglo-saxon culture, this kind of information is very private and should not be asked, but the europeans didn't see it that way, as they are obviously more in touch with their spiritual freedoms being exhibited in society.
I think there are actually cultural differences between people, that is obvious. But there are also clichés lol. I don’t think french people like to speak about their religion beliefs lol As much as they aren’t necessarily “french loversâ€!
That’s quite fun to hear most of the actors talking about how good it is to be in France, the “country of love†lol whereas I REALLY don’t think there are real differences between our countries lol And I think many of these actors may have been surprised to see french fans aren’t so obsessed by sex lol
Cultural differences are always a good thing, they help us to understand and appreciate each other. I think that in the future both cultures are just going to have to learn to accept one another and be a bit more tolerant.
I totally agree with you!!! Tolerance is the key to good relationships! Even if we don’t understand the behaviour of the others, let’s just accept it as long as they don’t do anything bad.
And and we are shocked when anglosaxon asking them about a personnal life and have sexual question or when we have this behavior
for us this is a lack of respect to the actors who not inevitably stripped for finding itself in front of 700 fans.
Yes, I agree. I think there are things happening to conventions which shouldn’t happen, mostly because the actors aren’t just chippendale paid that for. Of course, there always is a kind of sexual seduction going with the actor, we can’t deny that but when I see a striptease I think this is too much. Last week, I was in a convention with John Novak and obeying to the request of the woman translating the talks John stripped his shirt. Of course, people laughed and some of us enjoy what they saw lol but was it really necessary? Not a single fan in the audience had asked anything to John, EVERYTHING came from the woman who translated the talks. I felt ashamed for this actor even if he wasn’t forced or anything, but I think asking him that kind of thing isn’t right.
When we came at convention we hope to talk about the serie with actor not about the color of eye of they dog
Well, I think it is more true to say that there is a little part of us who kinda like the little things we can learn about the actors’ life. Seeing Amanda playing with her dog, this is cute lol But, yeah, if I had to choose, I’d choose the talks about the show and I’d leave the chippendale.
Other things also on our premises it would not have been conceivable to see of the actor stuffed on scene. We left when the state of the actors was seen. you seem to have appreciated their service and we find its very pathetic. We do not have the same concept on alcohol
TOTALLY agree there! I think this is such a shame to see drunk actors on stage! There are so many young fans who watch them!
I think that our interest are different.
We hope everybody in every countries learn about others
for everyone can have and enjoy convention the next time
Yes, let’s learn about each other, let’s try to understand the differences between us and, please, I’d like that no-one judges anyone. We are all fans and we can be in the same conventions without necessarily to feel beeing in a cold (or not) war.
there is several manner of living a convention but to see people of 40 or 50 years to excite itself to see a naked actor, I find that unhealthy
Is this kind of behaviour more acceptable when you are 20 or 25? I don’t think so.
I can't understand why they preached at us each time we spoke too high or each time we weren't standing at the queue exactly where they wanted we wait. What was disturb them ? We didn't line anyone....
I think it is important to follow the rules if everyone wants to have a great convention. But it is true there are ways to tell people to respect the rules. Shouting isn’t exactly the best way lol Well, I think there is much stress for everyone during big conventions and people tend to loose control sometimes.
At the end, it's not true to say we screamed and make noise all the time. I have a friend of me who became mute just because she was near people who didn't stop screaming and laughting for anything ;-)
I hearded the Gatecon talks on the net and I must confess there was MUCH screaming lol, it was really difficult to hear what the people on stage said. And I don’t think the screaming was 100% french lol.
So we're going to say il's cultural but what a pity to not understand we wanted to participate, on your way but participate.....
Yes, everyone should understand there are many ways to enjoy a convention.
there's a fine line between cheering and rudeness.
Yeah that’s true! Last year, in Paris, we stand up for the actors, applauding and when I turned around I realised all the other rows behind us hadn’t followed us! I was quite… shocked! Actually, I don’t understand why they didn’t stand up but I suddenly also realised that, because of us, they couldn’t see the actors anymore! Everything is a question of point of view.
If you don't have fun, get a bit crazy, do things you never get to do, then what's the use of going?
My only exception is when the guests are tying to talk and people interrupt or make unusual amounts of noise so people can't hear them, then I get upset.
Totally agree!
I know we all pay alot of money to be there and we all expect to have fun and get what we want out of the con. But sometimes we just need to remember that we're all there to do the same thing, and we all do it in different ways. No matter where you're from, no matter what color you are, or religion, we're all the same. We Love Stargate SG1. I think getting together to enjoy our favorite show is what it's all about.
Yes! There shouldn’t be any Fans War! That’s SO stupid! Despite our differences, we like the same show! And I think our differences are a good thing too because we may have never met so many different people and learnt so much. Thanks to TV shows (and not only Stargate lol) I met people from all around the world, Canada, Panama, Cuba, Switzerland, Belgium … etc and I learned SO MUCH! I also met people from 12 to 60 lol and I think that’s so great to be able to talk about the same thing despite our differences of ages and background!
The hotels has rules, Gatecon has rules and then there's life's rules. Be nice to each other, treat people like you want them to treat you. We're all there to have fun, and we should all be able to.
That’s also the way I see things. Rules are necessary in order to live together. That may be not so funny every time lol but at the end we are happy when we have a convention with no big problems.
So, that was my extremely long 100 bucks worth of wisdom. Take it or leave it, but in the end, know that what you do affects everyone around you and respecting that goes a long way to making friends and creating happiness.
Everything that everyone does affects the others, that’s totally true and sadly people tend to forget it. If everybody had a little thought about this everyday I think things would be much easier for everyone!
Well, that was my two cents.
