Passover Scheduling of NY ComicCon Sparks Controversy
Neil Kleid of Rant Comics stirred up some debate in the comics scene Wednesday when he posted an open letter to New York ComicCon calling the decision to schedule the event on the first days of Passover "frankly insulting."
Now, I’m a realist and I understand that the majority far outweighs the minority here. Holding the convention on Passover won’t really affect con attendance one way or another. The number of Jewish attendees who will choose to forgo NYCC this year won’t even make a dent in the turnout. But as a Jewish cartoonist/creator, I have to admit to being a bit annoyed that the folks at Reed didn’t even take the holiday into account. I could understand if they’d scheduled it for the following week, the second days of Passover which are less religiously observed… but the first two days of Passover, the Seder nights, are almost like… Christmas Eve. But with more guilt. And matzah.
The message produced a fairly active discussion on Kleid’s website, with some interesting back-and-forth about the potential effects of the decision.
Shortly thereafter, NYCC Con Director Lance Fensterman posted a response on the event’s official blog.
Needless to say, I’m none too happy about the Passover situation either, so let’s get that out of the way right off the bat – we are really sorry about this and certainly intended no disrespect towards anyone. The unfortunate reality is that these were the dates we were given at the
Why not have a big seder at the Javits Center? A'zisen X-Men!
I go to an SF con over Easter every year. Generally, the religious people go out to church somewhere in Mpls/St. Paul. But when this was mentioned on a blog, the con got accused of being religiously bigoted. The rest of us, even the other religious people, were shocked at the idea.
Yeah, that seems a little over the top. And Passover isn't exactly a sit-in-temple-all-day sort of thing, either. I mean, the idea of going to the Javitz's food plaza for a Nathan's hot dog on matzo is kind of disgusting, but the fact that the food really sucks at the Javitz isn't religious-based. And I usually wind up going there three times a year.
We do have a fair number of Jewish folk in fandom, so many of the larger cons, including Minicon over Easter, have a kosher table in the consuite to make sure there's food for people who keep Kosher. Generally, the other religions don't have food rules and all eat from the other tables.
I wish there was a way to paste images into these comments, but I'll just post the link…http://www.foundationnews.org/files/1tempest_2003…
Vinnie, since we don't always get the URL links, there's no guarantee of using html to put an image in, but I'll see:
Guess not!
At worst, it's thoughtless to schedule a public event at a time that limits the public's ability to participate.
Lots of religious holidays out there. I can see avoiding the biggest and holiest — Christmas, Easter, Yom Kipper — but if promoters were to avoid all the mid-level holidays, convention centers would be torn down for parking lots. Ramadan, for example, lasts a month. Is it any less important to Moslems than Passover is to Jews?
It would be thoughtless to schedule an event then, too. I'm sure the organizers do the math, and figure out how much it costs them to schedule an event at a time that might preclude some people from attending, compared to not holding it at all.
I have to agree with Mike on this. There are just too many religions and too many holidays associated with them to avoid them all. I think people are being too sensitive about this. If you are so religious that you don't feel comfortable attending an event that is your choice. It's not up to the promoters to take into account everyone's personal beliefs.
And in science fiction fandom, there's at least one con somewhere in the US every weekend.
Being raised totally devoid of religion, I ain't no expert…but my understanding is that Saturdays in general are out if you're Jewish and Sundays in general are out if you're Christian — at least if you're really serious about your religion. So let's not have any kind of event on any weekends, lest we offend someone's faith. Luckily, my wife and I found a Buddhist caregiver for my wife's elderly father, so we can have the weekends off. (Really)
And let's not have the Superbowl on Sunday unless we can confirm that Jesus really does care which team wins.
There's a hell of a half-time show in that thought.
Ha! I'm taping the Puppy Bowl today so I can watch the Kitten Half-Time. I'm actually wqatching Gigi now.
From the comments by the guy connected to the con, this was the only weekend that was open at the Javitz. That is why the con is going back to a February date next year—it is the only weekend open. Not really a controversy then, but an unavoidable circumstance.
Ah, yes. February on the Hudson. Standing outside in 20 degree wind chills in a long, long line with the wind coming off the river. It's just a slice of heaven.Manhattan needs a real convention center. One that's actually in Manhattan.
I'm way behind reading the WashPost and this was in one of the papers I read last night — the White House Correspondents Association dinner was also set for Passover and people were unhappy:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti…last article in column