Posted in: Pop Culture, san diego comic con | Tagged: interview, robert garcia, san diego comic con

Congressman Robert Garcia on "Truth and Justice" in Fandom & Politics

Congressman Robert Garcia discusses his unique blend of politics and pop culture passion, and the power of fandom to transform both.

When it comes to finding politicians in strange places, there is probably no place stranger than the halls of San Diego Comic-Con. But for Congressman Robert Garcia, he would likely want to be roaming the halls of the biggest comic convention even if he wasn't scheduled to host a panel on Sunday, July 23rd, to formally announce the Congressional Popular Arts Caucus to fans of the arts, both young and old. Garcia is no stranger to Bleeding Cool as he has been part of our coverage since 2017, and we have followed his political career from his tenure as the Mayor of Long Beach to becoming the U.S. Representative for California's 42nd congressional district. So when his office reached out to us about an interview while we were also roaming the halls of the San Diego Convention Center, it was hardly an opportunity we could turn down. In the absolute frenzy of Saturday at Comic-Con, it took some effort for us to finally find each other and it was even harder to find somewhere to conduct an interview. The schedule of Comic-Con waits for no one, and there is no such thing as "quiet corners," so Bleeding Cool got to interview our favorite DC-loving Congressman while standing next to the trash cans near the C entrance of the convention center.

BLEEDING COOL: So I would say that Comic-Con is a weird place to find you, but it's actually extremely on-brand for you. You're announcing the details of the Congressional Popular Arts Caucus here. Why did you decide specifically to announce it here? And what are you hoping to gain by announcing it to this audience specifically?

ROBERT GARCIA: Obviously, this is the largest popular arts convention in the United States, the largest gathering of popular arts fans and creators. And so it makes a lot of sense to launch the Congressional Popular Arts Caucus here from Comic-Con. We have 30 members of Congress already signed up. It's a bipartisan caucus, Democrats and Republicans. We're excited that we can focus on issues that are important to the industry and creators around piracy, censorship, around artificial intelligence. These are gonna be really big issues for us. So we're excited to launch where we know we're doing events and meetings throughout the weekend and meeting with the leadership at the big publishers and other policy folks.

It's a good opportunity to also talk directly to fans, and we're excited to do that. And then lastly, we brought the lead comic book librarian from the Library of Congress to Comic-Con. She'll be on the panel that we're having tomorrow. So this will be a great opportunity to kind of share her with the fans and give her an opportunity to meet folks, too.

BC: So our paths first crossed, at least for Bleeding Cool, when you were voicing your support for the Snyder cut, and we covered that support —  with some lighthearted ribbing, I might say.

GARCIA: Of course I remember, yeah.

BC: What do you think about the current fan mentality to save shows and release cuts like that? And how do you think we could translate that passion and interest into not just national politics but, more importantly, local politics?

GARCIA: I actually give a lot of credit to fans that are so invested in their fandoms that they spend an enormous amount of time uplifting those fandoms. Obviously, the Snyder fandom is enormous and active. All fandoms can also get aggressive, and I think that it's important for all fandoms, whether it's fandoms within the comics space or Star Wars fans; we've seen that happen, DC fans, and Marvel fans sometimes don't give enough room for creators to do their work. You see that in politics as well, right? And in local politics.

I think the bigger thing is that right now, it really still is the golden age of comic properties being translated into the broader popular arts. And so we should be uplifting all of it. I would encourage folks; if you're a fan of a type of product that was put out by DC, I've supported all of it. The same thing goes for Star Wars fans. I support all Star Wars. And I just mean you want to keep the medium going. I think we've got to do more uplifting, less tearing down.

BC: That actually leads really well into my next question, which is, you're a person of color and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. I'm a queer woman, and I think we can both agree that fandom spaces are not always the most welcoming for people like us. How do you think we can go about helping make fandom more welcoming to people who aren't normal?

GARCIA: So I think generally, fandoms within the popular arts space are typically more progressive fandoms. Generally, if you're going to be a fan of Star Trek, the X-Men, or Superman, I would hope that you think about what those stories actually mean. I don't know that you can love Star Trek and not be a progressive, inclusive person. I don't know that you can believe in what the X-Men actually means and stands for and be a fan of the X-Men without believing that being different and being born a certain way is not bad. I don't know that you can be a true fan of comics or the popular arts without having a progressive worldview of people.

You can't just say, "I'm a fan of Superman," and not understand what "truth and justice" means or what being an honest, good person and all that means. I would encourage fans to take the fandom that they love and to actually implement those values into the way they treat people, especially LGBTQ people, queer people that right now are being attacked by all sorts of crazy extremists and right-wing folks across the country.

BC: The strike is clearly impacting all aspects of the entertainment industry, and it's going to start impacting the economy of California soon. How do you think they can go about resolving the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA strike?

GARCIA: I actually joined a SAG-AFTRA action that happened yesterday [July 21st] outside San Diego. I'm a huge supporter of SAG-AFTRA and a huge supporter of the Writers Guild, of course. I do stand with them. I think we've got to support their pickets, support our creators. Right now, creators, rightly so, are concerned about their level of support around pay and pay equity, which is important. Artificial intelligence is also a real concern, and that's something everyone should be concerned with. I support them and hope to continue supporting them in any way I can. And I hope that there's a resolution here in the weeks and months ahead.

BC: What was the reaction of your fellow Congress members when you got sworn in with a copy of Superman #1?

GARCIA: I got sworn in on the Constitution, but underneath it, I had a copy of Superman #1. I think a lot of people didn't get it. Most people in Congress get sworn in on the Bible. I got sworn in on the Constitution, but along with the Constitution and a copy of Superman #1, I had a picture of my parents and a copy of my citizenship certificate from when I became a U.S. citizen. Those are things that matter to me and that have value to me. We got a lot of national attention with that, shining a light also on the collection at the Library of Congress.

BC: My final question would be, is your entire career just a political ploy to get access to the Library of Congress?

GARCIA:  [laugh] Oh, man. I didn't know when I ran for Congress, that there's this incredible comic book collection that you have access to. It's absolutely a benefit. I'm very grateful, and I'm excited for the Congressional Popular Arts Caucus. I read Bleeding Cool, and I still obviously read comics. And so, like I told somebody else, I'm bringing together like the biggest nerds in Congress to work on these issues.

BC: Yeah, you have to be a nerd to be in politics.

GARCIA: That's true.

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