In the video, she says "why is there a stormtrooper at an anime convention"? Well, why does it bother you? In the grand scheme of things, aren't you just happy to see other people expressing their love for whatever show, movie, game, or comic book of which they are a fan. There aren't a lot of opportunities to cosplay, so people are going to cosplay their favorite characters wherever there is an acceptable place to be in costume, no matter what the theme. Cosplay is such a huge part of all conventions; I think it's fun to see all sorts of different characters. On animecons.com, someone on a forum says "Even if the con itself has said it will only have programming related to anime, manga, J-games, and Japanese culture, anime cons have become huge meccas of nerds and geeks in general. How is it any different than someone wearing an Iron Man or TMNT shirt"? In the end, does the stormtrooper at the anime convention really affect your experience at all? Conventions are a community experience, so let your fellow geeks and nerds show off their love of their favorite characters.
In the video, she also days "That cosplayer is such a fake, she definitely didn't play the video game". In the end, is there really such thing as a 'fake cosplayer'? Why not let people dress up as whatever character they want, regardless of the reasons? In an article titled Cosplayers are passionate, talented folk. But there is a darker side to this community,too, the writer states that "To be a cosplayer is to be a fan - the cosplay itself not much different in spirit than writing a fanfiction or hoarding collectibles of your favorite media". Maybe you aren't a die-hard fan, maybe you're just a fan of the way the character looks. But can't that be reason enough to cosplay?
There is then a quote in the article by Elizabeth DeLoria that says "I don't think anyone in their right minds would hot glue N7 armor to their skin for a Mass Effect Cosplay or go two days without sleep while sewing Super Sentail suits if they weren't a fan of it". In the video, she also judges the quality of people's costumes, saying that they were probably bought at a Halloween store. Well, cosplay, as far as I am aware, is an expensive and time-consuming hobby. Many people probably don't have the time or the funds to make a truly accurate costume. Maybe you see those people and think "their costume sucks, so they must not be a true fan", but the quality of the costume does not define the quality of the fan.
So, let people cosplay whatever they want and take your judgments elsewhere. Conventions are for a community, a community of nerds and geeks with a variety of interests. The video showed that the cosplay community can be a judgemental place, but that shouldn't stop people from dressing up as whatever it is they are a fan of. maybe you don't know every detail about the show, or movie, or game, or comic book. Maybe you don't have the funds or the time to make professional and accurate looking cosplay. Maybe your favorite character is Gandalf, but the only convention you can attend is an anime convention. But who cares! Cosplay as that character for whatever reason you want, wherever you want, despite some of the petty judgments. Do your thing and forget the rest,
Citations
E. (n.d.). - AnimeCons.com Forums. Retrieved April 16, 2016, from http://forums.animecons.com/showtopic.php?tid/2565/
Hernandez, P. (2013). Cosplayers Are Passionate, Talented Folks. But There's A Darker Side To This Community, Too. Retrieved April 16, 2016, from http://kotaku.com/5975038/cosplayers-are-passionate-talented-folks-but-theres-a-darker-side-to-this-community-too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCDGSpXcChU
I agree with your concluding statement. I believe our guest speaker last class, in reference to these judgmental people said, "F*** those people" which is essentially what you're saying too. I have no idea about what the cosplay community is actually like, so to an outsider I now have the idea that this hate is a big part of it. Assuming you're involved in this community, is that true? Being a noob to about 100% of what this class is about I am aware that this judgement is prevalent in about every aspect of the geekdom community. I also wonder why that is? Our professor brought up a good point that the people who participate in this community are a lot of times considered nerds and are made fun of themselves so why do they feel the need to recreate that community in their own realm? I do know that it's not only in cosplay that this judgement is present... I went to a rave once and prior to I was told that some ravers are not cool because they just want to dress up like 'sluts' and ruin the comfort of the community... No matter what you do people tend to care excessively about what people wear. What a shame! I just wish I understood why?!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that a space that should theoretically be welcoming of people would have such harsh standards of judgement on what makes someone an "authentic" fan. Perhaps much of the initial impulses to judge other cosplayers comes from a place of worry--such as the fear that others may perceive the 'fake' cosplayers as more 'real' than the ones who have been in-depth fans for a long time. But didn't everyone start out as a new fan? Just like we talked about in class, everyone was a 'n00b' at some point, so shouldn't the same ideas about that apply here? This makes me wonder too, are some characters off limits to cosplay for people who are not enthusiasts? Are there certain cosplays that are more acceptable for people to dress as simply because they enjoy that character?
ReplyDeleteThe other thing mentioned in this post that I thought was valuable was that "the quality of the costume does not define the quality of the fan." I think it is definitely worth thinking about why people equate authenticity with spending a lot of money or time on a cosplay outfit. Theoretically, shouldn't DIY costumes illustrate even further that someone is a true fan? Or perhaps it says something about their economic status. It is possible that people cannot afford to purchase expensive cosplay outfits or afford to go to different varieties of conventions. I think it's really important to think about these factors before judging someone, because it's not very inclusive to reserve cosplaying to people who have more financial means than others. Overall, this post makes good points about not policing other people, letting others enjoy themselves at Cons, and how anyone that attends can help make the environment less judgemental and more welcoming to all fans.
This post makes many excellent points. One thing I have been shocked to learn throughout the semester is how judgmental and closed the geek community can be. This parody video really highlights this problem. It isn’t that surprising since all sub cultures seem to have a bit of an insider community that it takes some time to break into, but I always believed that those who had been victims of bullying and stereotyping wouldn’t want to inflict that one someone else. This post also makes an excellent point about the judgements about the quality of a cosplayers outfit. I can’t imagine the horror someone would feel if they had spent a lot of time on their cosplay and the money that they could only to be ridiculed by their own community. To be honest, not everyone is artistically talented, and not every cosplay is going to turn out as beautiful as others. The quality of someone’s cosplay really does not affect the experience of the judgemental judy’s anyway, so I agree that it shouldn’t stop anyone from dressing up as whatever they want. If you have a favorite character for any reason, nothing should stop you from letting that character out at every opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI think what we have to remember that cosplaying takes a lot of skill and knowledge to make oneself. Costume making is an art form and it will always be judged. Those that actually put the effort and time into something might feel a bit jaded by someone walking in with a store bought costume, especially if it is not accurate and let's face it most mass produced costumes are. It is usually the die hard fans that have a problem and they take some things personal if there is something that is not cannon in their universe.
ReplyDeleteI guess the main thing is that conventions have a theme and we do not always like it when someone does not go with the theme. It is like messing with someone's miniatures, you put something out of place and they freak. Humans like to categorize things and outside characters disrupt the order for some reason. That being said I enjoyed the many versions of Deadpool I saw this year that the Anime con here, even when he was not doing an Anime mash up.
I think this blog post brings up some excellent questions about if there is a correct way to cosplay. I remember watching this video in class and making connections between it and girls in everyday life. The selfies, shaming of others, and trash talking is just like any other day, but this example just has people dressed up in cosplay. Everyday life is always a question on if you are wearing the correct brand of clothing, wearing enough make-up, and doing your hair to fit the style that is in right now. People are dressing up themselves to try to fit society’s idea of what is correct or popular at this time. If people do not wear the correct outfit with a coach purse or don’t wear enough make-up they are judged harshly and talked about. The only difference with this is that your questions talk about the judgement of other people’s cosplay. I agree with you about your statement that isn’t cosplay supposed to be more accepting than the general world? Well, cosplay is a culture and within it there is certain standards and people who might not believe you belong because of what you are wearing just like everyday life. I think no matter what you’re interests are there still will be people who judge you because they don’t think you are doing something right. This is just some people’s human nature no matter what culture and interests you are a part of.
ReplyDeleteI fell as though this post if the inner voice of so many people who go to conventions. I personally, used to wonder why people would dress up as not an anime character at an anime convention. I was confused, but I didn't realized that people would genuinely get upset and angry about it. As a personal preference, storm troopers are awesome and I love when I see people dressed as them. but I really had no idea, until the video, that it was such a big deal to people. It may have been just one video, but thousands of people agree with it. cosplay is a for of freedom, or at least that's what I remember it being described as. If it becomes such a big issue in the cosplay community, when will the judging stop? When people get judged for being blonde when their cosplay character is brunette?
ReplyDeleteThe point of this post should be shared. I'd like to see how the people who have issues with the improper cosplayers respond. I'd like to know why it is such a big deal to them. Cosplay should be fun, luckily, I've only seen people have fun with it.