I know emotions are running high after Heroes of Cosplay and all. I haven’t seen it yet because I don’t have the channel, but I’ve heard things. Yes, it’s true that cosplay isn’t all about competing (but honestly I know people who have competed and it IS stressful as hell). At it’s core, cosplay is about having fun, being yourself, and enjoying the experience. 

However.

Bashing the people who appear on the show isn’t going to do anything. Don’t vent out your frustrations by calling the people on the show ugly names, or thinking that they aren’t “real heroes of cosplay,” because they’re on the show. Yaya Han isn’t a bad person for wanting to put herself out there and show people what she loves to do. She hasn’t betrayed you, or anything like that. If you’ve met her in person you know how much she loves cosplay and loves her fans. 

A good example I have is this. As a plus sized cosplayer, I am thankful for the support and for the people who enjoy my cosplay and encourage me to do more despite what negative folks may say. However, don’t encourage me by bashing skinny cosplayers. Don’t say things like, “You look so much better than so and so” or tell skinny girls not to cosplay certain characters because “that character is plus sized, that’s ours.” You want to be able to cosplay who you want, right? That goes for skinny cosplayers too, you can’t just exclude them because you want to be included. 

Or, don’t tell a white girl not to cosplay Anthy (in case you don’t know she’s a black anime character from “Revolutionary Girl Utena”) if she loves the character, or tell a white girl that she can only cosplay Lottie but not Tiana because Tiana is “the black Disney princess.” It’s not about race or size, it’s about creativity and emulating the character you love. If we can accept female characters cosplaying male characters, that means this should be open to all aspects of cosplay: men cosplaying women, plus sized cosplaying skinny (or vice versus), black cosplaying white (or vice versa), handicapped cosplayers, ect. 

So this goes for the show too. Don’t make yourself (or others) feel better about cosplay by bashing the cosplayers on the show. They’re people, too, and they work hard just like we do. You can, however, complain about the show for the normal reality TV show drama edits, or when the producer says something silly like, “male characters are easy to cosplay because all they have is armor and spandex,” and things like that.