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.
Yep.
I’m still marveling at the characterization of body armor and spandex as “simple.” Just, no.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-?! O.K. even if you’re saying they’re simpler, what the hell body armor and weaponry and spandex and cape have YOU been looking at lately?! And urm… that’s all stuff female characters wear too.
O.K. you know what, let’s take that “simple” part out completely because the minute you think any costume is simple as a cosplayer you’ve already screwed yourself. In fact, personally, it’s the simple characters that I think are the most complicated to pull off, because their outfits aren’t really distinguishable unless if you can nail their hair or face or their mannerisms. "Let’s do school girl/school boy so and so,“ yeah that’s fine but there’s about a zillion characters like this in anime so you better have a damn good wig or nail that pleated skirt or those little annoying checker marks in the Persona 4 Yasogami High collars and just… yeah.
Good example. L’s not simple, that’s the mistake you make. "Just a white shirt and jeans and messy hair,” no. If you don’t nail that hair, or the baggy eyes, or the weird way he sits, and if the shirt isn’t baggy enough it’s not going to look right. That and if it’s a popular series where you’re going to see 57 Ls walking around, what’s going to set you apart from the others?
So nothing is simple, male or female, so just stop. Way to discriminate against a particularly large group of cosplayers when you’re trying to get them to watch your show.
Alright, if you aren’t aware, SyFy’s doing a show called “Heroes of Cosplay”. It’s a show about cosplay, and while that may sounds pretty awesome, I gotta feeling that it’s not gonna be awesome :/
I just read a review/preview article about it (http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/just_be_cos_NJtBVRP2Skns2wwW2YtsON) and one of my worst fears was made a reality.
People already calling us freaks and losers. This is one reason why I don’t want this show to exist. Not to mention, from what I’ve seen in the previews, it’s gonna be ALL about the “drama” (I gotta hunch it’s faked) and how cosplay is “Competitive business.”And I know. There is the competitive side of cosplay. I have no problems with that. But I feel that SyFy is gonna make it out that Cosplay is all about the competitive-ness, which cosplay isn’t all about.
After all, it’s called cos-PLAY. PLAY. P.L.A.Y.
And do you know what the definition of Play is?“Play”
Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.
AKA, TO HAVE FUN. Again, there is competitive cosplay, but that’s not the only thing about cosplay!!!
Look, I just got a bad feeling about this show overall. Just…Don’t watch it.This…..is really disgusting. I feel mocked and just generally looked down upon as someone who exists as a “fringe” group. Which, of course, is not true.
For my friends who have no idea what cosplay is, this article isn’t it. Cosplay is an artistic outlet, just as much as painting or writing. It’s an excuse for people with a love for sewing (or prop making, or jewelry making, or hair styling, or makeup art) to use media and techniques that they would probably never get a chance to use if they were making purely functional clothing. And, as a bonus, they get to bring a character to life.
This article is written from the point of view of a self-righteous middle-aged woman who has found something she isn’t familiar with, and therefore has decided must be “weird” (to quote: “well, all of it is weird”). She belittles us, and mocks the hundreds of dedicated hours we put into our outfits. She uses sarcasm to suggest that our work and dedication isn’t socially acceptable (“It’s not enough to go to a costume store and rent a Demon Hunter outfit? I mean, seriously. Renting is so last decade!”).
But the real kicker comes at the end. She outright says that “we aren’t given any in-depth knowledge about what these folks do to earn a living in the real world”. To me, this sounds as though she is assuming we are bums, the equivalent of a stereotypical 90’s comic book nerd in their thirties living in their parent’s basement.
Ma’am, many of “these folks” are highschool and college students. When not studying so we can earn a high enough living to support YOUR medicare, we enjoy having such a versatile creative outlet. Cosplaying is a hobby, and I would appreciate if you would look at it from a much less narrow minded view and see it for what it is: An art form.
reblogging because brooke added some good commentary about how terrible the article is if you’re too lazy to read it.. don’t watch the show cosplay friends.
Hi, I tracked down the email address for this lady’s editorial department letters@nypost.com. I suggest everyone use the subject “Cosplayers Aren’t Confused“ so that each email response they get will be noted as a deliberate response to that article. Normally I wouldn’t suggest stooping to such levels, but I know tumblr can fill their inbox with a number of better references than Syfy’s new "show.”
DON’T send them hate mail. That would just make cosplayers look bad. DO send them a more appropriate insight as to why Cosplayers work the way they do and what this is all about.
If enough of us respond appropriately then they can’t ignore us. If you aren’t willing to send an email yourself then signal boost this so that others will.
Reblogging so you can see the email. I actually just sent one myself, because that article is a terrible representation of us. We should show them who we really are (in a respectful way, please, otherwise it’ll do more harm than good)
