You didn’t answer my question. Do you think those people I linked to are cosplaying “wrong” since they don’t look exactly like the characters they are representing?
Cuz personally, I don’t think that’s the point of cosplay. I think cosplay is about representing the essence of a character in such a way that the inconsequential differences in physical appearance aren’t even noticeable. Cosplay about how much you love a character. If you love a character enough and you have enough resources to craft an awesome costume, who cares if you skin doesn’t match? That seems like such a petty thing to get hung up on, for reals.
If I were asked to describe anyone, I’d absolutely put their race in there.
MJ is a basketball player, who is tall, bald, black guy with a warm smile.
As opposed to Bruce Willis who is an actor , tall bald, white guy, who’s smiles make you uneasy.
And yeah, I guarantee if your asking people if they’ve seen me…short of a picture whites gonna be in that description.
Unless you look exactly like the character, you can’t play it?
I’ll agree that there are times when a bona fide requirement, like being the stunt double for an actor playing a character, when looking as much like the actor as possible makes sense, but outside of that, especially when we are just talking about people doing this for fun, the point is not to create a perfect facsimile, but instead to show off your enjoyment of a show/movie/comic/game.
Now, when you look at the pics that monstro linked to, do you see them as ‘“ha, ha, that’s funny” inaccurate cosplay’, because I don’t see them that way at all. I see them as dressing up as their favorite characters and having fun with it. To think that it is funny and inaccurate because they don’t have the same skin tone as the actor isn’t funny, actually. Do you laugh at them because the actor was 6’2", and they are only 5’8"? Do you laugh at them because they don’t have the bulging muscles that the characters (and often times even the actors) have?
Those things are important to some people, to others, they are less important than what type of person they are, how good a cook they are, how generous, or kind, or how much of an asshole or jerk they are.
There are many, many descriptions of people that do not rely on skin color or gender. Now, if you are describing someone to a valet picking someone up in the airport, then physical descriptions make sense. If you are inviting someone over for a dinner party, or you are calling someone in for an interview, then if you choose to make that part of the description, then you are saying that that is an aspect of their character that is important to you.
Thank you for a very thoughtful response. I didn’t necessarily mean just copying a hairstyle, tho. I’m talking about “hair”. If a person is portraying Lucille Ball, and they make their hair curly and red, well, isn’t that Lucille Ball’s natural hair “style”? How is this trait different than skin color then?
I agree that a mohawk or very long hair is a style choice, but color and straight/curly are not necessarily choices.
Again, thank you for a very thoughtful response.
I hope I’m not coming across as overly antagonistic; your posts are a great help in clarifying and condensing much nuanced thought. I am certain they will help me to articulate why blackface is a bad idea when I am face-to-face with someone who isn’t playing Devil’s Advocate.
The logic of Darren Garrison’s argument leads us to a very messed-up conclusion: To be good cosplayers, black people have to stick to either black characters–the few that exist–or aliens or monsters. But whites are off-limits unless you want people to laugh at you. Because there’s no way they can ever look like a white character, and if you can’t look like a character, you might as well not even bother.
Sure, a black person can whiten their skin. But would they really look white? Or would they look like a damn clown, wearing make-up that distracts from their costume?
Maybe Dolly Parton or someone that is known for their large breasts, and I still think that that’s focusing on the traits that you think are important. If you are cosplaying say, that girl from Pokemon, Misty, you probably would not need to get any augmentation for your chest.
Frodo? was a hobbit, not a human. And he was played by an actor that was more or less normal height. If I were cosplaying him, I’d go grey cape and a ring about my neck. If you really want to get into character, grow out your foot hair and go barefoot.
The one of you that says “I make this look good”, is agent J.
The are really short people , and they are humans and I am gonna go really short, probably with rubber feet attached to my knees.
Out of practicality I’ll probably only make my entrance that way but I’m still gonna do it.
And it doesn’t need to be dolly. Wonderwoman, Jackie o , almost any really. Do I have to have the breasts, not necessarily , but I’m going to because it will make me look more like them.
Few people would recognize a Lucille Ball costume if someone was wearing, say a red Carrot Top wig with it. Or an Orphan Annie wig. Both are curly and red, but Lucille Ball didn’t wear her hair in either of those fashions. So I would think a Lucille Ball costume with those kinds of wigs would be kind of stupid. If those wigs were the only thing a a person could find, they’d be better off ditching them and just putting their hair up in this kind of up-do.
Of course, if they’re just dressing up to amuse themselves, it doesn’t matter what they do. But I think if their goal is to really capture Lucille Ball’s essence so that they can be recognized by true fans, then not bothering to do anything to the hair except the superficial stuff is kind of missing the point. I don’t think Lucille Ball would want someone confusing her for Carrot Top. Or Orphan Annie. And I don’t think a true fan would be impressed by a Carrot Top or Orphan Annie-look alike trying to pass themselves off as Lucille Ball.
Hair is always styled a certain way. If a person can’t be bothered to simulate someone’s signature hairstyle, whether through a wig or through their own hair-dressing skills, then trying to get the the color and texture just right seems rather pointless to me. The style is what people see first. Hairstyle is what separate Elvis from a rando nobody.
Probably, in that racists will act as though they are being treated as racist while they make a taco, because they will be racists making a taco, but it would actually be because they are racists, who just happening to make a taco.
Then, since there were racists who were making a taco who got called out as racists while making a taco, it will validate your fears.
The “fake breasts” wouldn’t be nearly as important as the hair, clothes, shoes, and make-up, and accessories. Breasts, real or fake, are not the salient difference between men and women.
Why would you choose to go as J but not K, if skin color is that important to you? Do you look more like a pale-faced Will Smith than you do Tommy Lee Jones?
