What I was trying to post earlier...*TWITCH*TWITCH*
Anyhow...went onto facebook this morning & smack dab in front of me was one of my BIGGEST peeves I have. A very OBVIOUSLY photoshopped image that some IDIOT decided to label as cosplay. *angry dragon flips table & proceeds to have a temper tantrum*
*Ahem* Okay.... So I've been having a LOT of gripes recently with what I like to refer to as "the general public of fandom." Most of them do involve cosplay, since it is a hobby of mine, I get a 'little' touchy about it. (LOL) So what to DO about it?
So...why DO people keep referring to photoshopped images as cosplay? I'm not talking about added effects, I'm talking about total image manipulation of the picture to portray it as something else. I feel that if the person is not REALLY dressed in the costume, it is NOT cosplay. I don't understand HOW somebody can think it is the same thing. The closet thing to it would be some sort of digital fan-art probably...
So I did some thinking. Is this misunderstanding by "the general public" related to other issues? Could it be that they just don't understand WHAT cosplay really is? Did we, the cosplayers/costumers, confuse them? There's been a lot issues that cosplayers have been having with "the general public" recently. And it only seems to be getting worse. But really, could it all just be that our fellow fans of comics/sci-fi/fantasy/anime just got confused? Did we cause it when we did the whole costumer vs cosplayer bit, oh so long ago? Did we just confuse them enough that they stopped caring & just lumped anyone in a costume as a cosplayer?
Honestly, I've seen enough so called cosplay sites to know that some cosplayers are a little confused on the issue. And some cosplayers help perpetrate of the problems. Some of it is through naivety & other times, it's pure arrogance on the cosplayer's part.
So what can WE DO? Well, get active for one. (This is more or less a jab at myself.) Communicate with each other better. Right now there is a lot of snobbery going on & it's not productive nor helpful. If anything, it's the most harmful thing to our hobby. (Yes, cosplay IS a HOBBY. And hobbies are SUPPOSE to be FUN.) We need to educate our fellow non-costuming/cosplaying friends & our own fellow costumers/cosplayers.
How? Well probably the easiest way is AT the conventions. I've got some ideas for some panels I might try to put together. The best one I could think of was two different panels that are loosely linked. The one would be with the costumer/cosplayers talking about problems that might come up & how to properly handle them. It probably work best if we had some one on that's con staff (especially from their 'security' department) that could explain how the convention handles harassment & what the cosplayer should do. We could also be made aware of stuff that we didn't think about & try to find a solution. This could also be handy to make sure the cosplayers UNDERSTAND the rules so THEY don't do something wrong. (Blocking hallways, improper props- the kind they can get in trouble with, WHY the con only allows certain types/sizes of props, etc.) The second one would involve the "general public" & trying to explain WHY we do what we do including the different aspects & what constitutes AS cosplay...and what DOES NOT. We could explain what is acceptable behavior & what is not. What to do if you see unacceptable behavior. A lot of the problems cosplayers are having could be stopped with this. I firmly believe that most of those *ahem* "MISGUIDED" individuals REALLY DON'T understand that their behavior is unacceptable & why. Others are probably just afraid to step in & stop it because they don't know either. If no one ever tells anybody, no one will never learn.
Of course this means I have to get active again with going to cons. But this does give me a feeling of at least trying to find a productive solution to my peeves. So I might just try it. :)
*Ahem* Okay.... So I've been having a LOT of gripes recently with what I like to refer to as "the general public of fandom." Most of them do involve cosplay, since it is a hobby of mine, I get a 'little' touchy about it. (LOL) So what to DO about it?
So...why DO people keep referring to photoshopped images as cosplay? I'm not talking about added effects, I'm talking about total image manipulation of the picture to portray it as something else. I feel that if the person is not REALLY dressed in the costume, it is NOT cosplay. I don't understand HOW somebody can think it is the same thing. The closet thing to it would be some sort of digital fan-art probably...
So I did some thinking. Is this misunderstanding by "the general public" related to other issues? Could it be that they just don't understand WHAT cosplay really is? Did we, the cosplayers/costumers, confuse them? There's been a lot issues that cosplayers have been having with "the general public" recently. And it only seems to be getting worse. But really, could it all just be that our fellow fans of comics/sci-fi/fantasy/anime just got confused? Did we cause it when we did the whole costumer vs cosplayer bit, oh so long ago? Did we just confuse them enough that they stopped caring & just lumped anyone in a costume as a cosplayer?
Honestly, I've seen enough so called cosplay sites to know that some cosplayers are a little confused on the issue. And some cosplayers help perpetrate of the problems. Some of it is through naivety & other times, it's pure arrogance on the cosplayer's part.
So what can WE DO? Well, get active for one. (This is more or less a jab at myself.) Communicate with each other better. Right now there is a lot of snobbery going on & it's not productive nor helpful. If anything, it's the most harmful thing to our hobby. (Yes, cosplay IS a HOBBY. And hobbies are SUPPOSE to be FUN.) We need to educate our fellow non-costuming/cosplaying friends & our own fellow costumers/cosplayers.
How? Well probably the easiest way is AT the conventions. I've got some ideas for some panels I might try to put together. The best one I could think of was two different panels that are loosely linked. The one would be with the costumer/cosplayers talking about problems that might come up & how to properly handle them. It probably work best if we had some one on that's con staff (especially from their 'security' department) that could explain how the convention handles harassment & what the cosplayer should do. We could also be made aware of stuff that we didn't think about & try to find a solution. This could also be handy to make sure the cosplayers UNDERSTAND the rules so THEY don't do something wrong. (Blocking hallways, improper props- the kind they can get in trouble with, WHY the con only allows certain types/sizes of props, etc.) The second one would involve the "general public" & trying to explain WHY we do what we do including the different aspects & what constitutes AS cosplay...and what DOES NOT. We could explain what is acceptable behavior & what is not. What to do if you see unacceptable behavior. A lot of the problems cosplayers are having could be stopped with this. I firmly believe that most of those *ahem* "MISGUIDED" individuals REALLY DON'T understand that their behavior is unacceptable & why. Others are probably just afraid to step in & stop it because they don't know either. If no one ever tells anybody, no one will never learn.
Of course this means I have to get active again with going to cons. But this does give me a feeling of at least trying to find a productive solution to my peeves. So I might just try it. :)