on basic human decency, or: how the fuck is this all news, again?

[puella_nerdii]

I don't have much to add to what my girlfriend already said, but goddamn.

I have never, ever been so ashamed to be part of a fandom, and may every single dumbfuck who performed the Nazi salute in Germany cosplay at a convention photoshoot be visited by the face of Jewish vengeance, because words fail to express how deeply NOT OKAY that is

Comments

[pinstripesuit]

Looking at the photo, it looks like the staff member cosplaying Prussia (who, as you know, was a co-panelist at "Why It's Not Cool to Cosplay as a Nazi") didn't even realize what was happening. I'll ask her about it, but yeah, there will be punching. And I'm sure some kind of discussion among the staff about this.

[puella_nerdii]

It looks like the cosplayers, quite literally, went over her head -- she seemed like a really cool person, and I'm sure that had she known what happened, she'd have put a stop to it immediately and kicked those assholes the fuck out of the con.

Do what you guys need to do. *hugs* I'm so sorry this happened; the rest of the con was truly a fantastic and well-organized experience, and I wanted to get the WHAT THE HELL NO out of the way first so I could make the rest of my con writeup a lot more positive.

[pinstripesuit]

Well, the most that could have probably happened was getting some security people over there, but yeah. It really sucks.

I mean, there's only so much we can do to control attendee behavior (AB security staff are not allowed to touch attendees except in the case of a medical emergency), but I'm sure this will be brought up among staffers. Because this is NOT COOL and it's really bad PR for the con, and it does not give the impression of us having a safe, fun convention environment.

Seriously, stuff like this makes me really scared that the Hynes will not wish to continue hosting us because we look like a Nazi con.

[byzantienne]

I am honestly wondering if, considering the blanket ban on Nazi paraphernalia at AB (I am right in thinking you guys actually banned it, yes, not just strongly discouraged?), those particular cosplayers could be identified and refused entry at further Anime Bostons.

Because there should be direct repercussions to this sort of asshattery.

[pinstripesuit]

That's more of an issue for the executive staff, which I'm not part of. I'm not too sure what can be done about the stupid attendees in the photo, either. But I know the issue will be brought up at our next meeting, so we'll see.

[byzantienne]

Thanks. I (and I think most of the rest of us) would very much appreciate it if you did bring it up.

[hakucho_cygnus]

The person cosplaying Denmark also seemed embarrassed about it, and (I'd like to think) some of the other cosplayers who were there felt really uneasy...

[puella_nerdii]

According to this thread, they did, which makes me wonder how fucking thick those cosplayers had to be not to pick up on how that salute in that costume is not acceptable.