Bullying in Cosplay

I am a cosplay outsider.  My experience with costuming is limited to dressing up like a pirate and getting ridiculously, unnecessarily forshnicked on Halloween.  And who doesn’t enjoy dressing up as your favorite movie or TV character on October 31^st every year?  Even if you don’t perfectly match that character’s body type and looks (and really, who does?) you have to admit that it is a blast putting together a really involved costume.  If it’s funny, sexy, or simply a well-made pop culture reference, you want to show off or else why spend so much time on it?  So when my friends go on about their cosplay hobby, I can’t think of a reason why there would be anything wrong in indulging that costuming itch any time of the year.  

Yarr!

However, as nerd culture becomes more acceptable to the masses and the sheer number of people going to conventions increases, cosplay in particular has become subject to the drama that comes with the mainstream spotlight.  Cosplayers who have -- shall we say -- not the ideal body type, who have nonetheless spent hours and hours constructing a costume worthy of a film company’s design department are the brunt of the (dumb) joke when they put it on.  They spent all effort in getting every minute detail correct, but find themselves ridiculed for being overweight, having acne, or being “ugly” in some other conventional detail no matter how fantastic their costumes are.

For example, a friend of mine was recently dubbed “Fat [Character]” on a popular imageboard after his first and only attempt at cosplaying.  (I’m not going to say which character, nor post a picture because I feel my friend has gone through enough.)  He went so far as to even dye his hair instead of using a wig, and specially made certain parts of the costume himself despite being an amateur at it.  He did it because he wanted to have fun representing a character he loved and enjoyed.  Unfortunately, after being torn apart by internet trolls who had just seen a single picture of him, he decided that he didn’t want to cosplay anymore.

I’ll say it simply.  The practice of tearing people down because of what they look like is bullshit.  Cutting people out because they look different than our ideal is what nerd culture was built as an antithesis to in the first place!  We shouldn’t give a flying fornication one way or the other if the three-hundred pound bearded man wants to create a Sailor Moon costume.  He’s not hurting anyone.  Yet, we have sites dedicated to making fun of people in this way.  Cosplaytrainwreck.com, a Tumblr called “Your Cosplay Sucks”…who are you to judge these people?  Why do you care what they do with their free time?  According to a Facebook group, “Fat ugly cosplayers ruin the characters.”  Really?  What’s more pathetic:  The overweight girl in the Rei Ayanami costume or the fact that these mouth-breathing imbeciles feel it ruins the ACTUAL SHOW for them? 

 Under that skirt are balls of steel.

While JessicaNigri in her Pikachu outfit tickles my pokeballs like any other red-blooded male, I don’t cut down or judge other cosplayers over their appearance.  Instead, look at the details on the costume and try to think of how much time that person spent getting everything perfect.  Sure she might be heavy, but she also made her own chainmail and boiled, dyed, and cut the leather for her Night Elf costume herself.  THAT is impressive.