AMENDMENT I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Source - http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment
Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure?), short for "costume play", is a performance art in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context. Favorite sources include manga, anime, comic books, video games, and films. Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa. There is also a subset of cosplay culture centered on sex appeal, with cosplayers specifically choosing characters that are known for their attractiveness and/or revealing costumes.
Performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or via media; the performer can be present or absent. It can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body, or presence in a medium, and a relationship between performer and audience. Performance art can happen anywhere, in any venue or setting and for any length of time. The actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work.
Now, I'm going to simply give my opinions here, for which some will say that I'm wrong, I'm crazy, I'm anti-cosplay (Whatever the fuck that means), I'm a "Hater" (Rolling my eyes), or that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Those are their opinions and I respect and accept that. So having typed this, disclaimer, if that's what you want to call it, allow me to continue.
It my opinion, that cosplay is not "Art". I'm sorry folks, but I see it on FB and Twitter and Television all the time these days. Cosplayers wanting to be recognized as artists. Give me a break please! Costume designers? Maybe, since they're basically re-creating something that someone else already designed. Wardrobe creators, ok I'll give them that. These two previous statements are not meant to demean or diminish or belittle the work that goes into some of these costumes, and I admit some of them are pretty damn good. I will tell you that I myself, DO NOT possess the talent, nor the patience to make some of the amazing costumes that these people spend their time working on. What amazes me, (sarcasm), is that someone like the "Legendary" (more eye rolling) Yaya Han, pictured below (pay attention to the pictures, I'll be bringing them up again here shortly) had the temerity to lecture cosplayer Monika Lee, about the importance of construction and accuracy of costumes. She was worried about Monika following in the footsteps of their mutual friend Jessica Nigri (Who I will give you a true anecdotal story about further down.)and being too sexy!
Yaya Han
Now I would like the reader to take notice of a few key points, about these pictures (I told you I'd be bringing them up). Before I get ahead of myself, I want to point out that I did not select these pictures specifically because they fit the needs of this blog, they were pictures 1, 3 and 4, in a google image search. I intentionally left number 2 out due to the fact that it was marked as copyright of Yayahan. So to avoid a whole pissing situation where I get an angry e-mail from Yaya herself (Which I don't believe would happen, she's probably too busy creating something, or selling her cat ears, wings or pictures of herself she's autographed to worry about what I have to say. Anywho). Back to the pictures, notice in the first one, it's basically one big boob shot. Hey, I'm not complaining here, I've been a fan of tits since I was an infant, loved them then, still do! The glasses are librarian sexy, and did she have something in her hand? What heterosexual man would notice? Picture two, Catwoman! I love Selina Kyle! I hate when asians cosplay caucasians, and vice versa (Ok, now somebody out there go ahead, accuse me of racism.) Though in that picture, because it's black on a white background, I'm unable to appreciate, or even notice the work that went into the design and construction of the costume, What I can appreciate is Yaya's excellent cleavage! Thank you again Yaya! Picture number three, well that's different! At least I am able to admire the work that went into this one, however, like most guys would, I immediately looked for a camel-toe, then when I didn't find one (well played Yaya) the next thing I noticed were two large breasts, almost pouring out of, an armor made of what I can only guess is worbla. So this woman, was lecturing Ms Lee on cosplay not being about sexiness. Way to go hypocrisy! If I am not mistaken, and it's been a while since I watched the episode of "Heroes of Cosplay" but I believe that this is the costume that Yaya was worried about the lovely Miss Lee wearing.
Now, I may not have the best vision in the world, but I don't see much in the way of cleavage here. The legs were kind of sexy (You'll have to trust me on this.) A little bit of skin, but not so much.
Now let me say that Miss Nigri and Yaya did do a youtube video where they explained that they are friends and that they "LOVE" eachother. (Down, down, down boys! They didn't mean it that way, ;) at least I don't think they did? Who knows?). They explained that the TV show is edited and that drama draws viewers (the hell you say!) but in reality they really are friends. However I have met Miss Nigri and let me tell you about that!
Left, I am pictured with Miss Nigri, at Texas Frightmare Weekend 2012, where she appeared as the hero Juliet Starling, of the video game, Lolipop Chainsaw. She was selected by the makers of the game as the official Juliet. I took with me a foam chainsaw which was a giveaway for the game's release. I asked her to autograph it for me and she did. She signed it "Juliet XOXO". Now I've gotten a lot of autographs at horror conventions and not once ever, did an actor ever, and I Mean EVER autograph something with just the name of the character they portrayed. Thank you Miss Nigri for basically ruining a collectible and rendering it worthless. Not that I believe that she would read this, anywho. Here're a few pictures of Jessica, and of course I will take issue with something, please keep in mind that she is a serious cosplayer, whilst you take a moment to ogle...er...appreciate the pictures I have posted below.
Now I am not certain which character she is cosplaying in those pictures, but if I had to guess it would be "Every Geeks fantasy", that's just my opinion. Or perhaps it's "This is what you'll never have!" I'm not sure. At any rate I'm all about promoting other people's "Work" so I'll tell you that you can purchase prints of those two pictures, autographed of course plus around 30 others for the low, low price of $15 each! Yes boys she will personalize them for you, though be nice. if you request anything disgusting, lewd or just outright disrespectful, she'll not honor the request and either refund your cash, or keep it as an "Asshole Tax". I'm not sure which. You can get them from her shop......Something's amiss here.
Wait! Does that say "Nigri Please" in the top right hand corner of that picture? Is that supposed to be a tongue in cheek play on the words "Nigga Please"?
Digression
Now in the above picture of myself and Miss Nigri, you might notice that I have a bit more Melanin in my skin than does she. I assure you that my complexion is not a result of my lying in a tanning bed, it's a result of genetics. My father was of african decent, meaning he was black for those of you who need lay-speak. Thereby making me a mulatto, or again for the layman, half black, and therefore somewhat offended. I'm certain that this is nothing to write a boycott petition about, nor to initiate a hate mail campaign, and nothing to write to Reverend Sharpton about. I will, however, say that when I first saw it some time back it did piss me off. Who in the fuck does this woman think she is? I could reduce myself to name calling, and slinging insults, but after having met her I'm sure it would do no good. Ok, FUCK IT! I won't go too far into this complaint because lily white princesses who get their asses kissed in real life and online don't care what someone like me has to say anyways. Cunt!
One last cosplayer I'd like to talk about and it will be brief. This woman, Victoria Schmidt.
How in the hell does she consider herself an artist? It was shown on "Heroes" that her husband does all the work on her costumes! Sorry honey!
Ok I've digressed enough, I know I've made some disparaging comments here. Though all I have done is stated My Opinion on the subjects I written about. I don't consider cosplay an art form. Some would argue that it is performance art. I call it dress up. The cosplayers I've seen have dressed up, and walked around convention floors having their pictures taken. many times these are attractive women and the people who want their picture taken with them are men. I hate to tell you ladies (cosplayers) these guys are not interested in the construction of your costume, yeah some of the will ask about it, but keep in mind that a number of these guys still love with their parents and have yet to see a live nude woman or touch a real human female breast. So there's your fan base. Am I bitter? No, just an opinionated asshole. I own it. But while I'm on the subject. Stan WInston was an artist, Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Clive Barker and Steven King are artists. If you'd like some examples of female artists, Adrienne King, Ashley Lawrence and Ve Neil. This post is not a misogynistic rant. it will be easy to label it that, if you so wish, and it's your right to have that opinion. Though I have only singled out women here, it is because those examples fit my needs for this blog. This is just what I was thinking about today and it irritated me. So I got on my blog and put it out there. This whole cosplay is art, to me IT MAKES NO SENSE!!
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