I was anticipating the new Heroes of Cosplay on SyFy with fear and trepidation. Reality TV in general focuses on the sickeningly self-centered attention seekers in each aspect of life. I don’t want to ever watch a show where people manipulate, form factions and backstab to get others voted off for money. Other reality TV shows revel in making the viewer feel better by watching the shallow and meaningless lives of others, whether it be Real Housewives or Jersey Shore. So I had expected Heroes of Cosplay to focus on shallow people, conflict and to make fun of cosplay.
Here is how the first episode went, right and wrong:
Things They Got Right
1) Not all cosplayers are glamorous with large chests on skinny bodies.
2) Cosplayers spend a lot of time thinking about their characters.
3) Cosplayers plan costumes way in advance.
4) Cosplaying costs money, time and effort.
5) Cosplayers make their own costumes when they can and spend a heck of a lot of work on it.
6) Cosplayers want people to notice their costume, and to give positive feedback.
7) Cosplayers put a lot of focus in their life on their hobby.
Things They Got Wrong
1) Cosplay is about competition. WRONG. I have never seen anyone act like a beauty pageant contestant and worry about someone else’s outfit. In fact, every cosplayer really appreciates everyone else’s cosplay. It is rare to have a competition and even rarer to have cash prizes. The cash prizes are so low that they never cover the cost of the conference much less hotel, travel, food and the costume itself. I have been in several “costume contests” and usually there are more contestants than audience. We all line up in categories, have fun cosplaying, and cheer each other. It is a very positive, non-nerve wracking, non-competitive process.
2) Cosplay is time driven. WRONG. There are no deadlines in cosplay. There are cons all over the place. I don’t know anyone who is “not ready” to go. Most cosplayers have multiple outfits and know when they will get to a con and what they are going to do months in advance.
3) Cosplayers are bitchy. WRONG. They made all the cosplayers look weird, demanding, controlling, stressed out and unreasonable. The men in their lives were all suffering. Cosplayers are fun-loving people comfortable with who they are. The men in their lives have fun with them and join in.
4) Cons are all about a contest. WRONG. At the last six cons I attended, if there was a competition, I did not know about it, nor care about it. Cons are about walking around, seeing cosplayers who are cool, being cool yourself, looking through great vendor stuff, meeting people from shows, comics, etc., spending time with friends, and socializing. Cons are like Disneyland. Lots of things to see and do, everyone is there to have a good time. In the TV show, the little time they spend not about the competition is stressing over meeting the judge and then partying too much at a bar. Ok, the latter part does happen… But partying at the bar does not keep you from being in costume the next day, after about 1 pm.
5) The ending – who will be the winning Cosplayer and get the Title? WRONG What title? What winning? The winning in cosplay is the one who has the most fun. It’s only about fun. Friends, dressing up as a cool character, roleplaying, making little kids happy, appreciating each other. They are trying to turn cosplay into faceoff, or iron chef, or the great race. That misses the whole point. Most of the cosplayers I know all participate in charity events for little kids, are they going to show that? I hope so.
6) The heroes… I met YaYa Han at a con where she was cosplaying Jessica Rabbit. I did not know who she was at the time. I have never heard of any of the others cosplayers. Where is Jessica Nigri? Seriously? They show her in the opening credits, I hope they compensated her. Where is Toni Darling? Cara Nicole/AZ Powergirl? Katy Mor? LeeAnna Vamp? Brianna? Ivy Doomkitty? The ladies of LT3? There are some famous cosplayers out there but not in the show.
7) All women? There is only one male on the show with very little screen time. In my opinion they should do one with all women, one with all men, or one with an even numbers. I don’t think it works to focus all on women and one token guy. There are a lot of cosplayers out there of all races, genders, and ages.
Why not Jessica Nigri?
In summary – So far they have not made cosplayers look like social rejects and idiots. They have not made out like people are making fortunes in cosplay and have huge corporate sponsors, and they have shown some of the effort that goes into costume making, which are all good. However, the show focuses on stress and competition, neither of which should be part of cosplay in my opinion. I hope the show does not influence a new generation to come into cosplay with the attitude of “being the best”. That has no place in cosplay.
As disheartened as I was by the stories, I was also inspired by the enthusiasm and encouragement that so many of them had for the project. Often, before I could rattle off my intro speech, cosplayers would read my sign and shout “YES!” “OH MY GOD, THIS!” or “THANK YOU SO MUCH!” Many of the cosplayers and photographers I spoke to even wanted to personalize their statement or use this project as a venue to speak their mind about the subject. Others beckoned more of their friends over to participate too, or mentioned that they wanted to contribute more to the project somehow by spreading it through their fanpages or local communities.
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 