Cosplay, a portmanteau that joins the words “costume” and “play,” is a hobby in which participants called cosplayers dress up for costumes from the characters which are from comics books, games and cartoons of the US - to anime and manga - comics and cartoons of Japan, that they love. This is a new subculture that came from Japan then became widely popular to the world, but not all people understand what it really means. They still have some negative thought about it. As for myself, cosplay is much more than a hobby. It is “the art of costume play,” which also has its difficult and challenging, and can consider as a job.
Most parents do not see what is good about this hobby besides turning people to fictional characters with heavy makeup and
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It is a performance art which does not discriminate on gender or age so that anyone can join this culture. A professional cosplayer not only has to dress up the same outfit but also express the spirit of the character in every gesture, and the look. They must pay attention to the actions, gait, speech, personality, how to behave as close to the characters. For example, to transforming a Sailor Moon girl, cosplayer not only need to go through costumes, hairstyles and makeup, but also her dialogue or the way she performs her magic, which will be mark as success or not. Moreover, cosplayers usually perform in conventions such as Sail Diego Comic-Con, festivals like Anime Expo, and masquerade but not at …show more content…
Being a cosplayer is like being a reluctant model, which "makes you feel like a celebrity for a day." (Tony). But it is much harder because cosplayer has to prepare everything, from costume to makeup by themselves. In order to have a good image, they have to work hard to design clothes, and buy stuffs. While not all accessories are sold in the country, they need to sew a set of clothes for months. Costumes must be designed according to the character and character image. Besides, every cosplayer must make a very thorough makeup to show all the lines, angles of the character. It is very different from a normal makeup which also means they must learn. Unfortunately, there is no specific class for it, they can only learn on Internet. One more difficult is also creating a standard prototype character as well as embellish the outfit. Thus, when appearing in front of the crowd, the cosplayer completely transformed into a
Cultural appropriation has been a controversial subject of debate for decades; hence it is not something “new” as society likes to think. The issue of cultural appropriation seems to have recently emerged in the 21st century because technology has allowed information to be more widespread and easily accessed. The borrowing of cultural elements of minority cultures, particularly black culture and indigenous culture, (hairstyles, music, fashion, art, etc.) by fashion labels and designers, celebrities, and the dominant culture often elicits unforgiving backlash from liberals. For example, Kylie Jenner has frequently been called out by the black community for continuously
Throughout the year hotels, convention centers, and other high capacity venues are transformed into a social haven and meeting ground for fellow Otakus and cosplay fans or cosplayers for short. The act of cosplay, the abbreviated form of “costume play”, is defined by Oxford Dictionary as “the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga and anime”. However, there is much more to a cosplayer than this simple definition leads one to believe. To its most dedicated patrons, cosplay is an art form incorporating unlimited mediums, such as textile fabrication, woodworking, clay sculpting, resin casting, and even theatrical makeup. Some enthusiasts take cosplay far more seriously than a weekend social hobby. While some would be content with purchasing a commissioned piece or mass produced costume for their convention adventures others are not satisfied until they have handcrafted a masterpiece with 100% accuracy. These cosplayers will spend week or months and hundreds of dollars insure their costume is a perfect adaption of their selected character. Yet for some that is still not enough. There are those who will not be content until they have become the living embodiment of their chosen character. They become the method actors of cosplay, memorizing the characters personality, walk, quirks, and vocalics. Going even deeper into the realm of cosplay, there are still those who are so obsessed with becoming a character they will paint their skin, whether it be pink, grey, green, or any color in between. This is where a sensitive debate explodes. Coloring yourself grey or pink for your Marceline or Princess Bubblegum adventure time cosplays will ...
The term “fan” was originally used to describe sports fans during the nineteenth century and was later adopted by science fiction enthusiasts in the 1920s. The term “fan,” however, is used for describing a type of person who is enthusiastic, or fanatic about a certain subject. Popular fan culture, nicknamed “fandoms,” have become an integral part of society in many countries, and have connected people sharing a common interest through online communities where they can freely discuss fan related topics. Popular fandoms today include Directioners, Beliebers, and VIPs. People who are part of fandoms usually show their devotion by participating in fan conventions such as Comicon, writing fan mail, creating fan art, or by promoting their interests to others. Being a fan also comes with the responsibility of changing one’s lifestyle in order to accommodate time and energy into the fandom. Fan culture also offers people the chance to feel passionate about something or someone in order to satisfy the emotional needs they lack from their daily life.
In the reflective essay “Secret Skin: An Essay in Unitard Theory”, Michael Chabon explores the origin of superhero costumes and discovers that these costumes are “secret skins” of the superheros, rather than a disguise that they wear to hide their identity. Their identities are revealed in their costumes, where their past and secrets are displayed on cloth. Chabon supports this theory by exploring and explaining the detail upon the costumes of our favorite superheroes. For example, Chabon explains how the “S” engraved in Superman’s costume is actually “the coat of arms of the ancient Kryptonian House of El, from which he descends” and not actually the “S” for the first letter of the word “Superman”. Furthermore, the spider on Spiderman’s
From time immemorial, hell was an inspiration for the costumes used during Halloween. In the contemporary society, turning up for Halloween dressed up as a goblin, zombie or ghost is less likely to make a staunch follower of the event to receive sufficient appreciation. Popular culture has succeeded in replacing the underworld in terms of providing influential costumes for the event. The aspect of individuals from different races increasingly dominating pop culture is causing costume lovers to face a number of issues. The most dominant question has always been whether it is ethical to dress or appear dressed up like someone from a different race during Halloween. This factor largely bases on the costume an individual chooses, and the manner he or she ends up presenting the costume. It also depends on what the individual wearing the costume is representing or duplicating during the event. In view of all the complexities involved in choosing an appropriate dress code, it remains imperative to display keenness while settling on certain attire. Observing one’s dress code prevents an individual from making a racial gaffe that may occur when the person wears attire that derogates another race.
Acting is the performing of a position or the role of a character for a temporary amount of time. Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road, a tragic novel, challenges the preconceived notion that the 1950’s was a cheerful time where everyone had the perfect lifestyle in the Suburbs by introducing his readers to three distinct characters who are anything but pleased with their life. Yates proposes the idea of escape as a common thread in society of which everyone dreams, but no one can capture. Due to their desire to escape reality, April, Frank, and Helen turn to acting and role playing to change their personalities through hiding flaws, putting on a happy façade, and playing house.
Since the humble origins of the video gaming industry, individuals used it as a challenge of their abilities. In modern day, this industry is just a popular as any other media which exists in the mainstream world. Video games reflect society’s changing views of the normalities of which individuals and/or groups must abide to. This is exemplified in the evolving representation of the queer individuals within the virtual world. As the video game industry came into focus, so did the LGBT rights movement. This illustrates that society’s views on the LGBT community were reflected in the video games made, however, it was rare that such characters existed as protagonists until the twenty first century. Due to the extreme lack of asexual and non-binary
The way we chose to dress can express our identities and according to Frith and Gleeson (2004), “men’s clothing practices [in particular] are an important and pervasive form of appearance management that reflects the continued monitoring of their visual selves” (p. 40). Christopher Berneck is a Caucasian gay male born and raised in Germany. At just twenty-three he has accomplished feats most people only dream of. He is a world-renowned figure skater and competed for Germany at the Sochi Olympics. In addition, he is a model who has worked for Ford models and has done ads for fashion retailers including ZARA. Now he studies fashion communication at Ryerson and will be on Canada’s Next Top Model in the fall. Fashion has always played a large role in Chris’s life from a very young age. Being a gay male he often felt the need to fit in and not standing out as being too feminine despite his love for women’s fashion. He loves to mix and match women’s and men’s
Professor and vice dean at the University of Miami School of Law Osamudia James' commentary "Can a white child dress as a Halloween character from another race" addresses the now-controversial topic of appropriating another race or culture. James argues that an acceptable costume depends on avoiding stereotypes, discrimination, and white supremacy. I agree with James about avoiding offensive costumes, however, James' description of offensive costumes makes it very difficult to picture anything acceptable to wear. Ideally, a person would avoid white supremacy and discrimination, but I find it very hard to picture a costume which does not use stereotypes in one way or another. Somehow, she manages to relate white supremacy to Halloween in a ineffective
The importance of costume in the theatre cannot be rated too highly, for it is not only an outward and immediately visible medium of expression for the actor himself but it is significant of the dramatic values which he is suppose to portray (Brooke, 1). The colors, texture and shape of a costume can create a feeling of the character that the actor may not be able to portray. There is not any definite information on what exactly the Greeks used for costumes because so much time has elapsed since the original records were taken. Most information is based on the different artifacts that were found, such as paintings and pottery. Sometimes hints of what was worn could be found in the plays themselves.
When I was young, I had a large appeal with fashion week. My friend and I would impersonate the runway models in my living room, dressing up in my mother’s clothes and laying stuffed animals out like attendees. This fascination carried into high school, I found it as an opportunity to demonstrate my style to a larger audience. Fashion week was intriguing to me because it provided a way to express myself in a unique way and show a side of my own creativity. I anticipated this project would give me a chance to learn more about the role fashion week plays in society.
...th can be seen walking around in some of the most bizarre looking clothing. I once saw a young girl wearing a swan dress not unlike the one worn by Bjork. I have seen some of the worst “fashion faux-pas,” with severely conflicting colors, completely mismatching styles of the top, bottom, and shoes, makeup seemingly done by a five-year-old. As one might like to hope that these styles were mistakenly created by the individual, it is clear that they are intended, whether for shock value or for personal satisfaction. It seems as though in places such as Harajuku, the more “unique,” the better. While Miyake seemed to have far reaching consequences for Japanese identity on the international level, Kawakubo’s constant questioning of societal norms helped foster individual deviations, thereby creating a new identity which, ironically enough, is not limited to or by itself.
Did you know that most of the cartoon shows that are on television come from Japan? Japanese popular culture has made a huge hit all over the world. There are many forms of popular art in Japan. Some know forms are anime, music, and manga. These are the most notable ones and are also what makes up most of their fan base for pop culture. Some other forms include cosplaying, contemporary art, and fashion. Cosplaying is short for “costume play” and it means to dress up as a character from sources like anime, manga, film, and games. There are a few places in Japan where people usually cosplay, including Akihabara, Harajuku and Shibuya. In present day, it is almost impossible to not see some form of Japanese pop culture in our country. There are even festivals and conventions held just for it which happens in many places over the world every year. Most people who attend these events will often cosplay as a character from something most people would know. Japanese pop culture is also one of the biggest exports of Japan. Japanese popular culture is the most attractive part of Japan, which has created a big impact around the world.
Laver, James. Costume and Fashion: A Concise History. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1985. Print
Sadly, some parents find this ‘cute’ or ‘fun’. They don't seem to understand how doing this to their children can change their attitudes in a negative way as they grow up. For example, some parents have dressed their children up as Dolly Parton, the ‘street walker’ from Pretty Woman, and much more. A pageant mom quoted this “I’d rather she be perfect and have a little frozen face. Some people say her eyebrows look a little pulled already but they look striking” (Child Beauty Pageants are Abuse).