Cosplay Versus Oddplay

Seconds away for the Cosplay showdown, hailed as the greatest clash since Ali v Frazier.

In the red corner, Callum Crumlish insists it’s not OK to be Super Mario for the day. What happens when he meets Princess Peach, warns Callum, or when Luigi crashes the party? Meanwhile, Alessandro Carrara maintains that it’s all about having fun, pure and simple, which means that Cosplay’s critics are nothing more than party-poopers.

Your referee and question-master is Tom Hedley.

 

Who are you, what do you do and why are you here?
Alessandro: My name is Alessandro Carrara and I’m a video games journalist who craves all things retro and nerdy. I’ve been attending MCM London Comic Con for quite a few years now, and have seen all manner of crazy costumes and wacky characters during my times there. For me, cosplaying means this: twice a year nerds across the country gather at Comic Con to throw down the shackles of society and revel in their roles as campy, costumed crusaders. Okay, so that sounds pretty dramatic. Cosplaying definitely isn’t the gateway to a full blown societal revolution but it is one of the best ways of clutching onto your precious youth.

Callum: I’m Callum Crumlish, freelance entertainment journalist and I’ve been attending conventions for years all over the UK. I have experienced cosplaying in the worst of ways, and dislike the way it makes people act whilst they are at conventions and much, much more.

Cartoons and dressing-up are for kids, right?
Alessandro:
Think back to those days when you would wake up early to watch cartoons in your teenage mutant ninja turtle PJ’s. Cosplaying captures the essence of those childhood moments and dreams, allowing you to take off the suit and tie and embrace your childhood fantasies. Dressing up in itself can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. You can simply throw on a Super Mario Bros hat or go full on Stormtrooper, going all out on an elaborate costume. Regardless of how old you are, what you are wearing and how extravagant it is, you’ll be greeted with open arms at East London’s ExCel centre, the venue for Comic Con.

Callum: Four year olds have Spider-Man parties, because children dress up. Grown-ups aren’t supposed to be running around dressed up as Power Rangers unless they’re in a movie.

Why do you think people want to dress up as cartoon characters?
Alessandro:
Nostalgia is what drives many people to cosplay. There is a real sense of satisfaction in creating the ultimate costume to represent your childhood heroes and showing it off to all the other nerds. Comic Con is filled with like-minded folk who won’t judge. The other factor is just having fun! That’s right. Fun. A word which has become less and less prevalent as we ‘grow up’! Dressing up as a pop culture character is meant to be daft and silly, that’s the point.

Callum: People dress up at conventions for one reason, and one reason only: narcissism. Whether a muscle-bound man puts on beige-budgie-smugglers to resemble Zangief, or an attractive woman shows off her bikini-body as Lara Croft, or maybe they’ve spent hundreds of hours and a lot of money creating an elaborate suit of armour—they just want to be seen and noticed. People crave attention, and find satisfaction in standing out, and what better way is there to do that than going to a convention full of thousands-upon-thousands of people?

How do you think the general non-cosplaying public view cosplay?
Alessandro:
MCM London Comic Con only happens twice a year and it is contained within one location, so I can say with much confidence that the nerds who make their way to the venue aren’t really that much of a bother to the general public. People traffic on the DLR and surrounding train lines will be inevitable, but when else will you be able to commute to your destination on the same train as a group of people dressed as Marvel’s Avengers?

Callum: Yes. Having to deal with hundreds of teenagers in armour and props on the tube is ridiculous, especially when they’re wielding seven-foot weapons.

Can cosplay go too far?
Alessandro:
It sounds ridiculous but getting into the mind-set of the person you are dressed up as is an important part of the cosplay process. Put it this way, for those three days that Comic Con runs for, you can be absolutely anyone you want to be. Not many places offer pure freedom, so it should be celebrated not shunned!

Callum: Absolutely. There is nothing more irritating at conventions than people who take their characters too seriously. Being followed around a convention hall by an Assassin pretending to stalk his prey isn’t part of the ‘convention experience’; it’s annoying, and disturbs my valuable shopping time

If you could ask a cosplayer one question, what would it be?
Alessandro:
 I would ask what makes the character they have dressed up as so special for them. I would want to understand the story behind their choice of character as opposed to the simple question of why they have dressed up.

Callum: Please leave dressing up to the kids—you’re an adult, and should act like one!

Okay, you’re allowed to cosplay as one character for the day. Who would it be?
Alessandro:
I would most likely cosplay as the ultimate soldier Naked Snake from Metal Gear Solid 3. It is one of my all-time favourite games and it holds some of my earliest, precious gaming memories. However, this would have to take place in some alternate dimension were I could actually grow a full-on beard to fit the character.

Callum: I would cosplay Peter Parker, because he dresses like a normal person, has a real job, and maintains a social life on top of carrying out his heroic acts.

No posts to display