The many worlds of cosplay.

Cosplay. An activity some people sneer at, laugh at or are faintly embarrassed by. It is, as Lorraine Cink, Host and Senior Creative Producer at Marvel’s New Media division, Costume Play.

I’m a long time Live Action Roleplay fan so there’s none of the above snoot from me. The skill, care and huge love cosplayers put into their craft is frequently stunning and the reasons for its growing popularity numerous.

This entry into Marvel’s 616 documentary series explores how Marvel and cosplay intersect. Yet it does more than this. The episode is a real celebration of these creators and at times I realised Marvel and the director here, Andrew Rossi, had backgrounded themselves in order to show us more of these stars in their own contexts. Sure, their suits are Marvel characters but that is presented as almost just an excuse for this episode to get made – and that’s a canny choice by Marvel – to celebrate their fans.

The show centres around a small selection of those fans and cosplayers and New York Comic Con – an annual show which has in excess of 350,000 attendees (and will again one day I hope).

The stars of this episode are not the talking heads but the four key cosplayers we follow through. One of them is semi-professional with tens of thousands of followers, the other three are not but they all have real life commitments and jobs around which they engage in cosplay, and they are all united by a love for the material.

My favourites are Josh, his wife Trish and separately to them Marcy. Josh plays Captain America and after a decade of pleading, Trish has agreed to play Agent Peggy Carter. She is nervous, excited and uncertain but she’s doing it. Josh is delighted in the most pure and loving way and together they slay.

Marcy is also wonderful. The show gives them space to talk about their journey, about how they feel about representation and it comes across as genuine, honest and completely unfiltered. Marcy has a wonderful sense of who they are and I couldn’t help but see Josh, Trish and Marcy as the kinds of role models I want my kids to know and with whom I would happily hang out (if they’d have me).

That’s not to say the others – Jasmine and Amanda – aren’t as good. I particularly liked Amanda’s raw energy and Jasmine’s vulnerability.

And it’s here where the episode really shines. There are psychologists and people put on screen to explain why cosplay is so much fun and to talk about what people get from it or why they’re drawn to it. I feel like you could skip those segments because the real insight here comes from the cosplayers themselves who have done the work and know why they’re into this.

The reasons aren’t simple nor few in number. They’re generous and spectacular, they’re about being free, about having the armour to appear to the world. It’s about finding the people who inspire you and telling the world what you stand for and it’s about being an artisan and meeting others just like you.

The smiles and courage and sheer sense of triumphing over all those things which would conspire to keep us from living the lives we want to lead are on show here and in each proffered explanation I felt uplifted and encouraged.

It could have been sappy or silly, the episode could have been sneering or looking down its nose, as if it were tolerating this rather than celebrating it.

This episode does none of these things – it clearly loves this as much as those who appear inside the frame.

The final thing which I want to remark upon is how well the sense of community comes across. I have only ever been on the periphery of the cosplay community (I have friends who do it and as a writer I have been at conventions with lots of cosplay going on) but I’ve always seen the sense of community. That’s not to say community is just joy and shining happiness – it’s not. Yet what community does provide is space where likeminded people come together, know one another and where everyone belongs.

If I had one criticism it’s that again the hard issues were ducked. No discussion of the controversies surrounding women playing male characters (and vice versa) or having Black Thors or White Black Panthers. Now, upon reflection, I don’t think it’s a bad thing for two reasons. Firstly, I’m kind of happy not to give bigots the chance to come along and rain on others’ parade. Secondly, anyone should be able to find their representation wherever it comes and if you identify with Loki then bloody well dress as Loki and I’ll be there on the side cheering.

Verdict: I’m not about to go and cosplay (I’m too busy Larping) but this show gave me real insight into the community, the people who love it and why they got involved.

 

My rating: 8 Cosplay Black Panthers out of 10.

Stewart Hotston