Saturday afternoon.
Scenes and cosplaying characters at the Comic Con 2015 in the National Convention Centre, Dublin.
From top: Alan, Bobby, Jenny and Nicki Mckenzy as Ghostbusters; unidentified Power Ranger; Tiphany McNevin as Storm from X-Men; Keith Callaghan as Marcus from Gears of War; unidentified; Maria Graham as Harley Quinn; Julian Checkly as Batman with unidentified taximan.
(Sam Boal/RollingNews)
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The Ghostbusters look extremely Griswold-y.
Spit of John Candy too.
Batman looks pretty good!
Weirdos
And fiercely proud of it.
Whose a cranky widdle baby todway!! *squeezes Digs’s cheeks*
@Digs
Yeah well, that’s just like, your opinion man.
No different to anyone who wears a sports jersey with the name printed on it.
Or those Bloomsday people.
Cosplay O.G’s.
In what way are they the same?
If you’re wearing the jersey of a sports team, you’re wearing the primary part of the outfit of that team, but you’re not a member of same.
If you’re cosplaying, you’re wearing the outfit of a fictional character, but you’re not that character.
The only difference is that so many people have been wearing sports jerseys for so long that it’s more socially acceptable.
Sounds like a false equivalency to me.
(and i don’t wish to promote ‘sports jersey people’ when I say that, if you get what I mean.)
Well, how do you see them being different?
I don’t think I’ll be able to answer that question.
Short answer: There’s more chance of a fight between sports jersey people at sportsball events than there is in a cosplay event at a comiccon. Therefore cosplay is weird and sports jerseyism is manly.
I’m not a fan of sport jerseyism personally.
And looking better for it.
I know what he meant,
Sure don’t they all look well-fed…
redacted
redacted and partially redacted
Wow Knock are really trying to reach out to new demographics.
Did anyone from Identity Ireland go as the White Power Ranger?
Dank meme is dank
Kappa
Exceptionally awesome all round. Particularly excellent Batman and GoW, and exceptionally daring Red Power Ranger.
red power ranger needs to have that checked out by a GP before it swells any further.
Didn’t make it to the con but I saw a good few cosplayers milling around town on Saturday. Fair play to them all
Where did this come from? Five years ago there were no cos players in Ireland. When did such infantile behaviour become acceptable?
I’d suggest the appetite has been there a lot longer than the convention itself.
Oh, there’s been cosplay in Ireland for a long, long time. It’s just that it’s cool now, so it gets into the media, and narky sods like Jonotti can moan about it as a result.
It’s definitely not cool.
Not caring whether you;re cool or not is the ultimate cool.
OK, it’s not cool in Jonotti land then.
Jonotti, what do you think is cool/worthwhile? You always have something to negative to say about pretty much everything
He’s won three international caps, Don, so jog on. The man’s a legend.
Oh, that’s right. 3 international caps in a mystery sport in a mystery place that no one can verify. That’s cool.
And so mysterious *rrraawwwrrr*
It’s hardly a mystery sport or competition when I have explicitly stated those details. I’m being coy about the place for obvious reasons.
I’m all for personal freedoms to do whatever. Some people like to dress up like horses and pull themselves off. That’s fine but I would suggest that these people have some minor mental issues.
Nah, you got all coy when everyone started taking the p*** out of you. It was great fun that day *dreams*
In what way is it infantile? Do you dress up for Halloween? Or wear a jersey for any team you support? Same thing.
In what way is it infantile to dress up as a character from children’s comics? Hmm let me think…
“eh they’re actually adult comics”
No, they were always intended for kids and some of those just never grew out of reading them.
Again I see the all powerful jersey argument.
Attending real sports games and supporting real players has been the preserve of adults for centuries. Jerseys and flags are completely normal displays of support.
Have you ever considered not hating everything? It’s really refreshing.
“No, they were always intended for kids and some of those just never grew out of reading them.”
I don’t see why this is a bad thing. Except for being able to have breakfast for dinner and pudding for breakfast, growing up can be massively overrated.
“Attending real sports games and supporting real players has been the preserve of adults for centuries”
SPORTSING!
“Jerseys and flags are completely normal displays of support.”
Facists like flags too. What is the point again?
Don, the important thing is that there’s a cutoff point. If adults have liked somethign for a long time, then it’s OK for them to like it now.
If it’s new, or adults have only started liking it recenly, then it’s bad.
Oh, is this about hipsters then?
You’re definitely Super cool Jonotti. You’re a rad dude, bet you wear your hats to the side and everything. Cowabunga to the MAX.
Ah so you’re argument is essentially “because I don’t like it and I’m going to spout some wilfull ignorance about a subject I know nothing about”. Try reading Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. You might learn a thing or two.
No, I’m more concerned with the recent trend of Western young adults refusing to grow up and let go of their childhood. I think it reflects more serious problems in society relating to the loss of financial independence of 20 even 30 somethings. Full time schooling is now lasting into people’s 30s.
So yeah, I think people that age sitting at home watching cartoon network earing a bowl of coco pops before heading out dressed as a power ranger is fooking odd.
Jonotti, King of the Concern Trolls
It’s dressing up in costumes. The most harmless, gentle, inclusive, accessible, colourful, entertaining, sociable kind of fun you can have. It’s like a laid-back free-form all-access street theatre. If there’s one things humans love doing, it’s dressing up in costumes. We’ve always loved it. We always will. All we need is an excuse. Sport is one excuse. Being a high court judge is another excuse. Thinking Harley Quinn is awesome is yet another. If there’s anyone with minor mental problems – well, no, I wouldn’t say that, hang-ups, perhaps – it’s the ones who can’t abide other people dressing up in costumes for fun. Those people need a cuddle. From Batman.
Jonotti: Stop having the wrong kind of fun!
If that was actually your concern than why not state that at the start instead of being deliberately nasty and dismissive about someone’s hobby? I also still don’t see any difference between this and watching sports. Has it got something to do with drinking?
About the same time as trolling.
Dear Tiphany
Rarrr
regards
Mr. T.
Fair play an’ all :)
Not trolling but interested. How does feminism view the fat that the vast majority of ‘celebrity’ cosplayers seem to be women dressed in suggestive versions of their targets?
I suspect that the feminist view would be to the effect that women can dress any way they damn well want and should be able to do so without fear of harassment or interference.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/cosplayers-have-a-message-to-all-perverts#.lybvYGB54
There’s a subset of feminists, generally called Second-Wave who would argue that women shouldn’t dress in an objectifying way because that’s buying into the patriarchial roles for women. The most exteme aspect of that mindset are the so-called Sex Worker-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, who think that female prostitutes, porn actresses and the like shouldn’t recieve any support from the feminist movement.
Modern Feminism, which is called Third Wave by comparison would definitely agree that a woman can dress any way she wants and shouldn’t expect harassment as a result (though she often will, of course)
Can you be a second wave feminist and also want sex work to be decriminalised+regulated?
You can be whatever kind of feminist you think you are!
Cool! I always liked Wonder Woman… I’ll need a hedge trimmer for me legs first though
Same here clampers….
You could always go for Wonder Woman from when she lost her powers, wore a white suit and was ripping off Emma Peel (http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/comicsalliance.com/files/2010/06/wwcostume02b.jpg)
Or her recent redesign where she has black leggings, red bodice and blue jacket (http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/newwwcostume1.jpg)
Thank you Lorcan :)
Also, Where does Anita Sarkeesian fall into? 2nd or 3rd wave? She is a young feminist who is very critical of the female characters designed for video games, which I presume is what people will be dressing up as here.
E.g. http://youtu.be/_VeCjm1UO4M
ALSO, here’s an article about a thing called Girlcon, a convention recently held in London, aimed at teenage girls and ‘ non-binary folk’.
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/the-teen-girl-world-of-girlcon
(Apologies for it being from Vice.)
Technically she is 4th wave.
It is confusing.
Sarkeesian isn’t against sexy video game character designs, but rather the overuse of sexist tropes in games – a point she makes at the start of all her videos in that series.
She doesn’t make it at the start of that video. I don’t really understand the rest of your comment. People dress as a sexist trope (I.e. A particular design/manifestation of a particular games character.) and yet they are not legitimising the sexist trope? I don’t see how that works. Myself. *peace sign*.
The video you posted is from an earlier series (I was reluctant to click the link in work), but her current series on computer games – the one that brought her notoriety does include that caveat, and she’s said it herself in multiple interviews and talks.
I can’t speak for her attitude towards sexy cosplay because I’m not aware of it (I don’t recall it being a point in any of her material that I’ve watched or read), but from other things she has spoken about I’m sure she has no problem with women taking control of their own sexuality and expressing themselves in a way they feel confident doing.
She does also make the point that tropes aren’t bad, but their overuse can be in some of the Tropes vs Women videos that I have watched.
Ultimately, I agree with Sarkeesian’s point that sesist tropes in media are overplayed. I also appreciate the female (and occasionally male) form and so like some sexy costumes and sex scenes in media. But these things aren’t mutually exclusive – I enjoyed most of the sex scenes in Sense8 while getting kinda tired of all the gratuitious nudity in Game of Thrones, for example.
I’d guess, and it is a guess, that she’d be in favour of a broader range of characters and designs from a a more diverse body of creators for people to base their cosplay on.
Lorcan, I assume someone somewhere is as we speak writing a dissertation on the positive use of sexuality in Sense8 versus the negative, lazy use of sexuality in Game Of Thrones.
Yep.
I’m not sure it is the majority anymore than the majority of men dress as muscle-bound superheroes
http://www.metro.us/philadelphia/heels-cosplay-amp-feminism-women-ruled-philly-comic-con/zsJoej—zY5OaOY24VlY/
If pedos can dress as priests,well cosplay has been here forever.
I wonder why the guy is dressing up as a power ranger.
Not even the oddest choice for cosplay :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK03SUGVDXA
Savage!
The skill and ingenuity that goes into making those ensembles…
(Nice clip too btw)
Each to their own but surely, once you reach about 16 or so, playtime is over.
+1
Eh, lads, have ye not hit 16 yet?
That’s when playtime *starts*.
Before you hit 16-or-so, you can’t get married, own firearms, get a pilot’s licence, get a driving licence, get a credit card, buy alcohol, join the army, consent to have sex, change your name to “Bear Trapp”, run for public office, go to college or vote.
Honestly, compared to all those things, cosplay’s pretty fecking harmless fun. (Also, go tell the bloomsday folks they need to grow up, I’m sure the TDs, Senators and Judges among them will agree with you :P )