Posts with tag cosplay
Discuss: When Does Fandom Go Too Far?
Filed under: Fandom », Harry Potter »
Between seeing We are Wizards at SXSW last month, Elisabeth's excellent Geek Beat column on cosplay and costuming (that's her at the right, dressed as Queen Gorgo), JK Rowling squaring off in court with Steven Vander Ark over this Harry Potter Lexicon, and following the wonderful Twilight fan sites more closely of late, I feel like I've been double-dipped in fandom recently. All this has got me thinking on the concept of fandom and fantasy and what drives people (like myself) to obsess about fictional worlds and characters, and where the line is between healthy love and admiration for books and films and unhealthy obsession.
Don't get me wrong here ... I totally love fansites.. Fans who maintain fansites give hours and hours of their personal time to keeping those sites going, and when sites get popular, they have to recruit other obsessed fans to help them out, all while maintaining the quality of the site and keeping away trolls (and, in the case of Twilight Moms, maybe a few irate spouses to boot!) But how much is too much?
The Geek Beat: Dressing Up In Film Love
Filed under: Fandom », The Geek Beat »

By now you're thinking "cosplayer weirdos!" and let me stop you there. First, there are two categories of people who do this – there are costumers, and there are cosplayers. Both categories have their share of the insane, but also many who are pretty cool. Like anything else, there is definitely a line with this hobby, and way too many people who have crossed it. Chances are, if you've visited a convention, Renaissance Faire, Hollywood Blvd., or watched Trekkies, you've encountered a few of them. Hopefully though, you've also encountered a few of the cooler ones and know that we are not all fruit loops.
Cosplaying The Thing
Filed under: Action », Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
I consider myself a very serious fan of the Fantastic Four. I know them well, I've read all of their books, and I tell you more about them than you'd probably ever want to know. In particular, I am a fan of The Ever Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing. Since I was old enough to read, The Thing has been my favorite super hero, and it is largely because of him that I adore the Four as much as I do. I'm a True Believer. And yet, I have nothing on this man.If you've ever been to a comics convention, you know all about cosplayers -- heck, you may even be one of them. These die-hard fans dress up like the characters they admire, and the costume levels range from off the rack costume shop stuff to lovingly hand-crafted suits. The man from the above link, like me, is a huge Fantastic Four fan. Like me, he was only somewhat impressed wit the look of Ben Grimm in the film. Unlike me, he made his own suit. Out of rocks. Yes, real rocks. When finished the sucker weighed well over 100 pounds, and the dude wore it around for an entire day of convention. For his efforts he won numerous "best costume" awards, of which I'm sure he was quite deserving. You really ought to go check it out, it is quite a sight to behold.








