I've been feeling a little discouraged (okay, a lot discouraged) by some of the attitudes brought out by Heroes of Cosplay, etc. First, criticisms from folks who haven't seen it. That doesn't seem fair to me. We say in elementary school that it's only fair to refuse something after you've had a "no, thank you" portion. IOW, you gotta TRY it at least.
And then, from the folks who have seen it who are so negative about it. Maybe I'm just trying to stick to the old "if you don't have anything nice to say" adage, but I also didn't see it as negative. I saw it as real. It's one of the most realistic reality TV shows I've seen in a long time.
I was SO in every one of those positions and perspectives at some point in my cosplay 'career.' Now, they're not all healthy, but they're part of the reality. I don't understand hiding what it can really be like. People are saying that it is or is going to give cosplay a bad name, but I don't understand that. To me, it wouldn't be right to say it's all rainbows and unicorns (besides the MLP cosplayers, hurhur ^.~) all the time - that would be a lie, and a great disservice to those who aren't familiar with cosplay.
It's like anything else. It's beautiful and ugly at the same time. There's conflict. There are amazing moments of synergy and cooperation. There's anxiety and triumph. There's disappointment. The show displayed some great positivity; it also showed some of the most negative reactions.
Yes, it was majorly about competitions. That's going to carry a lot of dramatic weight and make for exciting television. Some people love to compete. I love to compete because I love to be on stage - I have a background in music and it shows. That's MY perspective, but I would never expect everyone else's perspective to be the same. The feeling of winning is gratifying. And I have had those moments where I was upset because I felt someone won who didn't deserve it (I like to think that's in my past, but who knows what the future will bring?). I'm so impressed that some of the participants in the show had the balls to come out and admit that! It's an ugly feeling (for me at least), but it's also real.
And the time and cast is limited. They can't cover the hundreds of thousands of cosplayers out there. They have six (six? Did I count right?) [Edit: Nine. I read the synopsis, durhur]. They have to be on coasts because that's where TV happens. Maybe if this is successful, there will be more and better coverage. There are a lot of things that are the way they are because that's how TV is made (I'll tell you what, I wish there were more home decorating & landscaping shows in the US interior, I could sure use some help!). They can't speak for everyone. But they took a good sample. Hopefully there will be more.
[Edit: It was identified that the cast is mostly white females, which of course doesn’t make for an appropriate cross-section. I was referring to the sample of perspectives, attitude, and areas of expertise. Food for thought.]
And at the last, some semantics. Those cosplayers ARE heroes. Each one of them, for their own reasons. But EVERY cosplayer is a hero. It takes guts to put on a costume. It takes heart to put yourself out there. And any one of those people who were on the show would tell you that every cosplayer - every level, every perspective - is a hero.
Maybe it's me. I'm an optimist. I see the good in things, most of the time. It's a perspective that works for me. But I'm also a realist, and that can still jive with the optimistic perspective. I can go back 15 years and see from that perspective, and see these important folks having to make the same difficult choices as I did, I can watch them feel anxious and triumphant and appreciated and afraid, just like I did - and do. That made it very positive for me, to know that all those feelings I had and still have are out there in other people's brains. To know that my perspective was always valid. That makes the show itself valid. They did a great job.
[Again compiled from FB posts, etc.]
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