Cosplayer called 'racist' for dressing as black character

[The Question]

Thanks for the lesson.
My question was to explain what Lunar_Wolf meant.

Oh jeez, I'm sorry. I misread. My bad.

 

[SuperFerret]

Satan doesn't get offended by stuff.

 

[Travesty]

Next you're gonna have raging feminists who get mad at a male Cosplayer who dresses up as some fictional female character.

 

[Feenix]

So now you're putting us on the level of costumes? You do realize that your first example is a fictional being while your second three examples are actual, real living people.

We're not placed here for the majority to reduce us to stereotypes and costumes they can use to appropriate and play dress up.

That isn't what is happening here. Man, you are taking things way too seriously.

The woman dressed up as a character from a TV show. End of story. It's the same thing people do at Halloween. They dress up. No disrespect is meant. If you want to play the social justice warrior and tell people to stop dressing up as their favourite characters because you deem it to be offensive, then at least be consistent. You say Satan is a fictional being, but there are about a billion people in this world that would disagree with you. You take offence to something because it affects you and you want other people to follow suit. It doesn't work like that. Unless this woman came out with the intent to mock black people, you being offended by it really shouldn't make a difference.

 

[Enriquespy]

Vice versa, my friend. Just because YOU don't think something is wrong, offensive, or hurtful doesn't mean it isn't

You dont seem to know what "Offensive" means.

 

[SuperT]

You dont seem to know what "Offensive" means.

No I'm pretty sure I have a very good grasp on the word - I never said what this particular girl did was horribly offensive, but it was definitely ignorant and absent-minded.

I'm also of the mindset that it's not really up to non-minorities to deem what is or isn't offensive to minorities so...

 

[Onslaught03]

Our country has a long history of blackface, vaudeville, and minstrel shows; even the term "Jim Crow" is derived from an 1830's era blackface performance known as "Jump Jim Crow." Dressing up in dark-tinted face paint is inherently offensive due to the extremely problematic past usage of the practice (which was solely created for the degradation of blacks), and this woman cannot be absolved from the consequences of her actions through irrelevant arguments referencing "non-malicious intentions" or "cultural differences" as excuses. It's a shame that race relations have regressed so much that we now have to tell individuals why they cannot play "dress up" by mocking the physical features of other racial groups.

 

[Enriquespy]

No I'm pretty sure I have a very good grasp on the word - I never said what this particular girl did was horribly offensive, but it was definitely ignorant and absent-minded.

I'm also of the mindset that it's not really up to non-minorities to deem what is or isn't offensive to minorities so...

I dont think it was ignorant or absent minded, And knwoledge or ignorance of the blackface doesn't change the fact that its only offensive because you want it to be. Rigth now it's only offensive inside the minds of the "offended".

She is in the right, and you have no base to criticise her, feel offended if you want.

 

[Feenix]

Our country has a long history of blackface, vaudeville, and minstrel shows; even the term "Jim Crow" is derived from a blackface performance known as "Jump Jim Crow." Dressing up in dark-tinted face paint is inherently offensive due to the extremely problematic history of the practice (which was solely created for the degradation of blacks), and this woman cannot be absolved from the consequences of her actions through irrelevant arguments referencing "non-malicious intentions" or "cultural differences" as excuses. It's a shame that race relations have regressed so much that we know have to tell others why they cannot play "dress up" by mocking the physical features of other racial groups.

She didn't mock! Holy hell. She painted her face to look like the character. She didn't exaggerate certain facial features to make it look more comical. You're taking the obvious offensive blackfaces of the past and applying it to this situation when it shouldn't be. In no way was her cosplay meant to be funny or to mock. She wanted to look like her favourite character, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Snow Queen]

Our country has a long history of blackface, vaudeville, and minstrel shows; even the term "Jim Crow" is derived from an 1830's era blackface performance known as "Jump Jim Crow." Dressing up in dark-tinted face paint is inherently offensive due to the extremely problematic past usage of the practice (which was solely created for the degradation of blacks), and this woman cannot be absolved from the consequences of her actions through irrelevant arguments referencing "non-malicious intentions" or "cultural differences" as excuses. It's a shame that race relations have regressed so much that we now have to tell others why they cannot play "dress up" by mocking the physical features of other racial groups.

You come to a site for superhero movies and your first post is this thread?

 

[Enriquespy]

they cannot play "dress up" by mocking the physical features of other racial groups.

They have to apply make up to imitate the phisical features of other racial groups, otherwise they would not look like them.

 

[SuperT]

She is in the right, and you have no base to criticise her, feel offended if you want.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is privilege.

 

[Onslaught03]

You come to a site for superhero movies and your first post is this thread?

Is that truly a problem? I was simply browsing other sections of this site, found this particular discussion in the community forum, and felt the need to make an account to clear up some of the biases/misconceptions being propagated in this thread.

 

[Snow Queen]

Is that truly a problem? I was simply browsing other sections of this site, found this particular discussion in the community forum, and felt the need to make an account to clear up some of the biases/misconceptions being propagated in this thread.

No, no, I just found it somewhat amusing.

 

[Feenix]

To clarify, my argument is only for dressing up as a certain character. It's not the same as someone who puts on a fake big nose and then pretends they're Jewish. I'm talking about people who want to get their cosplay right. If you alter your appearance to look like a character from a video game/TV show/movie, etc, I think that is fair game. If you alter your appearance to mock a certain race, then that is obviously a problem.

In this case, the woman altered her appearance to pay homage to her favourite character from a television series. I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[Enriquespy]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is privilege.

Yes, you have the privilege to feel offended if you want. even if she did nothing wrong.

Or did I missunderstand?

 

[Onslaught03]

They have to apply make up to imitate the phisical features of other racial groups, otherwise they would not look like them.

When I've seen black cosplayers dress up as white/Asian characters, I've never observed any of them applying "whiteface" or "yellowface." You do not have to make radical alterations to your skin tone in order to resemble a character, and this sort of thing should be avoided entirely due to America's strained, tense racial legacy.

 

[Enriquespy]

I guess it is easier to apply dark make up to clear skin than viceversa.

It's hard to pull it off.

 

[SlamAdams]

What movies have you been watching lately where a white person is playing a black person?

I was talking about the origins of blackface

 

[SlamAdams]

So, for those who take issue with this, would you rather she just cosplay as a white version of the character?

Sure. Why not. I've seen black people dress like Superman, no white face necessary. Plenty of white kids dressing like anime characters, no one's pinning their eyes to create the illusion of eyefolds.

 

[Enriquespy]

Sure. Why not. I've seen black people dress like Superman, no white face necessary. Plenty of white kids dressing like anime characters, no one's pinning their eyes to create the illusion of eyefolds.

I hope one day it won't be a problem to do that in name of accuracy.

 

[SlamAdams]

I hope one day it won't be a problem to do that in name of accuracy.

Being that accurate doesn't seem necessary.

 

[Howlett]

Being that accurate doesn't seem necessary.

It may seem not necessary TO YOU. Most people who go to the trouble of making a costume go to extreme details, down to the very last piece of clothing or accessory. Obsessing over every last detail.

Most comic book collectors and most enthusiasts of any hobby are generally very extremely precise about how they keep their collections in order, bordering on obsessive compulsive.

 

[Shlee]

I would find it worse if she didn't bother with the makeup and wore just the outfit and made the character white.

But that doesn't make the character "white", IMHO. We (and by we I mean myself and other cosplayers in the community that I follow on FB and Tumblr and am friends with) tell people (especially PoC and other minorities) to cosplay/dress up as the characters they love, regardless of race. A lot of the times, that doesn't extend to white people (as in, black people have a problem with a white person cosplaying as a black character), which I think is kind of... crappy.

But if a black woman wanted to cosplay as Amy Pond or a white woman wanted to cosplay as Martha Jones, in both of those cases I would tell them to rock on and cosplay those characters, without the need to change the color of their skin about it.

You can love a character and cosplay as it using your own skin color without cheapening the character. And the only people who are going to be pissed about you as a PoC playing a white character or a white character playing a PoC are the racists. Simple as that.

I don't agree with what this woman did, regardless of cultural differences. I think things like blackface should just be off limits considering the social history of it, even if the intent and context are not meant to be offensive.

We're not placed here for the majority to reduce us to stereotypes and costumes they can use to appropriate and play dress up.

I just wanted to quote that because I 100% agree with that statement. However, in this instance, I don't necessarily think it applies because this woman wasn't dressing up to perpetuate a stereotype or appropriate black culture. She was literally just dressing up as her favorite character in the most authentic way she knew how.

I'm not saying that excuses her, just that in this particular situation that sentiment is almost irrelevant because that's not what's going on.

But I do still stand by the assertion that I think painting your skin to look like another "race" of people is going to be potentially offensive to people of that race, and that it's better to be faithful to the character in all other ways but cosplay as that character in your own race than to try to emulate the race the character is originally.

(And I do mean that in all instances. If a black woman wanted to cosplay Merida and a Mexican woman wanted to cosplay Tiana, and a white woman wanted to cosplay Mulan, more power to all of them. Be as faithful as you want, but keep your own skin color. If people can't see past your skin color to the character you're portraying, then they're the racists and you should just ignore and avoid them anyway.)

 

[Primal Slayer]

I just want to know, is that her real nose or is part of her cosplay?