It seems like there is a minor uproar over a German cosplayer who posted a makeup test photo for her cosplay of Michonne from The Walking Dead, who is black. The cosplayer is white.
While there is a history with 'blackface', her makeup wasn't a stereotyped caricature of a 'black person', but matching the specific character she wanted to cosplay. Her intent was obviously not to offend.
That doesn't mean it wasn't possibly insensitive or unintentionally offensive of course. There are several kinds of cosplay, and motivations for doing it. One doesn't have to match the character in every way to be 'doing it right'. Some people like the broad strokes, some like to put their own spin on it, and others like to match as closely as they can. Then again, you don't have to cosplay at all. I'm not going to criticize people who want to get the character very close just like I'm not going to criticize crossplay or gender-bent versions.
In the cosplay community I've seen a lot of cosplays done very well that don't match the race of the character. All of my black friends have done cosplay, very well, of white or Asian people. However, I've seen white cosplayers take crap for cosplaying as a black character, without makeup, because they're 'stealing a black character' and 'making them white'. I know I wanted to cosplay as a black character, but not only did I think it might cause that same problem, but that no one would know who I was unless I did black makeup, which I was not going to do. I'm told people have given cosplayers crap for being black and not cosplaying a black character, both as 'you don't match the character' (which is stupid for many reasons, including that most characters people cosplay as are animated and can't be matched) and for 'selling out, not representing black characters' (which is a whole another stupid). There are people of all races who have used makeup to be whiter for a character.
But...blackface has a history. A bad one. I'm of two minds. I can see how it could offend, but I don't think the way past that is to forever single out using makeup to appear black as being racist when other 'race lifting' is not. If that is the case yet is another question too. Ultimately, I can't shake the idea that people should cosplay who they want, to whatever level they want, as long as it isn't hurting anyone. I don't see how this hurts anyone on a reasonable level.
Outside of that, she did a really good job on the makeup itself.
While there is a history with 'blackface', her makeup wasn't a stereotyped caricature of a 'black person', but matching the specific character she wanted to cosplay. Her intent was obviously not to offend.
That doesn't mean it wasn't possibly insensitive or unintentionally offensive of course. There are several kinds of cosplay, and motivations for doing it. One doesn't have to match the character in every way to be 'doing it right'. Some people like the broad strokes, some like to put their own spin on it, and others like to match as closely as they can. Then again, you don't have to cosplay at all. I'm not going to criticize people who want to get the character very close just like I'm not going to criticize crossplay or gender-bent versions.
In the cosplay community I've seen a lot of cosplays done very well that don't match the race of the character. All of my black friends have done cosplay, very well, of white or Asian people. However, I've seen white cosplayers take crap for cosplaying as a black character, without makeup, because they're 'stealing a black character' and 'making them white'. I know I wanted to cosplay as a black character, but not only did I think it might cause that same problem, but that no one would know who I was unless I did black makeup, which I was not going to do. I'm told people have given cosplayers crap for being black and not cosplaying a black character, both as 'you don't match the character' (which is stupid for many reasons, including that most characters people cosplay as are animated and can't be matched) and for 'selling out, not representing black characters' (which is a whole another stupid). There are people of all races who have used makeup to be whiter for a character.
But...blackface has a history. A bad one. I'm of two minds. I can see how it could offend, but I don't think the way past that is to forever single out using makeup to appear black as being racist when other 'race lifting' is not. If that is the case yet is another question too. Ultimately, I can't shake the idea that people should cosplay who they want, to whatever level they want, as long as it isn't hurting anyone. I don't see how this hurts anyone on a reasonable level.
Outside of that, she did a really good job on the makeup itself.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1sDWpGY
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