I voted Meh. I don’t think the award to that girl is an issue by itself, but I did raise my eyebrow at a couple of things in Cosplaygate.
1. Apparently the majority of winners in the 4 year competition history have been nonBlack (and I’m sure the backlash surprised them because it happened before). If that’s the case, it seems more of a macro issue, which leads me to
2. That judge’s FB response was objectively trash. Her Pringle’s can tale cosplay scenario was insulting. No one was asking for that extreme when the pictures clearly show competitors with well made costumes, but also… our culture has been largely built from making something out of nothing. Maybe show some acknowledgment/ reverence to that at the Black function? The founder did slightly better in his deleted 30 minute FB video response.
3. One thing the founder said may be at the core of the issue. He said that he’s not an expert in cosplay, so in putting the competition together, he consulted experts and gather judges who had been judging them for 15+ years. But if Black people were mostly overlooked by those experts at the other competitions all those years, it would follow that using their methodology would yield the same results at any open competition, including Blerdcon. That leads me to my last meh-
4. They really didn’t respond with any solutions outside of the extreme of changing the entry rules, which they can’t do, and more Black people need to enter. IF it’s necessary to judge on sewing, and the problem really is lack of skill, why not reach out to Michael’s or JoAnn’s for sponsoring zoom sewing and craftsmanship classes for participants in the off season? Are there places that can donate raw materials? Just presenting brainstormed ideas to show people that you hear them probably would have went over better than pure defensiveness. There was always a spectrum of responses between “if you didn’t put in during a pandemic, don’t complain” and “Blacks only competition.”
mizzbarnes - 3 years ago
I voted yes because the celebration should have been on the spirit of cosplay and not whether the winner was white or not. Cosplayers are up there with drag queens where there is a grip spent on makeup and costumes and hours spent on just getting ready. I love going to cons and looking at the costumes. It's so dope! I would imagine that the winner was someone who got into the spirit of cosplay versus someone who entered the contest hoping to win because she was white. It's unfortunate.
mdog - 3 years ago
To be honest I felt bad at how much folks went hard at the white girl, it sounds to me like she wanted to show off her costume and it was a good ass costume. Having been local and at that Blerdcon multiple times, its always a good time and people genuinely do not care if you're Black or not. I personally didn't care too much about this tbh until I saw the other Cosplayers outfits and the outfits while there were definitely impressive. Idk much about rules so it may be that the other cosplayers costumes werent in the right "criteria" or as you said werent there. I do think my only hangup with her winning to be honest was the fact that the winner was going to represent Blerdcon at Awesomecon as the official spokeperson for Blerdcon as well as a judge and other official role. Maybe thats my hangup but the optics of a white person representing a con called Blerdcon at another larger/whiter conference just feels weird lol.
Also I think my only gripe about the founders statement is when he said anybody can be a Blerd. Which..... yea nah lol. maybe he meant to say something else like we're open to every type of nerd, Blerd or not. but I will put a hard stop on anybody of any race can be a Blerd lol, Overall im curious what Blerdcon will look like next year! Maybe this will entice folks to compete in that Cosplay competition, and I hope it doesn't detract other Black folks from going to the con over this controversy.
ShayDeeDame - 3 years ago
Dracarys on this one, especially the Facebook post by the judge acting as if people ACTUALLY pulled up in shitty costumes. While I’ve never been to this event, I’ve been to several other cons and folks show up and show the fuck out.
No, BlerdCom probably wont need to have a specific rule saying that white people can’t compete in future contests. HOWEVER…the general understanding should be that this is to highlight black cosplayers, in a space where their efforts will be appreciated. Which means that white people shouldn’t expect to have a win.
I’ve been heavy into cosplay and I know when I show up to a “standard” con that isn’t inclusive that my efforts will go under appreciated because I know that the general public is thinking “Yeah, but Delores Umbridge isn’t black, tho”, or “Oh, that’s an interesting take on a black T.A.R.D.I.S.”.
The only time that the needle has ever moved for me was when I went to a con as Uhura. I don’t know if it’s because people didn’t have to think as hard to figure out what I was?
This is rather disappointing, but it didn’t prevent me from wanting to go next year!!!
I voted Meh. I don’t think the award to that girl is an issue by itself, but I did raise my eyebrow at a couple of things in Cosplaygate.
1. Apparently the majority of winners in the 4 year competition history have been nonBlack (and I’m sure the backlash surprised them because it happened before). If that’s the case, it seems more of a macro issue, which leads me to
2. That judge’s FB response was objectively trash. Her Pringle’s can tale cosplay scenario was insulting. No one was asking for that extreme when the pictures clearly show competitors with well made costumes, but also… our culture has been largely built from making something out of nothing. Maybe show some acknowledgment/ reverence to that at the Black function? The founder did slightly better in his deleted 30 minute FB video response.
3. One thing the founder said may be at the core of the issue. He said that he’s not an expert in cosplay, so in putting the competition together, he consulted experts and gather judges who had been judging them for 15+ years. But if Black people were mostly overlooked by those experts at the other competitions all those years, it would follow that using their methodology would yield the same results at any open competition, including Blerdcon. That leads me to my last meh-
4. They really didn’t respond with any solutions outside of the extreme of changing the entry rules, which they can’t do, and more Black people need to enter. IF it’s necessary to judge on sewing, and the problem really is lack of skill, why not reach out to Michael’s or JoAnn’s for sponsoring zoom sewing and craftsmanship classes for participants in the off season? Are there places that can donate raw materials? Just presenting brainstormed ideas to show people that you hear them probably would have went over better than pure defensiveness. There was always a spectrum of responses between “if you didn’t put in during a pandemic, don’t complain” and “Blacks only competition.”
I voted yes because the celebration should have been on the spirit of cosplay and not whether the winner was white or not. Cosplayers are up there with drag queens where there is a grip spent on makeup and costumes and hours spent on just getting ready. I love going to cons and looking at the costumes. It's so dope! I would imagine that the winner was someone who got into the spirit of cosplay versus someone who entered the contest hoping to win because she was white. It's unfortunate.
To be honest I felt bad at how much folks went hard at the white girl, it sounds to me like she wanted to show off her costume and it was a good ass costume. Having been local and at that Blerdcon multiple times, its always a good time and people genuinely do not care if you're Black or not. I personally didn't care too much about this tbh until I saw the other Cosplayers outfits and the outfits while there were definitely impressive. Idk much about rules so it may be that the other cosplayers costumes werent in the right "criteria" or as you said werent there. I do think my only hangup with her winning to be honest was the fact that the winner was going to represent Blerdcon at Awesomecon as the official spokeperson for Blerdcon as well as a judge and other official role. Maybe thats my hangup but the optics of a white person representing a con called Blerdcon at another larger/whiter conference just feels weird lol.
Also I think my only gripe about the founders statement is when he said anybody can be a Blerd. Which..... yea nah lol. maybe he meant to say something else like we're open to every type of nerd, Blerd or not. but I will put a hard stop on anybody of any race can be a Blerd lol, Overall im curious what Blerdcon will look like next year! Maybe this will entice folks to compete in that Cosplay competition, and I hope it doesn't detract other Black folks from going to the con over this controversy.
Dracarys on this one, especially the Facebook post by the judge acting as if people ACTUALLY pulled up in shitty costumes. While I’ve never been to this event, I’ve been to several other cons and folks show up and show the fuck out.
No, BlerdCom probably wont need to have a specific rule saying that white people can’t compete in future contests. HOWEVER…the general understanding should be that this is to highlight black cosplayers, in a space where their efforts will be appreciated. Which means that white people shouldn’t expect to have a win.
I’ve been heavy into cosplay and I know when I show up to a “standard” con that isn’t inclusive that my efforts will go under appreciated because I know that the general public is thinking “Yeah, but Delores Umbridge isn’t black, tho”, or “Oh, that’s an interesting take on a black T.A.R.D.I.S.”.
The only time that the needle has ever moved for me was when I went to a con as Uhura. I don’t know if it’s because people didn’t have to think as hard to figure out what I was?
This is rather disappointing, but it didn’t prevent me from wanting to go next year!!!