SyFy's Heroes of Cosplay

[Dessa]

Thinking on the show, and especially the things Han has said, and I've come to realize she, and the show, to some extent, represent the exact opposite of what cosplay means to me, and everything I feel cosplay is NOT about.

The whole idea of having to cosplay your own bodytype/gender. The idea that you have to look as sexy as possible. The idea that a costume isn't worth wearing if it's not 100% accurate. The idea that you have to have some sort of "wow factor" or your costume isn't any good. The idea that you have to make everything on your own. The idea that cosplay is all about winning prizes and making money. The idea that it is a job.

I cosplay characters I like. Regardless of gender or bodytype. I generally avoid "sexy" looking costumes (I'm not in the greatest shape). I go for as much accuracy as possible, but sometimes you have to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of getting it done and looking good. Not all costumes need a "wow factor". I get help from others whenever I need it. I cosplay to have fun and to enjoy myself.

Very rarely did the show actually show people having fun. Rarely did they show people getting to attend these conventions. Sure, the focus was on the competitions, but what's the point in going to a convention if you can't even enjoy the con? Even at the start, I only watched the show because I was worried about how it was going to portray cosplayers. I've already had problems with people locally complaining about "all those costumes freaks" "taking over" the town during convention weekends (being in Seattle, we have 3: Emerald City Comic Con, Sakura-Con, and PAX Prime). Ironically, the above was said to my coworker, by someone standing about 3 feet from me... wearing my mother's Link costume. Especially given that the show was at ECCC (and pissed me off, you do not diss Wendy Pini by having people boo at her, she's one of my lifelong heroes), I've been worried. The show has done nothing to alleviate my worries, and, honestly, made me more afraid. I shouldn't have to watch a show just to see how badly it's going to affect public opinion of me myself, for when I'm doing a photoshoot or walking between my hotel and con.


In other news, Myx TV apparently has a show called "Call to Cosplay", that is also on Crunchyroll. From the description, it sounds much more like an Iron Cosplay/Face Off-style competition than this was.

 

[RevChumley]

Interesting, I'll have to check that out!

 

[firesprite]

Especially given that the show was at ECCC (and pissed me off, you do not diss Wendy Pini by having people boo at her, she's one of my lifelong heroes), I've been worried.

Whoa, whoa... Someone had people boo Wendy Pini?!

I don't watch the HoC simply because I was not that impressed with Yaya when I saw her the first time, but if this occurred, that goes beyond the pale!

 

[Jill Sowell]

The whole time-frame confuses me. If they keep this format, they should focus on people that work for months on one piece they're passionate about. It's turned into them wanting to promote a new video game that's about to be released by making a costume in six days. Don't get me wrong, it's cool to see what they can do that fast, but a lot of those people up on stage competing against them work on the weekends for six months and spending hundreds of dollars and hours.

I just feel like it should be two different shows. For quick challenges get 8 people and make in a face-off type of show with judges and scores; THEN, create a show focussing on a single person/team in like a two-hour, one-time special about how much they worked on their full Iron Man suit with weekly check-ins and video diaries. Give them a final reveal of walking around at a con and an interview after. Most people I know have more fun discussing how they made something than in the thirty minutes up on stage, so give that crowd a show, too. You can tell the people on this show aren't like that so much since at least twice an episode you'll hear, "there's nothing like being on stage and having all of the attention on you." They're performing, not enjoying making the costume or embodying the character. It's two different crowds, so give us two different shows.

 

[Dessa]

Whoa, whoa... Someone had people boo Wendy Pini?!

I can't say for certain that it was the show that had people boo her, since I wasn't there, but we have testaments from people at the events they filmed at that they told the audience who to cheer for, and there was boo-ing for Wendy when she said that the little girl obviously wasn't comfortable in her "sexy" costume and shouldn't have worn it. I'm not dumb enough to not think that at least some of the boo-ing was prompted by the show.

 

[midnightblu]

My wife and I were in the Audience at the Ottawa pop expo episode and even though we watch the show we didn't even recognize Jesse as the Mandarin or Jessica as the Skeksis from the Dark Crystal as we thought there would be new people and that it was being taped for the second season. We also did not know that Rikki and Indara would be in the second half of the season so didn't even know them. I really think they must have been desperate to find a convention to tape at as this took place in December and the attendance was very small (even with Norman Reedus as one of the main guests) I would guess there was about 5 to 10 thousand over the weekend as compared to the Ottawa comiccon held in May which had over 30000.Although they did not tell the audience who to cheer for they virtually kept the audience prisoners when the judges went off to make their decisions and even then they taped some of the prize announcements on the Sunday morning so they would have a larger audience. We still watch the show but like Jill said in her post we would prefer to see the show change to a face off format where more time is spent watching them work on the costumes and props.

 

[mistymills]

I'm watching the last episode right now and as I am watching Yaya talk about being sooo exhausted, the first thing that popped into my head was 'Well you could have saved yourself at least an hour if you didn't have to chisel off all that makeup...'

 

[Dessa]

Ryan Frye has written a rebuttal (of sorts to at least some of the "Truth About..." article, most specifically that the contest was fixed. I'm willing to believe him for the most part, with the exception that he says that

The winners were decided by myself and the other judges during the contest. We were not given any direction by anyone involved in the show or otherwise on who to choose.

Uh... Yaya Han was apparently one of the judges, and we have video footage of you guys deliberating with her giving input for both the individual and group contests. She was "involved in the show".


I also don't like that he didn't address the disallowing of skits in the group competition, despite there being a "Best skit" award.



[edit] The original "Truth About..." blogger has changed her Tumblr username, so here is the new link.

 

[Art Andrews]

Just watched the latest episode of HoC and I want so badly to support this show because these (literally) are our people and it is very closely tied to our community, but the truth is, the show is just terrible. Where I will diverge from the pack on this is that the issue with the show isn't the "Heroes" but the production company, who simply does not seem to understand anything about this hobby, only understands reality TV and have chosen the wrong aspect of our hobby to focus in on and has also chosen the most silly things to turn into drama. Now don't get me wrong, our hobby is FILLED with drama and almost every prop or costume making venture has drama in it, but instead of looking for legitimate drama, the show is trying to create drama out of the most mundane things and pretending like they are life-shattering events. Again, NONE of that is the fault of the Heroes.

I am glad to see that this season, the completely fake drama between the contestants was dropped and I was also glad to see a BIT more of the making of costumes was showcased, but the staged drama was still absolutely endless, almost to the point of being insulting.

I am also annoyed by how bland some of the Heroes come across in the show (because they aren't that way in real life), but again, this seems to be because the producers are following the formulaic reality show pattern of show a clip that is self-explanatory then show a follow-up of the person in that clip describing exactly what you just saw. This certainly isn't unique to HoC, but when it is so obvious that this is being done simply to fill time by essentially repeating every single thing you see, it gets very monotonous.

It has been said before, but I think it is worth saying again, that I have NEVER know ANYONE who places as much importance on the costume contests as the show makes it seem nor do I know anyone who has risen or fallen due to a contest (except maybe Jessica Nigri who got her start that way). Based on the way the show portrays our hobby, everything lives and dies based on each costume contest and because that simply isn't true, it makes everything that comes afterwards hard to believe and stomach.

Is our hobby just that boring without this kind of drama?

On a final note (again, I fault the production), giving titles like "Master Cosplayer" is so silly it is painful.

 

[Apollo]

Stop watching and stop supporting this Trash.

It needs to die so maybe a show that showcases cosplayers in a better light may come about

 

[Room8]

While watching the show I was thinking that every time I go to Comic Con there are these people hold up in their hotel rooms working on their costumes at the last minute, not having a chance to enjoy the rest of the convention.

 

[Wakeem]

I'm going to watch the last three episodes. I think the costumes are a lot better this last season. The girl who had the glow in the dark bow that didn't work in particular seems pretty cool. I mentioned before, here I believe, that I realized it was her that cosplayed the first female Rocketeer. Now I see that's supposed to be Bettie as the Rocketeer.

 

[Clutch]

I think it is entertaining. If you're gonna knock it then don't watch it. Better yet, watch Sharknado II.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

That's not why people are complaining. Like Art said, those are our people. We really want to like this show, but they are focusing on some of the wrong things.

 

[sirbrad]

can anyone explain the concept of honorable mention?

to me that seems like:
hey youre not good enough to win, but here, take this for participation?

i dont really get it cause we dont have that here at all

No it means you did not win, but you were better than the rest in their "opinion".

 

[OldSkoolEffects]

The thing about "these being our people" is that if they know what they are getting themselves into, and are willing to let the hobby be portrayed so poorly just to get 15 minutes of fame and some cash, are they REALLY "our people?"

 

[Moviefreak]

The thing about "these being our people" is that if they know what they are getting themselves into, and are willing to let the hobby be portrayed so poorly just to get 15 minutes of fame and some cash, are they REALLY "our people?"

Well I am betting that if a production company came to you or most of us with an offer to film us for a few thousands of dollars, and the chance for some air time.... we would jump on it. When most people live pay check to paycheck and could use extra cash to save or pay off debt.... the worry about "how the hobby is portrayed" goes out the window :lol

 

[mistymills]

You also don't see the way they edit the footage together until after it's all over.

 

[OldSkoolEffects]

Duly noted, but who in their right mind in this day and age thinks they will be portrayed honestly on a reality show?

 

[NormanF]

There are just so many things about this show.

I keep wondering if the average viewer thinks this is typical reality show BS or if they think everyone who does costumes does it in a couple weeks. Obviously the producers do not care about anything except hooking viewers, but some people are going to be turned off because they will be afraid they will spend most of the convention holed up in their room trying to finish their costumes.

At least the first season they showed the cosplayers going on the floor and going out drinking. This season (although I saw it referred somewhere as 1.5) they only got together for pre-show drinks once or twice.

Every time I Google a particular convention and "Heroes of Cosplay" I get a lot of negative reactions from people who were also in the contests or at the convention, especially New Orleans and that autistic kid. I have a sneaking suspicion that conventions are starting to turn the show away.