will i upset people if i dress as blade

[Lear60man]

Years ago, I started a thread titled, "Too fat to be Vader?" My point was, we as a collective strive to find the most rare greebly, fabric print, part etc to make the best presentation possible. With that said, I asked the question, 'Does age, sex, race, weight etc get a pass on accuracy?' Most members here said YES. Do everything in your power to make the costume the best you possibly can and have fun. I agree and would have no problem putting on fake breasts for a Jessica Rabbit or professional prosthetic and airbrushed darker skin for a Blade. Only a moron could not see past the time, money and energy I put into making Blade (or Jessica Rabbit) the best It could be. If I saw an African American trangender person dressed up as Mystique....and she fooled me.....Hell yea! I would be first in line to get my pic with her. BTW, I ran into a Snow White back at Comic Con circa 1995. She was a He and her presentation was flawless to the point my gay friend pulled me aside before I made a fool of myself hahahah.

Back to Fat Vader. I put on a couple of pounds years ago (it happens over 45 years) , so I shifted my costumes from Stormtrooper and Colonial Marines to a show stopper Apollo 11 Lunar Space suit. It hid my Dad-Body and was a crowd hit. See my avatar.

 

[tiga]

Crossplaying is something that could upset some people, but I think the difference is that the politically correct attitude is to at least tolerate gender variations and crossdressing, so as far as con organizers and security are concerned, it is usually OK. I haven't had any issues, but I do "pass" relatively well. I have to admit that I do not feel 100% safe. But then again, who does?

 

[Talaaya]

so when i cosplay martian man hunter or hulk if i do green face is that offensive? lol...cosplay is about being as close to the character as possible...if were to cosplay blade id do the skin tone to go with it and the hair...blade is awesome and deserves as much accuracy as any other other character.

I'll reiterate my elaboration from earlier:

In a world with no history, changing your skin color should logically be the same as changing your hair color. But the truth of the matter is, there are negative connotations attached to skin color from our history, specifically the use of blackface in old media.

I said nothing about greenface. Martian Manhunter's race may have been oppressed on his planet, but here it's not offensive. In all seriousness, that's a fictional character; the whole reason blackface is offensive is because it has negative connotations associated with it and it means something to actual people. In a perfect world it wouldn't be bad because that makes sense, but that's just not the world we live in right now.

 

[CSMacLaren]

Here. This will establish a plausible defense.

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Brooks_(Earth-92131)
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Brooks_(Earth-92131)/Gallery

If the argumentation gets too heated, print out the page and hand it out. You can say with complete authority that Blade, on Earth 92131, was at least part Caucasian. :thumbsup

 

[Mig407]

I'll reiterate my elaboration from earlier:


I said nothing about greenface. Martian Manhunter's race may have been oppressed on his planet, but here it's not offensive. In all seriousness, that's a fictional character; the whole reason blackface is offensive is because it has negative connotations associated with it and it means something to actual people. In a perfect world it wouldn't be bad because that makes sense, but that's just not the world we live in right now.

green face black face same difference...and both are fictional characters...

 

[fdileague]

These days, someone will be butthurt by anything you do. Impossible to not offend anymore. I bet I am offending someone right now.

 

[GhostMinion]

Painting you're face is not racist, no matter what know-it-all says so.

Being a racist is being hateful towards another race. Being racist is thinking your race is better than all others.

Painting your face to portray a character is not racism. Period.

 

[Cobalt60]

I would suggest, play "Blade" as if you were cast in the role. use your own face. BE the character.

as an example: the world has now seen a black "Hermione". the character exists in both races...
...the difference? a different actress was cast in the role, regardless of her race. *shrug*
anyone who has a problem with this, is on the wrong side of history.



just play the part, as if YOU were that 'different actor', cast in the role of Blade.
use your own face, but wear Snipe's "attitude", like you own it.
skin color is not the defining aspect of this character (no more than Hermione).

as cosplayers, we are (in a way) 'actors' portraying a character. and in that context, ANY actor can be cast in ANY role.

cheers.

 

[Jhonny Matiu]

the white fellow is a Canadian friend of mine, and happily accepted by the Blade Brotherhood (FB page for a whole bunch of Blade cosplayers)

quite frankly if someone has a problem with you cosplaying Blade, it's their problem and not really your concern or anything you really need to consider when you're choosing your cosplay

can't wait to see how yours turns out man, if you need any ideas lemme know, obviously the black guy is me lol