Author Archives: Gabrielle Pilgrim

Do It Right or Not At All Part 1

By definition (according to wikipedia):

Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure?), short for “costume play”, is a performance art in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.

Definition of Cosplay according to Hot Topic:

tumblr_mwaaubZNui1skyg8lo1_400

 

Now this, along with the various elitist assumptions that have spawned from the series Heroes of Cosplay, has created a huge mass of chaos among the cosplay community. Many cosplayers have started to forget the reasons why people cosplay and began to heavily focus on factors that should not matter. Such as skin tone and body type. Claiming that people should not cosplay characters that do not fit their body type or skin tone, that it is just wrong. Making this seem like one of the unwritten “rules” of cosplay. And for awhile, this was made so apparent in my cosplay life that I was afraid to cosplay any character that was not considered “dark-skinned”.

This was difficult for me. Mostly because there weren’t many characters that were dark in skin tone in any anime, manga or video games. And the ones that were, I wouldn’t want to cosplay because they wore really revealing outfits or because they had very over exaggerated racial features that just irritated me. I got so fed up with people, who I didn’t know at all, telling me what I should and shouldn’t do.

Cosplay was my escape, my chance to be someone else. For all of my worries to fade into the background and not matter for a weekend. I was bullied enough while I was myself, I didn’t want to be bullied while I was cosplaying as well.

So I said, “Screw it! I’m going to cosplay whoever or whatever the hell I want!”

This took time of course, and at first I had to deal with people mumbling things they really shouldn’t. And not really welcoming me into the community. This was very discouraging…

 

(more will come later)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

 

HIMYM: POC being mis/underrepresented in mass media

Link to episode –>  http://www.cbs.com/shows/how_i_met_your_mother/playlist

The reactions to this very, to put it simply, messed up episode were very angry and blunt. And honestly, the members of the audience who were offended by the statements that were made during the episode had every right to be angry. The number of people enraged by the episode’s crude stereotypes and racial tributes, forced the creators to publicly apologize.

 

Sources:

http://ideas.time.com/2014/01/17/dear-how-i-met-your-mother-asian-is-not-a-costume/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/showbiz/how-i-met-your-mother-controversy/

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/how-i-met-your-mother-creators-apologize-for-racist-asian-episode-2014161

 

(Will write more on this at a later time/date)

1986 Challenger Disaster

A true tragedy but valuable lesson for NASA.

The Challenger was the second shuttle to make it to space and had completed nine successful missions. However, because of two rubber O-rings failing; the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lift-off. The explosion claimed the lives of seven astronauts including Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian American to go into space.

 

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/challenger-disaster

http://www.space.com/18084-space-shuttle-challenger.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellison_Onizuka

 

(More will be added to this post at a later date/time)

Reaction to The Beautiful Country

The moment when the viewer can connect to a movie on an emotional level, that is the moment that movie artists should strive for. If the creator is not crying while they make their piece, then (more often than not) neither will the audience when they view the piece.

This will be the second time that I have seen this movie, and this is the second time that it has grabbed me by the heartstrings and dragged me into a state of raw emotion. Did I cry? No. This does not mean that I was not touched by it. The statement of being an outcast because of background; truly hit me in more ways than one. The journey to find where you belong is long and difficult, some people never even find what they are searching for. For others, the journey comes full circle.

(More to come later)

Better Luck Tomorrow Reaction

(Warning: Sections of this post are mildly innappropriate)

as·i·nine  (s-nn)
adj.
1. Utterly stupid or silly: asinine behavior.
2. Of, relating to, or resembling an ass.

 

I do not like this movie. Not in the least. It takes stereotypes and blows them completely out of proportion! It is utterly ridiculous. I am so angry right now, I can hardly even fathom the correct words to express my discontent with this movie. So I will express my emotions through a series of GIFs.

When Ben started doing drugs. —>tumblr_mxf56uLjh51sox1hno1_400

 

When they made a reference to Fast and the Furious.—>tumblr_mu7j4ytgl51sfaguwo1_250

 

When they buried Steve’s body after killing him.—>tumblr_maef30ySbD1r2k5s2o2_100

 

And lastly, (this one is my favorite) Stephanie kisses Ben in the end and doesn’t regret her decision. Nor does Ben ever tell her that he had a hand in her “missing” boyfriend’s death.

tumblr_mp14owTpMs1qlpk58o1_500

And yet, none of these GIFs are as ridiculous as that movie. I haven’t been this flustered by a class assignment since I’ve had to read The Nature of College by James J. Farrell.

 

Ok, now that I have expressed my disdain for that abomination to media, I can calmly analyze the movie. Though the movie was really, over the top, there were a few truths woven through the lies. Never judge a book by it’s cover, the contents might surprise you. The main characters fit the stererotype of overachieving asian kid, which is usually paired up with being a “goody two-shoes”. However, in reality each one of them were the farthest from good.

Breaking the cycle. Which cycle did Steve mean? The cycle of school life? The cycle of hollow success?  Or just the cycle of stereotypes? This cycle, this routine; this is what drives each character. To do something out of the norm, to mix things up. To change the everyday into something that gets the adrenaline pumping.

(Forgive my lack of transitions, I tend to quickly write down my thoughts which jump quite frequently.)

Then there are so many questions that were left unanswered. What happened to Virgil? Did anyone ever find out about Steve’s death? Is this Han the same character as in the Fast and Furious series? Does Ben ever tell Stephanie that he had a part in Steve’s murder? Do all of them get away with everything? We may never know.

 

 

Class notes 1/14/14

1/14/14

  • Reason for Pilipina/o: There is no “F” in the (tagalog) language. The later generations used this to honor the previous ones who weren’t allowed to say this.
  • Pop culture obsession. What is it? Why is it your obsession? How does it connect to Asian/American history, culture, issues, and themes. (Rock posts on the blog)
    • Cosplay In/Equality
    • Where did it come from?
    • How has it developed over the years?
    • What other issues have developed in the community?
    • What interesting aspects have spawned from the community?
    • Site your resources.
    • Post things on blog
      • Cosplay Documentaries
      • Cosplay is not consent
      • Posting music?
      • Heroes of Cosplay
      • Comment on another’s blog.
      • Finish Hello Kitei by Thursday morning

Strangers from a Different Shore Interpretations

  • We fear that which we do not understand.
  • Xenophobia
  • Strangers: someone who is feared for not being known.
  • Asian Americans turned into “Aliens”
  • Asians in Asia. A title put upon them by others. We do not usually go around calling people Americans.
  • Perhaps it is because of history that many “Asian” countries do not happily welcome Americans.
  • Angel Island = The West coast Ellis Island. (Random thought: Wasn’t that a stage in Sonic?)
  • “Asians in Asia”, a myth in some ways. People focus more on their personal Identity.

 

 

At what point do Asians become Asian Americans?

  • Raising Cane/Cain
  • Travelers to Gold Mountain

Work to interpret the title. It’s important.

47 Ronin Impressions: Before and After

Before

I’ve seen the trailer for it at least twice. And well… I’m not sure how I feel about it.

47 Ronin Trailer 2

The movie is based on an actual story from Japanese history; and from what I’ve seen in the trailer, it seems that some aspects have been added and others exaggerated. I’m concerned that the message of the original story might be lost in translation. Actually a better phrase would be lost in technology. There is a possibility that, for the sake of “audience appeal”, the story could have been completely changed. Forced to adapt to the fast lifestyle of our generation of consumers.

 

After

It was overall a fairly decent movie. I am impressed that they stayed pretty close to the original story.  However, I feel as though some parts were very rushed, leaving very little room for character development. And I guess the fighting and special effects were supposed to make up for lack of story elements that leave a big impact on the audience.