The short answer is that they’re almost always hypocritical in nature. Often times the impetus of a Problem with ___ is the fact that the person writing it is in disagreement with something that is fairly commonplace in the time in which it was written. They just don’t like something. They’re compromised and biased against it. Hell, I’m 100% confident that I’ll write something in this post that directly contradicts something else I’ve ever said if there was any of my seven readers who would be so dedicated to try and find said contradiction later on.
Anyway, a number of my Facebook friends have been sharing this particular link, where a blogger is pointing out that there is a problem with cosplay celebrity. Here’s the very first sentence of the entire post:
My husband and I are both 501st.
Right there, I wish I could make the statement “and that’s where decided that the rest of the post wasn’t worth reading,” but in all honesty, I actually did read the entire rest of the post, and to “Bitter Gertrude’s” credit, I think it’s well-written, and there are some good points to be made. I don’t accuse her of being “a hater,” or “a jealous fatty,” but I can’t help but feel the entire post is hypocritical in nature because the point of the post is pointing out essentially what is the unfortunate formation of a caste system within in the convention scene in general, but the blogger and her husband are both members of their own little exclusive club which also feeds into the notion of the existence of caste systems within the convention scene.
In short, the 501st is a group of Star Wars enthusiasts of some sort overly fascinated with Stormtroopers, or so I can tell. They’re well-organized, well-represented, and their criteria are that you have to be legal of age, and have a “high-end costume” that fits within a convoluted set of guidelines that seems to dictate a necessity for canon, but has a category of non-canon. Regardless, right there, such a manifesto is kind of in contradiction of what Gertrude was stating of how “cosplay is for everyone! <3” because if your Stormtrooper costume isn’t high-end enough, or aesthetically pleasing enough, you’re not 501st material.
And that’s kind of my opinion on what the problem with the convention scene is, which is the evolution of a caste system that feeds directly into the snide remark countless convention-goers have stated over the last few years: it’s like high school all over again. “Celebrity” cosplayers often hang out with other “celebrity” cosplayers or cosplayers whom they think are capable of being celebrity. 501st hang out in their massive droves and pull inconsiderate stunts like closing off a highly-desired section of the Marriott during Dragon*Con so they can have a private party to gloat over their strength in numbers and superiority over the plebeians in their weak, store-bought Star Wars costumes. Comic-Con after 7:00 pm turns into a world of “who do you know” in order to get into exclusive parties and be able to brag about being at “X major corporation’s party where they had catered food, free booze and strippers, etc” or you’re kind of left to fend for yourself when everyone retreats back to their respective hotels out of no common areas being available anymore.
Conventions aren’t what they used to be, a place where a thousand people with an obscure fandom(s) could conglomerate and meet new people and make new friends. The vast majority of people come with their existing groups of friends to mash together with their extended group of friends that have developed via the internet, and together their cliques and factions collide and exist in today’s convention scene. Sometimes they get catty, sometimes they co-exist and find harmony, and then there are those who give themselves a name and take action to deliberately separate themselves from everyone else.
No disrespect to “Bitter Gertrude,” but your entire post would hold a tremendous amount more weight if you didn’t disclose your affiliation with 501st. In a way, that might protect you from inquisitive backlash, but not everyone is going to care that much on an opinion piece.
