This past weekend I attended the Salt Lake City Comic Con, it's something I love to do. Attending comic con for me has become somewhat of a yearly ritual for me. I love it because not only do I get to nerd out with my fellow fantasy, sci-fi, comic book and anime geeks and meet celebrities from my favorite shows and movies, but I get to be somebody else for the day.
This year I dressed up as an anime character, Chibi Moon, from the show "Sailor Moon." The two others that attended comic con with me dressed up as other characters from that show. Anime is animation from Japan that has gained popularity in the United States during the past 20 years.
When we are at the comic con, we are not addressed by our names, we are called out to by our character names. For that day, I was Chibi Moon.
That's what I love about cosplay, or dressing up in costumes for fun. For that day at comic con, I cast away my true identity and became my character. That is what everyone in costume does at comic con, we are our characters. I think that is part of the appeal of dressing up, the anonymity. The escapism.
This reminds me of what a friend of mine said recently. He said dressing up allows people to let their guard down. It helps us drop those defensive walls we have all built up in ourselves and gives us an opportunity to have fun and be silly, even as adults.
There at comic con, that is exactly what I saw, people young and old just having fun, being someone else for the day. I saw an elderly lady dressed up as Ursula from the Little Mermaid, and I saw a young girl dressed up as Agent Carter from the movie "Captain America." I also saw an entire family of orcs from a game called "World of Warcraft," painted green from head to toe. They definitely looked the part.
Everyone looked their part. Even if the costume wasn't perfect, the pure enjoyment on everyones' faces was.
Many people even make their costumes themselves, either by sowing or matching articles of clothing together to create a masterpiece. For people who make their costumes, dressing up is a matter pride, showing off their handy-work. Dressing up in costumes for me and for everyone else at comic con, is unmistakably not only a once-a-year ritual for Halloween. Dressing up, whether you make your own costume or in my case, buy it off Ebay, is an excuse to have fun as an adult and let go of inhibitions and judgement. Let go of pre-conceived notions of "cool" and simply, have fun.
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