Cosplay: Am I REALLY too old for this?
Recently, I received an interesting email from one of our older readers:
“I'm a lover of ALL cosplay whether amateur or professional, but I can't help but notice most Cosplayers tend to be teens or late twenties. What happened [to the] older generation Cosplayers?
As a reasonably older guy who does HIS version of Cosplay (to wit, Steampunk) I always find it intimidating when I see a lot of cosplay centred [sic] around younger people. Where ARE my generation of Cosplayers out there and why don't we get airplay?
Yours...a disgruntled Older, English, Steampunker Cosplayer.”
Ray
Indiana
Having recently featured veteran costuming duo Frozen Rose Cosplay on our Featured Cosplayers segment, I was admittedly taken aback by this email. It really got me to thinking- when am I going to be too old for this? Ray does bring up a fantastic point: the cosplay community can be intimidating. Cosplay these days has gone from a cherished pastime to a full-blown competitive industry. It's featured in TV shows, in print media, all over the internet, and whole conventions are springing up JUST for cosplayers. No longer an appendage to the popular cultures meet-ups in the country, it has taken the spotlight, and gone from some folk's darkest secret to their proudest, most public hobby, with many cosplayers making their own pages and sites on social media to show off their work. Some invoke their own local celebrity status. Yes, I can definitely see how that could be intimidating.
Now admittedly, as a younger upstart website and blog, we pull upon resources that we have close to home. Frozen, of Frozen Rose Cosplay, is a volunteer for X-Geek, and both of these super talented and lovely ladies are friends of our staff. So, while not to downplay their talents in any way, shape, or form (and they are talented), our choice to utilize them as our first real Featured Cosplayer should not be taken as indicative of our stance on who can and can't cosplay. As president of X-geek I'll say right here and now, I was born a geek and I'll die a geek, and the hobby of cosplay should be and is for everyone. Period. Regardless of age, gender, body type, orientation, or creed. Our Featured Cosplayer segment will feature a plethora of different cosplayers as we move forward with it, and it is our intent to showcase the diversity of this community to the best of our ability.
But let's dissect Ray's questions for a moment, specifically where are the older cosplayers, and why aren't they getting the same attention as the younger set in media these days. First off, I appreciate Ray coming forward with this email; it really did make me stop and think. Looking at a few things I've already cited though, it becomes clear why the older set isn't getting an equivalent amount of airtime as the younger set. Generally speaking, it appears that the competition for attention with the younger cosplayers of the community is far more fierce than what appears to be a more social hobby to the older set. Indeed, being married to an avid, master-level cosplayer myself, I recognize that the community can, at times, be downright toxic in its competitiveness. Sometimes to the point where I feel folks are losing sight of why we should be cosplaying to begin with: for fun. Toxicity aside, the younger set of cosplayers are the ones actively seeking out the photographers, the ones entering the contests and masquerades, the ones creating Facebook pages, and the ones injecting themselves into the day to day discourse of geeks everywhere. While I'm sure some of the older members of our audience may disagree, I have to go with what my own two eyes see- the older set in general aren't putting themselves out there for the airplay. Some do, I could certainly name a few from the local Minnesota community, but most don't, certainly not at the same intensity that many younger, more competitive cosplayers do.
A saying my father once used comes to mind: “The Squeakiest Wheel Gets the Grease”. It sure does, and boy howdy, one scroll through my own news feed on Facebook shows a veritable orchestra of squeaky wheels in need of grease when it comes to cosplay- and I'd posit they're all under the age of 30. Being almost 31 myself, I am constantly walking a line between “I'm too old for this” and “This is my jam”. Hearing “The Game”, at a convention these days invokes both nostalgia and levels of rage that only “The Game” can induce, for example (you just lost by the way... sorry couldn't resist). The other factor? Time. Let's be honest, the older set generally has things like a career, mortgage, children, and other responsibilities to worry about that the younger set simply does not. These can be incredibly time consuming and exhausting obligations. Again, I'm speaking generally here. So I get it, and I get how it can be intimidating.
One thing I also know, however, is I am not exiting this community any time soon, and I challenge that older set to get out there, and make yourselves heard! I started X-Geek at the age of 29, and knew I was in this for the long haul. The talent I see from many of the older members of the cosplay community is astounding, and I think SHOULD be getting more attention. Enter the contests, make the cosplay pages, and schedule those photoshoots! Put yourselves out there and get the attention you want (and deserve)!
Jason Bruner President X-Geek Media