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EuroCosplay ban League of Legends Cosplayer for blackface

Deleted member 17207

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,208
User Banned (2 Weeks): Excusing Blackface and Antagonizing Other Users Over Multiple Posts
Skittles said:
So painting your skin black to look more like character is cool then?
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I know you asked this question in attempts to point out how ignorant that post sounded - but I would honestly answer your question (in this specific context) with "yes". The whole point of cosplay is to make a costume that looks as accurate to the character you're trying to portray as possible (unless you're one of these people "sex-ing" a character up). What's so wrong with someone trying to make a 1:1 costume - especially when that's the purpose of it? Clearly she's not doing it for the purposes of mockery, it's straight up - just a costume.
 
Skittles

Skittles

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,251
XandBosch said:
Why should one be equated to the other? It's pretty damn obvious what is mocking and what's not, and this clearly isn't.

To me that's very much a "glass half empty" view of the world. I'd rather see that fucking awesome costume walking around than not see it because of some crazy fear of offending people when it's not really offensive at all.
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So youd be cool with tom cruise walking around in full skin sam jackson body suit?
 
Radishhead

Radishhead

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,568
User Banned (1 Week): excusing blackface
It's not blackface because her face isn't painted. Pretty simple.
 
Daniel Westlake

Daniel Westlake

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
19,165
XandBosch said:
Why should one be equated to the other? It's pretty damn obvious what is mocking and what's not, and this clearly isn't.

To me that's very much a "glass half empty" view of the world. I'd rather see that fucking awesome costume walking around than not see it because of some crazy fear of offending people when it's not really offensive at all.
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Hey let me hit you with this hip new age logic: Maybe if you know something is offensive to people you just shouldn't do it instead of making excuses how you about how you totally didn't mean for it to be like that and everyone who's offended should just stop being so PC, which is basically your argument.

Wait! Do you wear blackface? Come on you can be honest with me bud.
 
Amauri14

Amauri14

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,693
Danbury, CT, USA
User Banned (1 week): excusing blackface
That's really isn't blackface, that's a mask, I think they should take context and intent into consideration before doing a ban like this.
 
hey it's that dog

hey it's that dog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,081
Personally I don't think this counts as blackface and it's impossible to argue ill-intent because she's not doing the thing that has the horrible history behind it. This is a specific character who happens to be black. It's not the same thing as dressing up as "a black person" or "a mexican" or whatever other shitty things white people do for shits and giggles.
 
Daniel Westlake

Daniel Westlake

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
19,165
Also this thread is a great example of "White people are told they can't do one single solitary thing and it's got them shook"
 
MidweekCoyote

MidweekCoyote

Member
Mar 23, 2018
860
User Banned (2 weeks): excusing blackface
It is a full body costume of a fictional, barely human character that is completely faithful to the character (which is the goal of cosplay).

What the hell are some of you on about?
 
Skittles

Skittles

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,251
hey it's that dog said:
Personally I don't think this counts as blackface and it's impossible to argue ill-intent because she's not doing the thing that has the horrible history behind it. This is a specific character who happens to be black. It's not the same thing as dressing up as "a black person" or "a mexican" or whatever other shitty things white people do for shits and giggles.
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Doesnt matter if its ill intent. If youre accidentally racist youre still being racist lmao
 

Deleted member 17207

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,208
Skittles said:
So youd be cool with tom cruise walking around in full skin sam jackson body suit?
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Lol what the fuck even is this question?
Daniel Westlake said:
Hey let me hit you with this hip new age logic: Maybe if you know something is offensive to people you just shouldn't do it instead of making excuses how you about how you totally didn't mean for it to be like that and everyone who's offended should just stop being so PC, which is basically your argument.

Wait! Do you wear blackface? Come on you can be honest with me bud.
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Maybe people shouldn't be so quick to be offended and should be open to other people trying to express their love for certain things, when clearly that's all she's doing. Like I said, I understand the historical context, but this isn't anything remotely like that..

But whatever, I guess I'm inherently wrong, or whatever.

And no, I don't...funny tho.
 
Skittles

Skittles

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,251
XandBosch said:
Lol what the fuck even is this question?
Maybe people shouldn't be so quick to be offended and should be open to other people trying to express their love for certain things, when clearly that's all she's doing. Like I said, I understand the historical context, but this isn't anything remotely like that..

But whatever, I guess I'm inherently wrong, or whatever.

And no, I don't...funny tho.
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If youre fine with this you should be fine with someone doing that.
 
HardRojo

HardRojo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,081
Peru
XandBosch said:
I know you asked this question in attempts to point out how ignorant that post sounded - but I would honestly answer your question (in this specific context) with "yes". The whole point of cosplay is to make a costume that looks as accurate to the character you're trying to portray as possible (unless you're one of these people "sex-ing" a character up). What's so wrong with someone trying to make a 1:1 costume - especially when that's the purpose of it? Clearly she's not doing it for the purposes of mockery, it's straight up - just a costume.
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People outright excusing blackface in this thread now. Wow.
 
Tbm24

Tbm24

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,150
XandBosch said:
I know you asked this question in attempts to point out how ignorant that post sounded - but I would honestly answer your question (in this specific context) with "yes". The whole point of cosplay is to make a costume that looks as accurate to the character you're trying to portray as possible (unless you're one of these people "sex-ing" a character up). What's so wrong with someone trying to make a 1:1 costume - especially when that's the purpose of it? Clearly she's not doing it for the purposes of mockery, it's straight up - just a costume.
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You don't have to shout racist remarks at someone while wearing it for it to be offensive. It's never going to change and I think people really need to fucking understand this. Painting yourself to look like another race or in this case making a suit to then put on to look like another race, will always be offensive in this world we live in. For reasons I'm tired of having to explain.
 

Deleted member 17207

user requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
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JinnAxel

Member
Oct 30, 2017
455
Taker34 said:
It's not even makeup but a bodysuit. Personally I find it a lot worse, since why would anyone make a suit - not to cosplay some fantasy figure - but a black person. That's beyond fucked up in my opinion.
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Probably because she can't accurately depict the musculature as a woman. Her responses seem malicious though, probably in reaction to criticism that she probably thinks she doesn't deserve. It's interesting that a lot of criticism radiates from America, both in this case, and in the case with that pokemon Cosplayer last year.

Just goes to show how messed up America's history with race relations is.

Frankly I always thought Pyke's skin was an ethereal green until I saw this.
 
TSM

TSM

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,820
Maybe whitewashing is the wrong term, but if she won a big international cosplay competition in this same costume except that it was essentially a black character turned into a white character I can imagine some people would not have been very thrilled about it.
 
janoGX

janoGX

Banned
Nov 29, 2017
2,453
Chile
User Banned (1 Month): Excusing Blackface; Prior Severe Ban for Excusing Sexism
Guys, this is actual blackface.

pusha-t-dr-750x375.jpg

The cosplay is not.

People just don't really know the difference between blackface and characterization.
 
Miles

Miles

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Oct 25, 2017
639
San Diego, CA
User Banned (2 weeks): excusing blackface
I'm gonna go ahead and say that this isn't blackface, because she didn't actually paint her face. I understand why the costume might not be acceptable though, although I don't agree.

Doesn't seem like there's any malice involved here.
 
Skittles

Skittles

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,251
TSM said:
Maybe whitewashing is the wrong term, but if she won a big international cosplay competition in this same costume except that it was essentially a black character turned into a white character I can imagine some people would not have been very thrilled about it.
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No one would care. People can tell who youre cosplaying without you painting your skin
 
Dixie Flatline

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Sep 4, 2019
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Even though this isn't as insulting as the pieces of shit who paint their faces black but it's insulting regardless and she shouldn't have done it.
 
hey it's that dog

hey it's that dog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,081
Skittles said:
Doesnt matter if its ill intent. If youre accidentally racist youre still being racist lmao
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Blackface is bad for specific reasons, right? It's used to mock, it evokes a painful history, etc. This costume doesn't tick any of those boxes for me. She put a lot of work into replicating a character that she presumably likes and that character happens to be black. Her goal wasn't to be "a black person," it was to be Pyke. This distinction matters to me, but I won't try to change your mind if it doesn't matter to you. It also matters to me that it's a mask rather than face paint. I think that distances it sufficiently from literal blackface involving paint. I'm sure many disagree on that point as well.
 
Taker34

Taker34

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Oct 25, 2017
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JinnAxel said:
Probably because she can't accurately depict the musculature as a woman. Her responses seem malicious though, probably in reaction to criticism that she probably thinks she doesn't deserve. It's interesting that a lot of criticism radiates from America, both in this case, and in the case with that pokemon Cosplayer last year.

Just goes to show how messed up America's history with race relations is.

Frankly I always thought Pyke's skin was an ethereal green until I saw this.
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Well again, it's not about the musculature obviously... and you know that. Regardless, I can a) easily see why it's disrespectful and b) there's no need to frame this as an exclusively "American" issue. I'm from Germany and can tell it's a bad idea from miles away.
 
TheChrisGlass

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Oct 25, 2017
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So my question is, what could she do to portray this character and NOT get in trouble for it? What modifications? Just give up on the skin suit and use makeup for the scars?
 
Daniel Westlake

Daniel Westlake

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Oct 25, 2017
19,165
TSM said:
Maybe whitewashing is the wrong term, but if she won a big international cosplay competition in this same costume except that it was essentially a black character turned into a white character I can imagine some people would not have been very thrilled about it.
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actually this happens all the time and is completely fine
 
Why would you do that?

Why would you do that?

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Oct 25, 2017
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The Bookerman said:
I don't see how the costume it self could be disrespectful but her Twitter comments lack a certain understanding of the situation.
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Honestly, I kinda feel this way.

Personally, I don't see a problem with it if it's a full body suit plus mask that you could take off and put on anyone. But I can see why some people would raise their eyebrows at it, and I think most people can understand why this situation is a little more ambiguous.

But that said, a more reasonable, well-intentioned person would address the criticism in a much better, thoughtful, and respectful way. And if you don't have the respect for black people to understand why it even might be offensive, then maybe you shouldn't be allowed to wear it at all.

(Also I am black, but nobody can speak for all black people, but that's how I feel about it right now.)
 

Harlequin

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,614
User Banned (2 weeks): rationalizing blackface
Taker34 said:
It's not even makeup but a bodysuit. Personally I find it a lot worse, since why would anyone make a suit - not to cosplay some fantasy figure - but a black person. That's beyond fucked up in my opinion.
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I mean, the suit does more than just make her look like a black person, it also imitates the game's art style. I would imagine that she would've also gone for a suit like this if the character had been white, simply to get the cartoony style right. (But I don't know her or her work so if there's proof to the contrary, someone please do correct me.)
 
Sky

Sky

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Oct 28, 2017
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I guess the only way would be to get a black friend to don the costume or paint the costume to match her skin colour..
 
Tbm24

Tbm24

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Oct 25, 2017
16,150
hey it's that dog said:
Blackface is bad for specific reasons, right? It's used to mock, it evokes a painful history, etc. This costume doesn't tick any of those boxes for me. She put a lot of work into replicating a character that she presumably likes and that character happens to be black. Her goal wasn't to be "a black person," it was to be Pyke. This distinction matters to me, but I won't try to change your mind if it doesn't matter to you. It also matters to me that it's a mask rather than face paint. I think that distances it sufficiently from literal blackface involving paint. I'm sure many disagree on that point as well.
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Lets keep it simple. Blackface is bad because it's used to mock. The mocking is a part of it. It's also the fact that after the mocking and the racist shit said, they wipe that shit off and go back to their own skin which no one bats an eye at. While the rest of us non-white folk can't do that. We have to carry on with skin color that will people white people feel a type of way.

White girl from France puts on a literal costume of a dark skinned character from a fantasy video game with maybe all the love and care in the world is still perpetuating the above because after the competition, she's going to take it off again. Skin color is not a commodity and it's not a fucking costume. I don't care how clever someone gets about it. You want to look like the character, just do what the character would do and put on their attire and demeanor and accessories. That character didn't reach into their closet and pull out their skin too.
 
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