By Amanda
The first season of Heroes of Cosplay wrapped Tuesday night on the Syfy Network. The show follows veteran and up-and-coming cosplayers primarily from Atlanta and Los Angeles as they compete in costume competitions around the country, such as MegaCon, Planet Comicon, and Stan Lee’s Comikaze. The series finale took place at Wizard World New Orleans. The two-part episode split the guys and girls up in individual and group competitions respectively.
From the start, Heroes was contentious, causing uproar among cosplayers. Viewers decried the lack of body positivity from some cast members, the cattiness and competitiveness that the show portrayed. Other arguments claimed that the show was entirely staged—as many reality television shows are. Just today, one of the judges of Wizard World New Orleans responded to claims that the competitions are fixed.
While I would like to believe that the spirit of the show is intact and fair, and many featured winners do not play a part on the show, there are many other moments of Heroes of Cosplay that feel too much like a reality show than a documentary. To hype up the drama, scenes cut away from conversations directly after something touchy is said rather than allowing the cast members to work out their issues. Producers constantly cut short competitions by repeating voiceovers “with only X minutes to go” or replaying the same dramatic clip multiple times. The show could benefit from a bit more of the “docu” of the genre “docu-series” that they claim to be (see their “About” description on the Syfy website).
However, I do feel that the second half of this season tried to address some of those earlier issues by doing a complete 180. A few of the more dramatic cast members, such as Monica and Becky, were no longer included. New, optimistic cosplayers with less obvious costume creation talents fill those gaps. The cast members also visited more professionals—Grant Imahara and Brian Henson most notable among others. Holly and Jessica also share Try This At Home tips, super helpful for people interested in cosplay with fewer skills. Finally, the season wrapped up in the most syrupy, positive, hug-filled ending of almost any show that I have ever seen.
To truly capture the cosplay scene, Syfy has to include the good and the bad. We all know that cosplay bullying exists, and to not address that would be a huge error on the part of the show. However, being overly positive casts all cosplayers in a weak light when blood, sweat, and tears play an essential role in realistically portraying fictional characters. What did you think of Heroes of Cosplay? Do television shows such as this, The Big Bang Theory, King of the Nerds, and others help or hurt the geek community? Share your thoughts and let us know what you think.
From the start, Heroes was contentious, causing uproar among cosplayers. Viewers decried the lack of body positivity from some cast members, the cattiness and competitiveness that the show portrayed. Other arguments claimed that the show was entirely staged—as many reality television shows are. Just today, one of the judges of Wizard World New Orleans responded to claims that the competitions are fixed.
While I would like to believe that the spirit of the show is intact and fair, and many featured winners do not play a part on the show, there are many other moments of Heroes of Cosplay that feel too much like a reality show than a documentary. To hype up the drama, scenes cut away from conversations directly after something touchy is said rather than allowing the cast members to work out their issues. Producers constantly cut short competitions by repeating voiceovers “with only X minutes to go” or replaying the same dramatic clip multiple times. The show could benefit from a bit more of the “docu” of the genre “docu-series” that they claim to be (see their “About” description on the Syfy website).
However, I do feel that the second half of this season tried to address some of those earlier issues by doing a complete 180. A few of the more dramatic cast members, such as Monica and Becky, were no longer included. New, optimistic cosplayers with less obvious costume creation talents fill those gaps. The cast members also visited more professionals—Grant Imahara and Brian Henson most notable among others. Holly and Jessica also share Try This At Home tips, super helpful for people interested in cosplay with fewer skills. Finally, the season wrapped up in the most syrupy, positive, hug-filled ending of almost any show that I have ever seen.
To truly capture the cosplay scene, Syfy has to include the good and the bad. We all know that cosplay bullying exists, and to not address that would be a huge error on the part of the show. However, being overly positive casts all cosplayers in a weak light when blood, sweat, and tears play an essential role in realistically portraying fictional characters. What did you think of Heroes of Cosplay? Do television shows such as this, The Big Bang Theory, King of the Nerds, and others help or hurt the geek community? Share your thoughts and let us know what you think.