Recently, there's been a spate of fundamentalist outbursts in my country; last year there was a woman who called the police on a cosplayer whom she felt was showing too much skin, and then there was the outburst against Pink Dot, and then there was the incident where the national public library removed three books for portraying same-sex relationships as normal within a month of receiving a complaint and pulped one despite public outcry, and then, most recently, the event I'm going to in a fortnight was contacted by the police, because apparently someone had contacted the police and told them there was going to be a public event that might lead to inappropriate clothing...
So. Why is that?
There are various reasons being put forward, but I'm going to put forth a different one:
They put everything in one basket, and tell everyone: This is the only basket there is. They take one book, and put it up, and say "Everything you want and need is provided by us. There is nowhere you will find love except with us, nowhere you will find morality except with us, nowhere you will find acceptance but with us, and so the only thing worth spending time on... is us."
Nothing is of worth in their eyes unless it serves them.
And then... we appear.
"We"?
We. Anyone who is not them.
Why is cosplay, of all things, a threat to them?
Because cosplay is fantasy. More, it takes what is fantasy, and brings it out into the world for a short period of time.
And suddenly... everything is different.
Because suddenly their children see the heroes they recognise, large as life in front of them, and these heroes can go on to show that you can be good in this world, rather than wait for the next.
Fig 1
And they see total strangers caring for others,
Fig 2
and they see that people can reshape themselves into whoever they wish to be, rather than who they are told they have to be.
Fig 3
Fig 4
They see portrayals of love brought from story to reality for a little while,
Fig 5
They see friendship.
Fig 6
They see families that stick together
,
Fig 7
And they learn that these things are not confined to their circle of fellow believers; that the best things in life belong to all people, everywhere.
Worse, they see dedication to things outside of their tiny world
Fig 8
and begin to question: If my dedication to my belief is evidence of the worth of my belief, what does the dedication of these people to their craft mean?
But worst of all, they see joy, and they hear laughter
Fig 9
and they learn this:
The most important things do not need to cloak themselves in solemnity. They can be embraced with a smile.
They should be taken into ourselves with a laugh.
Fig 10
Because they make us human. And that is why I choose to portray Dante
Fig 11
Because laughter, like love, keeps us alive.
And when you are willing to laugh at yourself, when you are willing to question dogma and find things out for yourself, you become free, and you learn that the world is large and full, not of fear and trembling, but of beauty and wonder, and all that you need is to find the strength in yourself to step out into a world where there are no answers given, only a trust that you have the strength and decency to find your own.
And we, by doing this, take these messages out from the comics and books and shows and games, and we place them into the real world, and we say if it could happen here, it could happen anywhere.
That is why they fear us.
Not because we are immoral, but because we have the capacity to portray morality in a place where they have told their children none exist.
And if this one thing they say is a lie... what else might their children begin to question?
Fig 1: Mohd Ariffin Fig 2: From left: Muhammad Ridhwan Bin Sulaiman, Syafuan Sarif,, Jia Sheng Ryuki, Chazzy van Meezy, and Mohd Ariffin, looking after my daughter in a spot of impromptu babysitting when she wandered away. full album here Fig 3: Chibi Mikasa playing with Xueling Fig 4: Shaun Lu and unknown kid Fig 5: Caffeine and Daphne Loh. full album here Fig 6: From left: Daichi Sakamoto, myself, Muhammad Ridhwan Bin Sulaiman, Syafuan Sarif Fig 7: Myself with Eugene Lim Fig 8: From left: Ryan, Edmond Lee and Rion You Fig 9: From left: Caffeine, Daichi Sakamoto, myself, Syafuan Sarif, Muhammad Ridhwan Bin Sulaiman, Mohd Ariffin, all mucking around. Image by Kher NIng Chui and Muhammad Ridhwan Bin Sulaiman full album here. Fig 10: Myself and Luther Loh Fig 11: Just me. Image by Krisgage photography. full album here
All other images are from my cosfest 2014 albumfull album here
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