Fans

This week, we read about fans and the implications of these communities on society. While reading in Keywords, I noticed the quote, “Recently, fandom has been discussed in terms of performativity, as participants act out or embody particular identities, display particular emotions, or demonstrate their mastery over shared fictions,” (Jenkins, 66). This immediately made me think of the fandom communities that exist in the world of cosplay. I found an outside source, a scholarly article called, Expressions of Fandom: Findings from a Psychological Survey of Cosplay and Costume Wear. The quotes I used here were, “Cosplay, short for ‘costume-play’, is the modern practice of wearing costumes, props, and accessories to represent a character,” (Rosenberg, 9), and “The purposes of cosplaying can vary, but include the expression of adoration of the character, enjoying attention or approval from audiences/peers, and experiencing the creative process of the costume construction,” (Rosenberg, 9). These quotes helped tie my clips of interviews of fans dressed in cosplay with the Keywords quote. I tried to include a variety of costumes to show the range that people participate (usually to a high degree) in these conventions. I chose the song, “Barracuda” by Heart, because I felt it fit in with the fast paced beat and guitar sounds with the high energy and semi “hardcore” attitudes the cosplay participants displayed.