Post by gew on May 15, 2010 14:08:59 GMT 8
This issue of Cosplay Series will be a bit different.
I’m covering both pics for Pikachu cosplay from Pokemon, and a discussion about the frontiers between hobby and obsession.
Starting with cute Pikachu cosplay.
Pokemon is a very sucessful franchise for over 10 years now, and still going… so it’s undestandable some people go way over the top on the fandomness side.
Having it’s main character, monster or simbol on Pikachu, an yellow electrical chubby rat, there are tons of merchandise surrounding him.
I’m not a Pokemon fan, but I did watch some episodes of the anime, and did play the original games a bit… and I can really understand why there are lots of fans. Mixing cute animal with interesting powers with the “collectible” part could make any hobbyist mad about it.
I do understand lots of people are repelled mainly because it became too big, too mainstream, overhyped, and centered on kids.
Becoming overhyped and mainstream are quite oftenly the reason why lots of people ends up prejudging stuff or overlooking it.
Even the whole anime, cosplay and otaku culture suffers from those symptoms, which mainly come from people who switched from taking them as hobby, and turning them into obsessions.
Quite oftenly, it’s hard to set those two ideas apart.
But bare with me while I try to ellaborate a bit more on them.
Hobbies are like a subject you have interest in, which you can dedicate some of your free time on.
Crafts, movies, anime, cosplaying, car tuning, handcrafting, playing musical instruments, karaoke, collecting beer cans, old stamps, etc… those can all be considered hobbies.
And there’s no problem with those as long as you are having fun and not hurting others.
Those are the key points where obsession comes into play.
Anything that takes over your life, hurting yourself or others in the process, taking up not only your free time but almost all of your time, can be considered an obsession.
Not talking about the clinical disorder here, but if you find yourself in situations where you can’t start a talk about nothing else but your current hobby, this might be a sign of obsession.
This might have an impact on your social life, and on the image people have of you. It doesn’t even need to be a explicit thing, but if, for instance, you can only talk about a certain niche subject, people might feel unconfortable around you… calling you a geek, freak, weirdo, and others.
PikaBelleChu here has a collection of over 8000 Pikachu related merchandise, including a car that looks like it.
But see, I’m not labeling her obsessive… first, because you can’t judge people by some images you see on the internet, and second because it depends on her objectives, social status, and her life beyond these images.
Given these images alone, plus the nickname she gives herself, and the attempt on being part of the Guiness Book, it’s innevitable to consider the idea.
But I always tend to think that only a good face to face conversation will reveal if a person is truly obsessive or not.
The problem with obsessive people is that they can become dangerous very fast, as they are quite often emotionally unstable.
Remembering obsession is very close to fanaticism and other extreme feelings that can lead to horrible things.
But it’s also important to know the difference, and also to know that many times, mass media portrays healthy hobbies as objects of obsessions alone.
I’ve seen my share of articles about cosplaying, gaming, and other hobbies being bashed by some random news cast by using some obsessive fan for portraying the “dark side” of the hobby alone.
New trends, specially when it comes from foreign countries which are oftenly portrayed only with “curious facts” instead of more common everyday life facts, are easy targets for our frequently ignorant mass media news… but do remember obsession isn’t only about cosplay or anime. A car tuning obsessive friend, or someone who can only think of a specific sport (like soccer for instance) can be as irritating.
As for me, I have several hobbies that can be considered strange or weird for an average man with my age. Being almost 30 with a blog that covers anime, games and several other subjects considered for “kids and teens” can easily make me a target for all sorts of criticism.
But it’s just a part of my personallity. I’m not trying to go with or against a trend… I just try not to care much about other people’s opinions (specially when it’s about dictating what I should or shouldn’t do), and just go after the things I like instead.
Obsessions, hobbies, doing what you want against doing what people think you should, being labeled as weirdo, not being the popular kid on the class and several other themes like those are a constant specially for otakus, anime fans and hobbyists in general who really dedicate themselves.
There are several other themes, ideas and words that floats around this discussion, but it’d be endless, so I’m finishing up here.
But just closing the discussion up, it’s always good to think about these themes, not only from your standpoint but also from friends and strangers’.
Like when you are being unfairly bashed for your hobbies, try to understand why this is happening, and respond to it in a way to make the person attacking you understand your point of view. For most of the times, it’s just ignorance over your hobby, and a fear that it’s some sort of obsession, which in turn causes fear or rejection.
I’m covering both pics for Pikachu cosplay from Pokemon, and a discussion about the frontiers between hobby and obsession.
Starting with cute Pikachu cosplay.
Pokemon is a very sucessful franchise for over 10 years now, and still going… so it’s undestandable some people go way over the top on the fandomness side.
Having it’s main character, monster or simbol on Pikachu, an yellow electrical chubby rat, there are tons of merchandise surrounding him.
I’m not a Pokemon fan, but I did watch some episodes of the anime, and did play the original games a bit… and I can really understand why there are lots of fans. Mixing cute animal with interesting powers with the “collectible” part could make any hobbyist mad about it.
I do understand lots of people are repelled mainly because it became too big, too mainstream, overhyped, and centered on kids.
Becoming overhyped and mainstream are quite oftenly the reason why lots of people ends up prejudging stuff or overlooking it.
Even the whole anime, cosplay and otaku culture suffers from those symptoms, which mainly come from people who switched from taking them as hobby, and turning them into obsessions.
Quite oftenly, it’s hard to set those two ideas apart.
But bare with me while I try to ellaborate a bit more on them.
Hobbies are like a subject you have interest in, which you can dedicate some of your free time on.
Crafts, movies, anime, cosplaying, car tuning, handcrafting, playing musical instruments, karaoke, collecting beer cans, old stamps, etc… those can all be considered hobbies.
And there’s no problem with those as long as you are having fun and not hurting others.
Those are the key points where obsession comes into play.
Anything that takes over your life, hurting yourself or others in the process, taking up not only your free time but almost all of your time, can be considered an obsession.
Not talking about the clinical disorder here, but if you find yourself in situations where you can’t start a talk about nothing else but your current hobby, this might be a sign of obsession.
This might have an impact on your social life, and on the image people have of you. It doesn’t even need to be a explicit thing, but if, for instance, you can only talk about a certain niche subject, people might feel unconfortable around you… calling you a geek, freak, weirdo, and others.
PikaBelleChu here has a collection of over 8000 Pikachu related merchandise, including a car that looks like it.
But see, I’m not labeling her obsessive… first, because you can’t judge people by some images you see on the internet, and second because it depends on her objectives, social status, and her life beyond these images.
Given these images alone, plus the nickname she gives herself, and the attempt on being part of the Guiness Book, it’s innevitable to consider the idea.
But I always tend to think that only a good face to face conversation will reveal if a person is truly obsessive or not.
The problem with obsessive people is that they can become dangerous very fast, as they are quite often emotionally unstable.
Remembering obsession is very close to fanaticism and other extreme feelings that can lead to horrible things.
But it’s also important to know the difference, and also to know that many times, mass media portrays healthy hobbies as objects of obsessions alone.
I’ve seen my share of articles about cosplaying, gaming, and other hobbies being bashed by some random news cast by using some obsessive fan for portraying the “dark side” of the hobby alone.
New trends, specially when it comes from foreign countries which are oftenly portrayed only with “curious facts” instead of more common everyday life facts, are easy targets for our frequently ignorant mass media news… but do remember obsession isn’t only about cosplay or anime. A car tuning obsessive friend, or someone who can only think of a specific sport (like soccer for instance) can be as irritating.
As for me, I have several hobbies that can be considered strange or weird for an average man with my age. Being almost 30 with a blog that covers anime, games and several other subjects considered for “kids and teens” can easily make me a target for all sorts of criticism.
But it’s just a part of my personallity. I’m not trying to go with or against a trend… I just try not to care much about other people’s opinions (specially when it’s about dictating what I should or shouldn’t do), and just go after the things I like instead.
Obsessions, hobbies, doing what you want against doing what people think you should, being labeled as weirdo, not being the popular kid on the class and several other themes like those are a constant specially for otakus, anime fans and hobbyists in general who really dedicate themselves.
There are several other themes, ideas and words that floats around this discussion, but it’d be endless, so I’m finishing up here.
But just closing the discussion up, it’s always good to think about these themes, not only from your standpoint but also from friends and strangers’.
Like when you are being unfairly bashed for your hobbies, try to understand why this is happening, and respond to it in a way to make the person attacking you understand your point of view. For most of the times, it’s just ignorance over your hobby, and a fear that it’s some sort of obsession, which in turn causes fear or rejection.