Continued from Philippine Cosplay and The WCS.
This is the final post on a series of entries commenting on Philippine cosplay. The first entry talks about the entitlement complexes of several local cosplayers, the second the exploitation of local cosplayers as mascots by PR and events people, and the third post discusses the Philippine cosplayer on the world stage.
For the last entry, let’s all take a step back and ask a very basic but important question about the local scene: what is Philippine cosplay?
As the debate rages on whether we — as one nation, can take the big step to qualify and compete in the WCS, one local cosplayer makes the offhand comment that instead of trying to conform to foreign standards, foreign cosplayers should and are giving “Philippine-style” cosplay a try.
Another cosplayer counters, “Well, then what is Philippine-style cosplay?”. Which got me to thinking — how do you add local flavor to a hobby that has its roots firmly embedded in foreign soil?
Having witnessed the growth (but not necessarily the development) of local cosplay from the ground up, I can safely say that if there’s one thing that makes us different from everybody else, it’s that in a world filled with DeviantArt-whoring emo-tastic attention whores — the Pinoy is in a class all by itself.
Sounds harsh, right? Humour me for a minute and let me run with this 🙂 First of all, just take a look at the set-up of our local events: unlike other countries where the cosplay promenade or the cosplayer convention meet-up is the main event, Pinoy cosplay feeds on the attention whore in everyone by coming up with the cosplay ramp.
Instead of mixing freely with fellow cosplayers and convention guests (like the North American model), or setting up camp against a wall in the convention center and entertaining photogs all day (ala-Japan), Philippine cosplayers get to bask in their fifteen seconds of fame by sashaying up a catwalk and displaying themselves to all and sundry.
In a country where talent searches are extremely popular, and being stopped in the middle of a busy intersection to be offered a modeling contract features prominently in many youthful fantasies, it’s not difficult to see how the cosplay ramp found its appeal and its place in Philippine cosplay history.
Another evidence of the Pinoy’s inherent need to be the center of attention is the rise of the “Cosplay Mafia Wars”. Cosplay organizations came to existence in the local setting as an attempt to build good relationships amongst cosplayers, as well as with the cosplayer community and schools, companies, and other institutions. However, because of the very nature of organized groups, a pyramid framework has emerged with a small circle of movers and shakers exercising some control over a larger party of general members.
Some cosplayers — miffed at being excluded from the top tier as well as being outside of the sphere of influence, organize alternative groups and put themselves at very the top of the power structure. It’s all well and good, until these competing groups start tearing each other down in bizarre plays for power and influence. Again, this all boils down to the almost genetic predisposition of Pinoys to want to be the lynch pin of a social nexus — no matter how niche or deviant that nexus may be.
Last but not least is the curious phenomenon of the local cosplay photographer organizations. It is only here in Manila that photogs form groups to pressure event organizers and cosplayers into giving them “perks” such as free convention passes, prime catwalk spots, and panty shots on demand.
It’s as if local cosplay photogs are trying to shift the attention and privileges that the cosplayers are receiving to themselves, which is strange since you — as a photog, are behind the lens and not in front of it, and should be used to the lack of attention. After all, you don’t really need it for your photos to turn out great, right?
So kids — instead of bickering over the nature of Philippine cosplay and how different it is to its foreign counterparts, consider this: it is really not as high-brow or superior as you’d like to think. We’re all attention whores, and the scene has developed to cater to that. The sooner all of us can learn to accept that, the sooner we can all get back to the srs bznz of cosplaying.
JPOP Manila 
oh good god. This is getting tiring. Really. Tagal nang debate ito ah
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lol people need something to occupy themselves with 🙂
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This… still makes me sad, no matter how many times I hear it. *sigh* The ‘will to power’ is apparently very strong here. Nietzsche might be proud. *facepalm*
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Cosplay – SRS BSNS
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ei @metatron, add me on FB so we can play COSPLAY MAFIA WARS rofl~
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Its also helpful to consider the fact that the very definition of Cosplay is not as solid a foundation as one would imagine. Its open to several interpretations, that groups tend to form around their own definition/philosophy of cosplaying: Fashion and Cosplay. Original Cosplay. Cosplay as strictly wearing just wearing a suit. Cosplay as strictly acting it out with minimal effort on costume. Modeling and Cosplay. And the list goes on.
I agree with your insights regarding your interpretation of Philippine Style cosplaying. Looking back, its the chance of being center-stage that most cosplayers here look forward to, to be openly and audibly admired. But I believe that makes us no different than our North American and Japanese counterparts: they too revel in their own creations thru photography, websites, and fans. Its that, yes, it seems the Filipino Cosplay Scene tends to be more extreme, and in some cases, more trashy than most (Friendster-type pics, sheesh).
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i think cosplay catwalks are an efficient method to allow a huge number of cosplayers to compete in a limited time span.Let’s face it, dami tayong tao sa Pilipinas. Lots of cosplayers too. The catwalk system is best for us so we can give everyone a chance to compete in equal amounts of time. If this is our pinoy cosplay style, then i embrace it.
As for grabbing attention, it’s necessary in competition. You can’t expect to win a competition without grabbing the judges’ and the crowd’s attention. So if that makes us attention whores, then so be it. It’s not an entirely bad thing.
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i think cosplay catwalks are an efficient method to allow a huge number of cosplayers to compete in a limited time span.
however it also has its innate inefficiencies. the most prevalent case that comes to mind is the chaos in the line-up that ensues when the cosplayer being called onstage for his or her turn at the ramp is not in the line behind the stage. this leads to confusion during presentation — or even worse during judging, and that never leads to good consequences.
i am a huge proponent of the pre-selection method — wherein all cosplayers are prejudged offstage by a panel of experts instead of the onstage ramp being the main judging event. only the finalists who made it past the preselection stage are allowed to go onstage for the ramp, which lessens the number of people marshals have to keep track off.
lastly, all the cosplayers who did not make it to the finals are free to roam the main convention floor (in or out of costume — their choice), making the event more fun for them since they are not penned in a cramped and uncomfortable space awaiting their turn to ramp. and if they want to be accessible to fans and photogs, they can always go with the japanese method of camping in one spot for their admirers to spot them.
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We should totally do the pre-selection method. I have only been to a few cons myself, but the catwalks have proven to be rather tedious, not only to the cosplayers participating, but also for the viewers. There could be like 50 or more people participating (I may be exaggerating though, but if it were a smaller number, it’s certainly grown in my head because of how tiring it could be watching them).
Like eva_guy01 mentioned, there is also the “Cosplay as strictly just wearing a suit” where some people in costume just walk up and down the catwalk just as they would in a mall in their usual clothes. And seeing a few of these in a row or, god forbid, a lot of them is rather tiring. And I guess I come off as a complainer like this, but certainly I’m not the only one who has experienced this, right?
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