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[clem84]

Article in question.

I'm not even sure how I feel about this. I'm all for not offending people and respecting people as much as possible, but I'm not sure how you can get something so negative when the motivation for the costume came from a feeling of sincere admiration for the character and the actress portraying it.

 

[dakun]

not racist imo. not even in poor taste really.. just naive about the PC nature of people really.

to me it's more disgusting that the word racist (and sexist and most other negative labels) is being thrown around so liberally

 

[……forgetit]

Racist imo

 

[The Elite]

Seems fine to me.

 

[ohhthegore]

maybe racist imo

 

[Spwn]

So it's ok to change the color of your hair, but not your face?

 

[SillyEskimo]

That's some damn good blackface. I would've swore she was actually black.

 

[Slayven]

It is racist, racist as the fuck

Did she add shit to her nose? The fuck>

 

[ShinNL]

Possibly offensive to sensitive people =/= racist. It makes no sense in the context that this is done with the intent to be offensive.

But I guess I should be really mad at the movie Cloud Atlas.

 

[CitrusStorm]

That's not very racist. I mean, it's not like minstrel show level blackface - she actually put some serious effort in the makeup.

 

[The Elite]

So it's ok to change the color of your hair, but not your face?

Depends on your reason for doing it. If it's meant as mockery I would consider it racist. If it's done out of adoration for a favourite character I can't really view it as racist.

 

[Gustav]

As far as I can tell she's German. She probably had no concept of Blackface.

 

[Liquid-San]

Great cosplay and I'm part black lol. People need to stop being so sensitive as she jsut wanted a faithful recreation of the character she was cosplaying.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

That's some damn good blackface. I would've swore she was actually black.

Come on son

The whole thing with cosplay and black (or whatever) face: your cosplay should be tight enough so it's clear without toeing that line

 

[Plywood]

I like how the person who published the article wrote Carl as CORAL.

 

[……forgetit]

So it's ok to change the color of your hair, but not your face?

Correct, it's never okay to change the color of your skin to simulate a different ethnicity IMO.

 

[Yonafunu]

That nose tho

 

[Alx]

not racist imo. not even in poor taste really.. just naive about the PC nature of people really.

Well she's a German artist apparently. "Blackface" isn't an issue anywhere but in America.
Racism is all about meaning and intention. Painting your face black should be considered racist only when it is meant to give a bad image of black people. That's obviously not the case here.

 

[weremichael]

Not in my opinion either. That's not really classic minstrel blackface that is racist, it's a nerd dressing up as a badass zombie slayer.

 

[NekoFever]

I think that's quite tastefully done.

Minstrel shows are racist but I don't see anything innately offensive in dressing up as a character from another race. The whole point is making yourself look like someone you're not.

 

[AzureRonin]

Definitely doubt it was meant as racist but man... Just don't do it. You can be michonne and just not paint your face black.

The historical connotations are just too abundant. It's like dressing up like a Nazi. No your not a Nazi but some people will find it disrespectful.

 

[Arjen]

She could have pulled the character off without painting her face black.

 

[Alienous]

Badly done, but yes, blackface is without debate racist. I think. I wasn't part of the discussion, but I believe that was the decision.

 

[DECK'ARD]

Correct, it's never okay to change the color of your skin to simulate a different ethnicity IMO.

What about going blue for Avatar?

 

[Spwn]

Depends on your reason for doing it. If it's meant as mockery I would consider it racist. If it's done out of adoration for a favourite character I can't really view it as racist.

Yeah, I meant in the context of cosplay of course. In which case it's the latter and therefore not racist imo.

 

[Parallax]

Great cosplay and I'm part black lol. People need to stop being so sensitive as she jsut wanted a faithful recreation of the character she was cosplaying.

She could have done that without the make up.

 

[UncleSporky]

I think racism is based on intent. Is she making fun of the character? Like, does this come from a position of mockery or hatred?

 

[The Elite]

Correct, it's never okay to change the color of your skin to simulate a different ethnicity IMO.

I wish you were the studio exec handling White Chicks. I wouldn't have had to sit through it.

 

[EdibleExplosives]

It's pretty obvious that the intention wasn't racist.

 

[kharma45]

Depends on your reason for doing it. If it's meant as mockery I would consider it racist. If it's done out of adoration for a favourite character I can't really view it as racist.

That's how I feel.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Definitely doubt it was meant as racist but man... Just don't do it. You can be michonne and just not paint your face black.

The historical connotations are just too abundant. It's like dressing up like a Nazi. No your not a Nazi but some people will find it disrespectful.

Eh it was a no win situation, she would've probably been slammed for white washing the character then.

 

[.GqueB.]

Racism implies intent. There was clearly no intent here. She's guilty of being ignorant and kind of dumb based on her response.

The word racist gets thrown around a bit too much these days.

 

[Slayven]

What about going blue for Avatar?

So black people= Space aliens?

 

[Ol No Bones]

Of course this isn't racist. She wanted to look like her favorite character. People are stupid. Not everything is racist.

 

[……forgetit]

What about going blue for Avatar?

Fictional races are obviously exempt for this, I also hate that this is the second time this has come up in a cosplay thread to me, black people aren't fitional creatures.

 

[MonorailCat]

I bet if she did not paint her face black and instead cosplayed a black actress as white, she would have been branded as racist too.

So obviously the only solution for not beeing branded racist is to not cosplay black actors/actresses/character as a white person. Which could be considered racist.

 

[Rootbeer]

The nose prosthetic she used...

In general I support her but when you go too far on trying to match the features like changing your nose, lips or eyes to match another ethnic group it can feel a little offensive. I mean, not when people do it to white people (being that I am one), I usually find it funny, but other races have a history where it puts it in a different context and I can see why they would not appreciate it.

On the other hand... to a black person under say 30yo who has never had to experience someone using black face in the way they did in the olden times, and the person who is portraying the blackface is also of a younger age, at what point does it take on a different context where it's not viewed as disrespectful or hateful but just as another way to express yourself, be it through humor or through an homage as it is in this instance. Who gets to decide that? Or are we all just stuck in this limbo where we have to forever alter our behaviors because of sins committed way before we were born.

 

[dakun]

Correct, it's never okay to change the color of your skin to simulate a different ethnicity IMO.

so are you offended by this? or does your opinion just extend to white people?

(just to clarify i think Chappelle is amazing)

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Eh it was a no win situation, she would've probably been slammed for white washing the character then.

I bet if she did not paint her face black and instead cosplayed a black actress as white, she would have been branded as racist too.

So obviously the only solution for not beeing branded racist is to not cosplay black actors/actresses/character as a white person. Which could be considered racist.

This has already happened without incident

quit being so sensitive

 

[LyleLanley]

I bet if she did not paint her face black and instead cosplayed a black actress as white, she would have been branded as racist too.

So obviously the only solution for not beeing branded racist is to not cosplay black actors/actresses/character as a white person. Which could be considered racist.

That's ridiculous, I seriously doubt people would have seen her as racist if she dressed up as Michonne without the blackface.

 

[Nyx]

If this is racist I don't know what isn't anymore....

 

[kharma45]

I bet if she did not paint her face black and instead cosplayed a black actress as white, she would have been branded as racist too.

So obviously the only solution for not beeing branded racist is to not cosplay black actors/actresses/character as a white person. Which could be considered racist.

Racist.

That's ridiculous, I seriously doubt people would have seen her as racist if she dressed up as Michonne without the blackface.

It seems you missed the joke...

 

[Spwn]

Correct, it's never okay to change the color of your skin to simulate a different ethnicity IMO.

Why? We're all people. What makes it wrong to try look like the other person just because they don't share the same skin tone?

 

[Alienous]

Does this mean I'm allowed to slap on some whiteface and stop cosplaying as Afro Samurai or the Third Raikage now?

Correct, it's never okay to change the color of your skin to simulate a different ethnicity IMO.

Any reasoning, or ... ?

 

[LilWayneSuckz]

It could just be ignorance of what blackface is. But that costume makes me cringe

What about going blue for Avatar?

The blue skin tone of the Na'vi is of a fictional race of alien creatures, it's a costume.

Danai Gurira's skin tone is not apart of her Michonne costume

 

[Zeyphersan]

Well she's a German artist apparently. "Blackface" isn't an issue anywhere but in America.
Racism is all about meaning and intention. Painting your face black should be considered racist only when it is meant to give a bad image of black people. That's obviously not the case here.

I disagree with this. Most people who say/do racist shit probably don't outwardly mean it that way, but it still is

As for the cosplay, I wouldn't call it racist, but it is in pretty poor taste

 

[……forgetit]

so are you offended by this? or does your opinion just extend to white people?

Actually yes, it's pretty messed up in hindsight

 

[Mesousa]

That nose makes it more racist to me than the makeup.

 

[GingerNathan]

Certainly racially insensitive. Some people will be offended by it which is their right, so it really isn't worth offending people for what it adds (or doesn't in this case) to the costume. You'd still be able to tell it was a Michonne cosplay if she had kept her skin its natural colour.

 

[HappyBivouac]

Racist? No. In poor taste? Yeah, a little.

Nobody is being reduced, stereotyped, or belittled here. It's just in poor taste due to historical precedent.