Is it taboo to cosplay as a character clearly from another race than yourself?

[Hagi]

Are they dressed as the Wise Man Balthasar?

Are they dressed as the Wise Man Balthasar?

they are dressed as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). At least that is what I think

Yup, we call them Zwarte Piet.

They're not actually of any particular race beyond hailing from Spain, rather they're Chimney Sweeps who assist Sinterklaas ( Dutch variant of Santa Claus, or actually the other way around, Santa Claus was derived from Sinterklaas ) in delivering presents by going down chimneys.

Apparently they never wash themselves...

There's a few other origin stories for him, one of them being a freed black slave swearing servitude, but others include him being the descendant of the black ravens Huginn and Muninn who accompanied Odin or being a Pagan God who had submitted himself to Sinterklaas ( AKA Saint Nicholas ).

There's no real evidence for any of the origins as far as I know but considering the chimney sweep story is what's taught in schools and by parents that's the official one that pretty much everyone here knows. I'm not aware of any local controversy surrounding him, it mostly seems to be tourists with no understanding of Dutch culture that find him offensive.

 

[Zeterai]

Allow me to reverse the situation in a context that has happened fairly recently. Do you think that it would be okay for a black actor to play the part of a Norse god?

The thing is, that guy totally rocked Heimdall. And Samuel L. Jackson did a great job with Nick Fury.

That's what it comes down to, doesn't it? If someone can pull the cosplay off well, then skin colour is a minor complaint. I've seen Link done both by a black guy, and a pair of girls, all of whom created the costume faithfully. That's the only thing that should matter.

 

[Kyrdra]

[...]
Yup, we call them Zwarte Piet.

They're not actually of any particular race beyond hailing from Spain, rather they're Chimney Sweeps who assist Sinterklaas ( Dutch variant of Santa Claus, or actually the other way around, Santa Claus was derived from Sinterklaas ) in delivering presents by going down chimneys.

Apparently they never wash themselves...

There's a few other origin stories for him, one of them being a freed black slave swearing servitude, but others include him being the descendant of the black ravens Huginn and Muninn who accompanied Odin or being a Pagan God who had submitted himself to Sinterklaas ( AKA Saint Nicholas ).

There's no real evidence for any of the origins as far as I know but considering the chimney sweep story is what's taught in schools and by parents that's the official one that pretty much everyone here knows. I'm not aware of any local controversy surrounding him, it mostly seems to be tourists with no understanding of Dutch culture that find him offensive.

yay I got something right.
I only know it from the dutch people who come skiing to us (and clogging every street), so it is nice that I
remembered a little bit

 

[ninjaRiv]

I'm reminded of the backlash Marvel got when it promoted a black guy dressed as Doctor Strange. The very idea of having to cosplay to your race or gender is absurd, since cosplay is about being who you want to be. If you had to dress to your race, every cosplayer who had ever cosplayed as an anime character would be fucked.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Ok, Black actor plays a character in a movie that was white in the comics (Thor) is fine. White actor plays an American Indian character in a movie (The Lone Ranger) then its bad. Yep, racism is about white people.

You know what, if you love a character, then dress up as them. Doesnt matter what people think, play that what you love. Whether your a black guy that loves Bond, or a white guy dressing up as Blade. People get to caught up on the colour and not that the white guy painting his face black loves Blade.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

Good question. I've been pondering this myself, because I've always wanted to go to a con as Book from Firefly (I already have the hair for it), but it's always seemed a bit improper.

I suppose as long as you're not overtly racist about it, it's cool...?

 

[Diddy_Mao]

I don't know that I'd really have a problem with it.

With that being said, as a product of when they were created characters like Luke Cage, El Dorado, Banshee or Super-Chief are pretty much defined by their race and heritage and I think a certain degree of care should be taken when deciding to don their respective costumes.

On the flip side of that if I were to see anyone of any race cosplaying as Dawnstar, Forge, Talisman, or Warpath I don't think I'd really bat an eye at it.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Allow me to reverse the situation in a context that has happened fairly recently. Do you think that it would be okay for a black actor to play the part of a Norse god?

The thing is, that guy totally rocked Heimdall. And Samuel L. Jackson did a great job with Nick Fury.

That's what it comes down to, doesn't it? If someone can pull the cosplay off well, then skin colour is a minor complaint. I've seen Link done both by a black guy, and a pair of girls, all of whom created the costume faithfully. That's the only thing that should matter.

That was more or less my point, because he really was good as Heimdall. And frankly, even if someone can't pull of a cosplay well, that doesn't make it racist; it just makes it bad. And we laugh at bad cosplay. No need to get up in arms about it.

And on that note...

 

[rednose1]

Cosplaying as a generic person from a race is, and always will be, racist. You're using generalizations and stereotypes to portray a different race.
Cosplaying as a specific person who just happens to be another race is fine, you're going as a defined person, not as a living caricature.

 

[BarkBarker]

....as long as it is tasteful I don't mind, if she just decided to sloppily cover herself in Biro then I would certainly find it upset.

 

[Headsprouter]

As long as she doesn't use chocolate-coloured face paint this should be completely fine, however, if she covers herself in chocolate-coloured face paint and fool everyone she becomes a certified badass. It just depends whether she's willing to take dat risk.

Really though, in this day and age, there should be no controversy...if she likes Tiana's costume, why not?

 

[someonehairy-ish]

....as long as it is tasteful I don't mind, if she just decided to sloppily cover herself in Biro then I would certainly find it upset.

It would take ages to get decent coverage with a biro.

So, no points for taste, but 10/10 for effort?

OT: I can't really see that there would be a problem. Also, what the hell, people who moaned about that AC cosplay. They looked awesome!

 

[otakon17]

So, what I've gotten from this is: if she does the costume right, it doesn't matter if she's white and the character is black. Right?

Welp I am damn thankful for some other opinions besides my own, another internet acquaintance of mine does some cosplaying and also stated that the reason it was so taboo was that it was a part of Tianas character that she's a black woman. I couldn't convince either of them otherwise though, so we agreed to disagree on this.

 

[Nickolai77]

I think it's perfectly legitimate in principle cosplaying as a character of someone of a different race to yourself- but it depends on a lot of things. If you're aiming to literally mirror the character you are cosplaying as then skin colour, like other physical aspects like height, build and sex then should be considered. I'm 5'8 and of a fairly modest build- i wouldn't "mirror cosplay" as Heavy from Team Fortress because i'm simply not built like that character. Otherwise you're better off altering how your body appears more. Like tastefully shading your own skill colour or working out or something like that. There are however limitations to what you can do and get away with. A lot of it all depends on context though.

If you're not aiming to mirror the character but adding you're own style or rendition to it then things like race don't matter at all, in fact they're a bonus. A black Mario and luigi, Rule 63 on the Joker, things like that really spice up a comic con for me.

 

[mecegirl]

I am going to post the link to a post on a Black cosplayers tumblr account about cosplaying Black characters. Take it as you will.

http://msjayjustice.tumblr.com/post/53961037423/final-word-on-blackface-from-me-every-other

 

[The Hero Killer]

My only question is how would you know shes Tiana if shes not black? I mean most Disney princesses dress the same so I'm sure she would get mixed up with Cinderella most of the time. Being black myself I just find it difficult to cosplay as someone I like myself mostly due to my hair.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

It was apparently "racist" according to some Tumblr activists

Hold the phone..."Tumblr activists"? That is a....thing?

Apparently. I told a friend about this case with the cosplayers (she goes on Tumblr a lot) and she said there are packs of these social justice activists there that are absolutely nutty. They blow up about anything potentially racist or sexist (even if it isn't by consensus of rational people) and cause an explosion of bile.

Sounds about right. One of my group's members manages most of our social media outlets and from the few times I've graced Tumblr's presence...I've learned to just avoid that place much like I do YouTube comments. <_<

 

[mecegirl]

My only question is how would you know shes Tiana if shes not black? I mean most Disney princesses dress the same so I'm sure she would get mixed up with Cinderella most of the time. Being black myself I just find it difficult to cosplay as someone I like myself mostly due to my hair.

Spoiler

They do not dress the same. And since none of the other girls wear a green dress, as long as she gets the pattern right she would be fine.