College Graduate = Professional Cosplayer?

[kevin_standlee]

Sac-Anime is an anime convention in Sacramento. The most recent one (not the one its web site points to, which is next year), was July 13-15 at the Red Lion Inn Sacramento. (Note to people who haven't been to Sacramento since the 1985 Westercon: this is the "Sacramento Inn" that was the overflow for that Westercon -- I stayed in this hotel during Westercon 38. It was also one of the sites where Sacramento's Eclecticon was held over the five years that we had it.)

This apparently is a for-profit show run as a living for its organizers, which affects the tone of the event entirely, I expect. hazelchaz has his review of the con, which he was attending to promote Anime Los Angeles.

Anyway, it was this review that really surprised me, particularly this bit:

Some of the masquerade contest rules were really outrageous, especially the college rule. If a cosplayer graduated from college they are considered a professional cosplayer and may not enter.

What an amazingly stupid rule! It makes no sense on any level that I can see. Is it meant to be an age limit? If so, state it that way -- but it's still a dumb rule even if stated as an age limit, not an level-of-education-completed one. And what's the reason for it, anyway?

The reviews I've read make me glad I didn't make the trip up to Sacramento last weekend, even though I wasn't all that busy.

Comments

[howeird]

I guess you graduated before they added Costuming 497 (Anime Contest Costuming Master Class) to the graduation requirements for all colleges everywhere.
;-)

[nitroace.livejournal.com]

What exactly is a "professional cosplayer"? Isn't cosplay, almost by definition, a hobby?

[davidshallcross.livejournal.com]

If you can have professional sports, why not professional cosplay? I think I've heard that in Japan, the term "cosplay" has rather broad usage, and is applied to the waitresses in certain cafes in Akihabara, as well as to the amateurs who gather at Harajuku on Sundays. In the US, however, an actual professional cosplayer is probably limited to doing promotions for anime and manga companies, or working for for-profit conventions.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I was told what a cosplayer is, but I've already forgotten. The idea that it must mean a person who mimics Bill Cosby drives more legitimate definitions out of my mind.

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

A costume player is the way it is squished in the english language. It is person who dresses up and acts like the character he or she is portraying. An example would be a Captain Kirk cosplayer saying Kahhnnnn any chance he or she got.

It doesn't seem like a fun con where there is only two anime rooms and two panel rooms. Some of the more Science Fiction like anime cons have 6-8 video rooms and 5-7 panel rooms. I think I would have skipped Sac Anime if I was a local, also.