#UnpopularOpinion: My Initial Reaction to Syfy’s “Cosplay Melee” is… “Meh”

I heavily dislike this shit, man. I need to be upfront about it. I can’t jam and butter with reality shows. Something about exploiting specific types of people for the sake of the ‘moral’ dollar and the pulverizing gaze of modern-day entertainment and media does not vibe with me. My blood further experiences enragement when indifferent opportunists blow cosplay up, capitalize off of it, and water it the fuck down. I am all about profiting from your art, all about the Patreons, etc, but I just can’t get over the falseness and untruths seeped in these cash grubbing media takes. I got nothing against the judges. They’re fine. Except for the fact that they signed up for this regurgitated hog shit. Okay, no, I’m sorry, I was having flashbacks to Heroes of Assholes. Community alum Yvette Nicole Brown, cosplayer LeeAnna Vamp, and Christian Beckman will be the panel of judges for the show. While I am personally slightly familiar with Brown’s work, I don’t know who Vamp and Beckman really are. Hopefully, that doesn’t immediately mean that something is wrong, due to me not knowing who these cosplay judges even are, despite me being heavily involved with the community for years. I think these judges should have experience and must have a good eye with catching detail for craftsmanship involving molding, sewing, metal work, and more.

My worry is that these cosplay judges will be thrown into this role of some kind of holier-than thou cosplay royalty, when in reality they should just be c…