Responding to: Hot Topic’s Cosplay Shirt

The controversy du jour in the geek community is the cosplay shirt Hot Topic was selling, and subsequently pulled.

Hot Topic's Cosplay Shirt

The shirt in question.

Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. I’m not a cosplayer, or even really a costumer, so maybe that’s why I’m not offended. (Plus, I don’t really take anything Hot Topic does seriously.) I also have a tendency to be overly optimist. So when I read “Do it right or not at all” I don’t read it as a “you better have everything right or else.” I think “doing it right” means doing it with passion. Which really, I don’t think there’s much of another way to cosplay.

Cosplay or costuming often takes lots of planning, money, and time. I mean sure, you can throw together something like my Hermione costume pretty easily. But even then, you have to really like a character to be into dressing up like them. And even if it’s an easy costume, it still takes planning. Which is why I don’t often cosplay. I’d actually love to have this shirt to wear to conventions in an ironic sort of way. “Right or not at all” while I’m not in costume (implying I wouldn’t have done it right), would be funny to me.

What about you? Do you think this shirt super controversial? Is it another example of a major corporation “not getting it?”

2 Responses to “Responding to: Hot Topic’s Cosplay Shirt”
  1. Awkward Geeks says:
  2. The Valerie says:

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