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Postmodernism and Cosplay

Postmodernism is the belief that one's identity, real or fictional, is not concrete and they have the ability to be as fluid and flexible with their identity as they see fit. The desire to be a different, improved version of yourself is not uncommon. And with the the introduction of social media, online chat rooms, attaining that desire has become as simple has creating a unique online username.

Postmodernism definitely has a place in social media today. You can create a completely different version of yourself online and share that identity with other people who can relate to you. In her essay Turkle states "The internet has become a significant social laboratory for experimenting with the constructions and reconstructions of self that characterize postmodern life." (Turkle 180). A great example of this is cosplay. 

Since cosplay often involves being in character or roleplaying a sense of kinship with the character helps to elevate the performance. This act of transformation, however, does not merely occur internally. It is obvious that many cosplayers role-play their beloved characters in order to fulfill the role/dream that is missing in real life. Cosplayers may also adopt the outward appearance and personas of characters they want to emulate, characters that possess personality traits or characteristics they desire or admire. A cosplayer will most often choose to portray a character that they relate to either physically or emotionally. It could be argued that cosplay represents an act of self-transformation.

Cosplay has been around since before the introduction of social media, but now social media has made it even easier for cosplayers and fans of cosplay to come together and share their thoughts about their identities. Ritzer's statement: "An interesting idea in this context is the strength of the weak. In this case the weak are the individual users of the Internet and social networking sites. Their strength comes from the fact that their voices, while weak individually, become powerful when they are combined" relates to the fact that cosplayers use social media to make new friends, share photos of their costumes, and find information about upcoming conventions. The community would not exist without the people who constantly post pictures and articles about their cosplay experiences. The combination of those voices is what makes the culture of cosplay so prevalent.

Works cited:

Turkle, Sherry, “Aspects of the Self” Chapter 7. Life on the Screen, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1997.
Ritzer, George. "The Internet Through a Postmodern Lens." Cyborgology. The Society Pages, 08 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2017