Editor’s Note: To get the full context of this article, you may want to read Kotaku’s article here about what happened. In a nutshell, model and cosplayer Jessica Nigri was asked to change her Juliet Starling of Lollipop Chainsaw outfit twice because of PAX EAST’s policy of trying to keep things “family friendly.” The following below is the reaction from writer/artist Dave Palmacci concerning this news.
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It’s time to take off the Hat of Political Correctness. My two tokens for the whole incident with Jessica Nigri at PAX East is this; haters are gonna hate and be a bunch of hypocrites with no self value. I want to make a few points after being at PAX all three days and from interviewing Jessica Nigri herself and talking to her and the people at Warner Brothers. First, Jessica is a straight forward nice person who stayed that way the entire weekend after hours on end of being pushed and pulled in every direction to have pictures taken with a lot of dudes who specialize in B.O. and Pocky breath. This was my first time meeting her in person, I don’t know what she’s like at home when you forget to take the garbage out, but at PAX she was very sweet.
Secondly, if her costume was too “revealing” then you also must complain to video game developers who make sports games to have them remove all cheerleaders. Or maybe that has something to do with it, did people see Jessica as that cheerleader from high school who got all the attention? Something tells me if it were a heavy set woman with a giant mole on her nose who spit at everyone walking by dressed in the same outfit as Jessica no one would complain and it would be all in good fun comedy. Third, why is it perfectly fine to demo and display dozens and dozens of video games that display headshots, guts, blood, gore, primal beasts ripping and shredding apart flesh, and zombies sipping a Mai Tai out of someone’s skull all fine and part of our “accepted” American culture but God forbid there is a woman with an in shape body, large breasts, and a pretty face dressed up as a cheerleader with a chainsaw. Fourth, after being there for all three days, 14+ hours each day, I think I saw maybe 15-20 children under the age of 12 out of the 50,000+ people, so don’t try and play the children exposure card.
I use to do photography for a lot of night clubs in Boston, and know what key thing I learned from doing that was? Girls don’t dress up simply to get a guy’s attention, they spend hours getting ready to out do every other girl that’s there in that club. My female friends and previous girlfriends were all honest about this, they weren’t shy about admitting how their fellow females can be down right bitter, nasty, and so incredibly competitive. But when I found out PAX had asked Jessica Nigri to change her outfit because people felt it was too revealing it really made me laugh at how pathetic that is. You don’t need to like someone, or agree with how they present themselves, but you do need to take a look in the mirror and ask why you need to take away someone else’s value in order to make you feel like you have value. It comes down to other people who are unhappy with their own appearance and have low self-esteem so they have to hate on others they see as what they ought to be. I’ve used this example to my fellow associates and friends who were with me at PAX; the girl who was cosplaying as a female Loki was a perfect example how you do not need to be in a revealing outfit with giant breasts to be beautiful and attractive. As a male, I don’t care what size breast you have, what you weigh, or what level of “hotness” you’re judged at, if you’re a bitch then you’re a zero; like Megan Fox, prime example of the zero bitch.
Successful positive people don’t have enemies or hate on others, they are too busy loving the people who like them and support them. This doesn’t just go for cosplay or modeling, this goes for everything in life. I use to be jealous of other artists when I was younger, until I realized it was a reflection of my inner self. I was displeased with the level of art I was producing and saw that I can not attain positive rewarding results through negative actions such as hate. There is such a thing as friendly competition that benefits everyone. And though art skills and having a body that is in shape are two different things, what has always bothered me was how sometimes I was put down because people felt like my success was due to the “luck” of talent. That disgusts me, because those people never witnessed the years of practicing, learning, and struggle that goes on to become who you are.
The same goes with being in shape, yes we all have certain genetics we were born with, but with hard work you can attain anything. A guy I went to elementary and high school with recently added me on Facebook and we got to catch up on things. What stood out the most about this individual was how back in school he was always made fun of for how fat and dorky he was. He didn’t like it, so he started going to the gym until his hard work paid off. The guy is now a motivational speaker and fitness trainer down in Texas. Would he have that same level of success if he went around telling other guys who were in shape to cover up? You tell me.
