VISA Assignment #2 Cosplay Characters

Lauren Bacon

October 14, 2021

VISA 1500 Fall 2021

Terryl Atkins

Assignment #2 Part A

My friend, Salome, went to FanExpo in Vancouver and cosplayed as Mabel Pines from the show, Gravity Falls. She thrifted everything and ended up making the sweater and headband by hand. The cosplay signifies that the character of the cosplay, Mabel Pines, is her own individual and creative, “As revealed by Hirsch in Between the Pines, whenever Mabel is not on screen, she is most likely knitting the sweater she will wear in the next episode” (Gravity Falls Wiki Mabel Pines, Trivia). Mabel prioritizes the relationships she has with her family and friends. She is often exploring the town and forests in Gravity Falls with her twin brother, Dipper Pines, and her friends. The prevalence of Mabel Pines in the cosplay community is that she is from an animated show that aired from 2012 to 2016 and was quite popular during this time. This character is othered because she is quirky, from the bright sweaters she wears to her interests and behaviors that make her who she is. Thus, making her stand out and an outsider among other teens her age in Gravity Falls.

I talked with Salome about cosplay on Instagram and she wrote, “I believe it is worthwhile to share myself as this character because it’s something I love to do. It brings me joy, so it’s worth putting my time into. It also brings happiness to other people who recognize my cosplays. I’ve received many compliments and positive remarks, as well as had many people ask to take photos of or with me before. This shows they enjoy my cosplay as well. It is also a way to connect with others, both for the reasons listed previously and just getting to be a part of the cosplay community.” To answer question six Salome commented, “The first character Mabel (she also sent me a picture of her as her DnD character cosplay) represents me in a few ways. She is creative and really values her friendships. Two things I hold onto in life. She is also adventurous which is something I’ve always been.” People are able to relate to characters in video games, tv shows, and anime because there are characteristics we see in those characters that we recognize in ourselves. Cosplaying as a character gives a person a new hidden identity that the person feels proud and happy to be seen as.

This photograph represents the theoretical concepts we have covered this far through Mabel’s gender and identity. She wears bright colored clothes which seem more “girly” in societies terms of color compared to muted tones which would be used more for making boys clothes. She does not have an hourglass figure as she is a young teen girl. Mabel has braces. The creators of the show gave her braces as a part of her character design. They could have left her braces out of her design, but they decided to include them. This is an assumption, but it might be because lots of young people who have braces do not often see main characters around their age having braces and the creators wanted them to feel included.

References:

“Mabel Pines.” Gravity Falls Wiki, https://gravityfalls.fandom.com/wiki/Mabel_Pines.

“Mabel Pines.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Sept. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Pines.