Assignment 2A Jose Moreno – Thor Cosplay

Jose Adrian Moreno T00610021

VISA 1500 – Introduction to Visual Culture

Assignment 2-part A

October 18, 2021

This is a Cosplay of the American superhero Thor from Marvel and it’s represented by Andrew Mclean. Andrew is born in Athens, Ga on November 6^th in 1993. He is an actor and former, content creator, social media influencer and D-1 collegiate athlete for the University of Georgia. Andrew has around 50k followers on his Instagram account by posting the cosplays of the characters that he has worked on. Also, Andrew is better known for starring Disney shows and commercials. This photo seems to be taken just as a hobby and not for a particular event. Some parts from this costume could be handmade like the cape, but it looks that is mostly bought from a place that specializes in costumes.

Andrew has done different type of cosplays throughout his career as an actor. In this photo, he is wearing his unique costume that symbolizes his strength and masculinity. Thor has an identity, and his costume Is a continuation of his character. Thor’s attributes are closely aligned with his masculine energy, his attributes include his strength, leadership, independence and courage. His costume symbolizes all these noble attributes through powerful colors, texture and design. It’s important for Thor to consistently represent his manhood by being true to the attributes that people associate him with.

Many people like and are passionate about cosplay for the fact that they can represent one of their favorite characters in real life, and the character represents all the traits the person aspires to have. That can be a powerful feeling for a person, to dress up and essentially be a physical representation of a character who inspires them. Thor showcases honorable traits that the other appreciates in a male superhero. The other is the audience, Thor has an influence on young men who aspire to be strong, courageous, independent and respected. The media has glamourized the physical aspects of male superhero’s, when a person dresses up as Thor, he will feel empowered through his physical strength. The emphasis is put more on the physical attributes of the superhero as opposed to the mental attributes. That has a major influence on the Thor’s young fanbase, because when they are dressed up as Thor, they will find empowerment through their strength, and as young boys, they are fragile and physical strength is something that they can reach for after puberty, so they will idolize the idea of physical power and that can be potentially limiting for the young minds that aspire to be like Thor. Of course, there are positive effects of looking up to a superhero like Thor, his courage is admirable and that will help Thor’s young fanbase to believe in themselves and increase their own self-awareness.

References:

“About Andrew McLean”. WebHeadedHero. (n.d). Retrieved from: https://www.webheadedhero.com/about

Kurpniece, G. “Semiotic construction of superhero’s Thor costume and colour use.” (n.d). Retrieved from: https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.brighton.ac.uk/dist/4/1328/files/2015/05/GKurpniece_Thor_costume_article-2fs1fsg.pdf