Maleficent – Talia Michel-Isaac

Talia Michel-Isaac

VISA 1500

Dr. Terryl Atkins

October 17, 2021

At a cosplay convention, this lady is either what looks like a highly expensive Maleficent costume or very creatively made this costume for this convention. An excerpt by Leng is that “Clothing and the actual costume itself are vital for crossplay. Although cosplayers have the option of purchasing or making their own costumes, most fans concur that the process of making their own costumes shapes their cosplay experiences”(Leng, 2013). This lady seems to be very happy to be here as she is grinning at the camera with her staff and clothing to her costume. As Cosplay is a form of self-identity as a destined to become of its certain characteristics and attributes merely to have the satisfaction of representing this character. Here Lamerich states through “Cosplay leans on identification with narrative content. Most importantly, cosplayers have a dynamic relationship with stories and characters. Most cosplayers do not wish to exactly duplicate the character they portray; rather, they want to bring something of their own, such as elements of their own appearance, into the cosplay”(Lamerich, 2011). This character is from the Disney incorporations but she could easily be depicted as a witch or other antagonist from a videogame. She is the only one that is dressed up in this picture, there are other people in the background but they are only there for the animation of the convention. The major factor of Maleficent is that she is magical and evil originally from the movie “Sleeping Beauty”. The way in which she likes to be identified is being a female as she is the leading role in the movie Maleficent. This is one of the leading female antagonist films in 2014 to have her own movie about her. This role is the reason the lady in this picture feels so powerful is because of this depiction of Maleficent. The prevalence of this character is that she was a purely evil character in the original film “Sleeping Beauty”, she was later made the main character in another movie made as a beautiful young woman or pure heart. A switch of role after she had got out of the tower, and now as she is able to be free but not so long as she got to defeat an invading army. She looks to be very proud and confident in wearing this as she spreads her wings out far and it has a prevalent smirk on her face to signify the role of the character. Though with the devastation of the way she has to live she is still considered a very important character and is to be considered to have a voice in the storyline.

Works Cited:

Leng, Rachel. Apr 2013 “Gender, Sexuality, and Cosplay: A Case Study of Male-to-Female Crossplay,” The Phoenix Papers: First Edition, 89-110. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:13481274

Lamerichs, Nicolle. 2011. “Stranger than Fiction: Fan Identity in Cosplay.” Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 7. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2011.0246.