Marvel’s Betsy Braddock and Kwannon have both worn the identity of Psylocke, the X-Men’s telepathic ninja. Maybe it’s her mysterious nature, her killer skills, or her intricate character history that inspires cosplayers to slip into Psylocke’s purple outfit. Or maybe it’s the chance to turn heads in tight spandex. Whatever the case, we get to enjoy loads of Psylocke cosplays.
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Psylocke Cosplays Celebrate Blades and Telepathic Brains
Comic books (and manga), like all written media, are a conversation between the creators and their audience. That conversation might, like any discussion, alter or strengthen your own ideas. Even a doujin shares the author’s ideas — or more specifically, fantasies — with like-minded people of culture.
Many critics of generative AI argue that the technology will drown out this type of conversation, this sharing of ideas. The brain rot will get so loud we can’t hear our own humanity. And human-to-human conversation is an essential part of strengthening empathy.
Psylocke Cosplays and Walking a Mile in My Spandex
Does cosplay build empathy?
Empathy might sound like an outdated, old-fashioned idea, but consider that you’d never have fallen for your ichiban best waifu without empathy.
Empathy — the ability to be aware of, understand, and share the feelings of other people — is an emotional muscle. In a world full of AI companions, we’ve got to do all we can to keep empathically fit. How else will we navigate the increasingly messy human interactions? Empathy is a basic building block of community. We’ll stay away from politics, but I wonder how many of America’s problems arose because it abandoned empathy on the road to “Me, Me, Me.”
However, if you spend time as someone else, as a role player in a Dungeons & Dragons game or wearing the outfit of your favorite character, as a cosplayer, you’ll surely start thinking past yourself. Walk a mile in their spandex.
Be someone else regularly, and the seeds of empathy must inevitably take root.
Cosplayers and Community
I’ve only cosplayed at one con (as The Captain, Howling Mad Murdock from The A-Team), so I have limited experience within the cosplay community. But in any conversation with friends involved in cosplay, they’ll mention their community. They’ll talk about how the community banded together to finish someone’s costume when a sewing machine gave up the ghost. Or how a friend brought out duct tape and hair spray to save a nearly disastrous con.
Members build a strong community on empathy.
Humans are More than Ones and Zeros
I love Marvel’s ability to create well-rounded characters. Ahem. Well-defined. Gah. You know what I mean. Characters with flaws and weaknesses to balance their human strengths and superpowers. Villains, too, might have made the wrong decisions in life, which set them on their course to villainy. They may be redeemable.
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The old made-for-TV villains who wanted to rule the world, just because, start to feel one-dimensional and fake in comparison to complex, multi-layered baddies like Magneto. He went on the offensive to protect mutants from oppression. And Thanos, who wanted to impress Death, because she’s hot. Both have relatable motivations we can empathize with.
Making Monster Men
Too many shows, particularly in the West, divide characters into goodies and baddies. To avoid all moral ambiguity, they strip the villains of all humanity. Our empathy has nothing to hold onto.
But life isn’t so simple. Often, the good guys do some dubious things, and the bad guys do the wrong things for the right reasons. Anime is refreshingly diverse in its take on good-versus-evil and acknowledges the humanity on both sides of the battle line.
Empathy. How many lives could we save if we were prepared to sit and talk?
Psylocke Cosplays to the Rescue
Let’s not overhype cosplay either. But it is fascinating to consider what cosplaying does for your brain. We know that being creative, such as sewing a costume or building foam swords, is good for the brain. So, what about dressing up like your favorite anime character?
Maybe it’s futile to assume cosplay is anything but the act of creating a costume and wearing it for the fun of dressing up. Any benefit a cosplayer might gain from the hobby depends on their own outlook and ambitions. And that’s okay.
But AI can never replace human creativity. A robot can’t enjoy the euphoria of creation. Cosplay will always be the domain of empathetic humans.
Vote for your favorite cosplayer and Psylocke cosplays in the comments. Also — and I’m sorry to put you in a tight spot — but are you Team Spandex, or Team Latex?
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