A Wild Melodica Appears

September 8, 2017 3:48 AM

The next time you cosplay at a con, don't be too surprised to suddenly hear your character's theme tune playing behind you.
posted by divabat (16 comments total)

i feel so hard for every nerd in this video awkwardly jigging along with their hands in their pockets
posted by yaymukund at 5:01 AM on September 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

KILL JESTER
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:19 AM on September 8, 2017

I can only speak for myself but as a Cosplayer this would make me intensely uncomfortable.
posted by Faintdreams at 6:17 AM on September 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

i feel so hard for every nerd in this video awkwardly jigging along with their hands in their pockets

Yeah, the migration from 'haha that's great' for the first ten seconds to 'oh she's doing the whole song' and then 'alright I guess I'm gonna stop whatever I was doing and be part of her video now...' was kinda cringey.
posted by FatherDagon at 6:18 AM on September 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Yeah, this comes back to that whole "cosplay is not consent" rule - just because someone is in costume doesn't mean that you have the right to turn them into a prop.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:17 AM on September 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

I liked the melodica one because she'd just giggle and run off when the person turned round, which made it seem more entertaining than the slightly awkward violin "playing the entire song" one.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:25 AM on September 8, 2017 [10 favorites]

Well, at least it's not an accordion.
posted by loquacious at 10:00 AM on September 8, 2017

Aww, the melodica one is wonderful! And she doesn't stay for more than a few seconds.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:30 AM on September 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yeah, this comes back to that whole "cosplay is not consent" rule

I think the ability to distinguish between sexual assault and someone playing a music instrument is probably an important one.
posted by howfar at 11:57 AM on September 8, 2017 [13 favorites]

so I watched the melodica girl videos before I watched the violin one, and those are waaay less cringey. Personally speaking, I would've been ecstatic to hear the theme song of my character/show playing as I'm walking around a con (although I doubt either of them would know the Doug theme song, I cosplay as Quailman when I have no idea who to go as). But yeah, melodica girl is definitely more of what I would prefer instead of the violin girl that kind of makes you feel awkward.
posted by numaner at 12:28 PM on September 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

I think the ability to distinguish between sexual assault and someone playing a music instrument is probably an important one.

And I think the ability to ask someone if they want to participate in your activity before you do it regardless of what that activity is a very important one.

Consent: It's Not Just For Sex!
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:39 PM on September 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

I have been Con Dad several times, and I think I can guess roughly what's going on in the head of the guy in the green Zelda shirt with the carefully blank expression.

He probably loves Zelda and likely thinks that the woman's playing is great, because it is. But his own fandom and feelings are insignificant compared to the overwhelming need to keep things rolling just so, in order to ward off Con Meltdowns.
posted by gurple at 1:04 PM on September 8, 2017

The violin one seems to be a promotion for a city tourism thing so I think they probably got consent for those.
posted by divabat at 7:49 PM on September 8, 2017

Yeah, this comes back to that whole "reasonable expectation of privacy" concept - because someone is in public, their being in costume doesn't mean others have lost any rights, and thus can deal with a person in costume as any other person in public.
posted by Homer42 at 10:16 PM on September 8, 2017

Yeah, this comes back to that whole "reasonable expectation of privacy" concept - because someone is in public, their being in costume doesn't mean others have lost any rights, and thus can deal with a person in costume as any other person in public.

Being out in public isn't consent, either. What is the problem with asking people if they want to be part of whatever you are doing beforehand?
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:18 AM on September 13, 2017

Violin girl is back!

From the comment by the last cosplayer and the credits it sounds like they get everyone's permission first before playing their theme song.
posted by divabat at 4:53 PM on September 30, 2017