Cosplay =/= Consent

Adrianne Curry made Comic Con news again this year. Originally for her great costumes, I loved her animated Cat Woman, but also for using a whip on a male that shoved his finger in a friend's butt crack. I will not provide the name of her friend as I do not know how she feels about having her name out there for this. This news was bad enough. What was worse however was that the three people in the story were far and away from being in a private locale. There were many onlookers. Nobody but Adrianne Curry did anything.

Then there was the story about a girl that was found bleeding and unconscious after getting in a fight with her friends and leaving the convention by herself.

Like many out there, I shared the news on my Facebook page early on. I know people that attended Comic Con and the police were looking for pictures of her or anything else that could help them put together a timeline of events. I did not have any responses directly to my posting of the news, but some friends shared the news shortly thereafter. The responses were, I guess one could say interesting, but I feel were more symptomatic of how we attempt to disassociate ourselves from things we do not want to acknowledge.

A common response was that it might be a hoax. This is a reasonable response. It is the internet after all and the only information the public had when this started was a mother asking a friend of the girl to turn to the internet asking for help online along with incorrect information on the police department handling the investigation. There were some indicators such as the girl's Facebook and Twitter accounts not seeing any updates, but it was Comic Con and many attendees have trouble finding time to post during the event. Early information could only be described as sketchy at best.

There were some calling for others to wait for more information before anybody asked people that might have seen the girl get in touch with the police. "It would help no one if the police should find themselves overwhelmed with "helpful" people," as one responder put it. The quotation around the word helpful was a direct repaste.

There were many other responses. A common one was rage, both at the idea of what happened, and at the idea of the whole thing being a hoax. One argument I read a few times was how spreading this hurt geek culture. Another viewpoint shared was how this is only news because it happened either at or near Comic Con and the girl was wearing a costume. If this happened to just any girl anywhere not centered around a spotlighted event focused on a subculture it would not have this level of attention.

In some ways, those arguments have a point. These stories do make nerd culture look bad. If this was not Comic Con news, it never would have exploded on the internet the way it had. My dispute with the arguments I read in this vein were the subtle implications we should treat this like we always do.

I have a big problem with the way we handle abuse of all sorts in this country. Do not get me wrong, we are moving in a positive direction, but we are not at our destination. Not by a long shot. Just because we are better than we were does not mean we should not strive to be better than we are. We need to take every instance of abuse and shine a light on it. Bring it kicking and screaming out of the shadows so we can see all of its warts. We have to force ourselves to acknowledge the ugly sides of ourselves so we can do something about it.

I decided to share the news even if it was a hoax. If it was a hoax then I look stupid. Like that never happens. Good job internet person for making me look like an idiot. People may ignore my Facebook posts if I share enough hoaxes. I am fairly certain most people do not have time to read my posts and most of my blog views can probably be attributed to my roommate. The few that do read can decide for themselves if they want to share what I post or not. If it was not a hoax, then time was of the essence. She was at an international event where people were already spreading out to locations all around the world.

I do not know all the details. Suffice it to say, many people did bring out their flashlights. The police were able to apprehend a suspect at the hotel he was staying at. The suspect might have left the city before being taken into custody if a mother did not ask her daughter's friend to look to the internet for help. The internet responded as it usually does. With a mix of reactions that range from sickening to inspiring. There were enough people shining their little lights at once to where there were no shadows to hide in.

It does not end here. There is a girl in intensive care right now. My heart is with her right now as I am certain the hearts of others are as well. I do not even know this girl, but what she has gone through is something that absolutely no one should have to experience. This is a sickness that has the ability to find its way into any aspect of our society. It will continue as long as we let it. We should not fool ourselves into thinking we can stop looking for it because it returns when we stop looking.

I guess that is all for today's rant.

*flops off of his soap box*

Update 31 Jul 2014: Police have released some information. The injuries the girl suffered were consistent with a fall from a height of roughly six feet. The male suspect is still in custody.

http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/31/5957517/police-san-diego-comic-con-cosplayer-assault-investigation