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‘Cosplayers’ is a fandom love letter

By Robert Johnson Jr. Arts & Features Editor

Not many people know this, but before I enrolled at FSU, I was an avid cosplayer.

Back when “Homestuck” was the big webcomic of the day and when “In the Flesh” was a hidden gem on British television - or, “telly,” if you will - I spent many a Saturday afternoon hanging out in the Boston Common with my friends in costume.

In fact, the only reason as to why I’m at FSU is because I followed one of my closest cosplaying friends to campus. Just, you know, two years after they enrolled.

That’s enough about me, though. We have a graphic novel to talk about.

“Cosplayers,” the graphic novel in question, is a 2016 compilation of cosplay-related vignettes by cartoonist Dash Shaw, the creator of “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.”

While each of these vignettes is different in some way, each one focuses on the cosplay escapades of Annie and Verti, a costumer/ videographer duo who make their mark not only at cons across the United States, but also on the internet through their low-budget films.

The duo are not the only fascinating characters in these stories - Shaw manages to characterize and capture the best and worst types of people that one might encounter in a convention setting.

Let’s be real: we all know that one pompous know-it-all who always has something to say about what constitutes a “real fan” of a given work, or that one person who goes to conventions who is very knowledgeable about the subject matter they work with, but underneath that exterior, they are socially inept and only know how to go to the bathroom in a potted plant outside of a hotel.

OK, you might not know someone who emulates the latter, but Shaw has that particular situation covered in his story, “Saturday.” On a less bizarre note, “Cosplayers” is full of references through the cosplays represented in the story - “Princess Mononoke,” “Devil May Cry,” “Final Fantasy,” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” are all here, but so is “Street Fighter,” “Steven Universe,” and the works of the late Osamu Tezuka, too. Every base is well covered, and no corner or era of fandom is left out, which is great on Shaw’s part.

Shaw’s art also has to be commended here - the style is definitely one of a cartoonist’s, but every color is just so vibrant and the way he draws his characters and their costumes are playful and, occasionally, awkward. It’s a good kind of awkward, though!

“Cosplayers” isn’t just about watching two internet friends go across the country to dress up in costume contests. It also features the most grueling, yet interesting, component of the cosplay process - the creation of the costumes themselves.

One of the untitled segments near the end of the book shows Annie visiting various thrift stores, pop culture shops, and fabric stores to get the equipment she needs to make a costume of Indiana Jones carrying the Holy Grail, which is a process that began upon seeing a trophy her mom won ages ago in the attic of her house.

Shaw, while not much of a cosplayer himself - yes, of course I had to research this - covers this developmental process in such a funny, yet honest way. I remember afternoons with my parents that turned into frantic Easter egg hunts, just because I wanted to get a white button up shirt to dress up as Dr. Flug Slys from “Villainous” for ConnectiCon 2017. Good times. Shaw might not be the most recognizable name in the comics industry, but, my goodness, I do not regret picking up “Cosplayers” on a whim at a Harvard Book Store warehouse sale. It’s a brilliant homage to a particular niche of nerd culture - one that would have quite the impact on said culture as we know it, should it not be as big of a factor as it is today.

If you want to look back at your dorky high school days shuffling your way around tight crowds in a large building, you need to give “Cosplayers” a read and have a laugh.

Kaitlyn’s Kosmetics

Rihanna’s Revolution: A Closer Look at Fenty Beauty

By Kaitlyn Cullen Staff Writer

Musical artist Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, blew up the makeup world when she launched Fenty Beauty in September 2017.

According to the Fenty Beauty website, “Rihanna was inspired to create Fenty Beauty after years of experimenting with the best-of-the-best in beauty - and still seeing a void in the industry for products that performed across all skin types and tones.”

As a woman of color, Rihanna comes from a community that has historically been marginalized in all aspects of life - and cosmetics is no exception.

After rising to the top of the music industry, Rihanna expanded her resume to include her other achievements, including executive producer, fashion designer, actress, astute business entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

Rihanna has always catered to the people, as exemplified by the Clara Lionel Foundation, a nonprofit organization she founded in 2012 that, according to their website, “supports and funds groundbreaking education and emergency response programs around the world.”

To further cater to the people, she “launched a makeup line ‘so that people everywhere would be included,’ focusing on a wide range of traditionally hard-tomatch skin tones, creating formulas that work for all skin types, and pinpointing universal shades,” according to the Fenty Beauty website.

“Makeup is there for you to have fun with,” Rihanna says on her website. “It should never feel like pressure. It should never feel like a uniform. Feel free to take chances, and take risks, and dare to do something new or different.”

Rihanna created Fenty Beauty and partnered with Kendo Brands to create the brand. Kendo Brands also partners with KVD Vegan Beauty, Marc Jacobs, Lip Lab, Bite Beauty, and Ole Henriksen.

Within this cosmetic brand, Rihanna designed an award-winning Pro Filt’r Foundation that currently comes in 50 shades, exemplified by models who are albino (shade #100) to rich, deep dark tones (shade #498), that can be seen on the Fenty Beauty website.

Fenty Beauty is probably the most well-known beauty brand with this wide range of foundation shades, pushing other brands to expand their palettes as well.

Some other brands that have since expanded their coverage of skin tones include PÜR with 87 shades, M•A•C with 63 shades, Morphe with 60 shades, and Tarte with 50 shades.

All of these brands hover around the same $31-to-$39 dollar price range.

PÜR promised a 100-shade foundation collection back in early 2019, which makes their current 87-shade collection a bit of a let down, but a serious competitor nonetheless.

Rihanna’s marketing skills allowed Fenty Beauty to usurp the attention of her own fans as well as makeup fans worldwide.

You can find Fenty Beauty products at Sephora in-store and online as well as the Fenty Beauty website.

One year after launching Fenty Beauty, Rihanna also launched an even more inclusive line - Fenty x Savage, a lingerie brand made to fit all shapes and sizes, which showcases a rainbow of models, including disabled model Mama Cax.

Rihanna continues to use her platform to push the boundaries on beauty standards, and it doesn’t look like she’s stopping anytime soon.

CONNECT WITH KAITLYN CULLEN kcullen1@student.framingham.edu

“Marriage Story” is a realistic, modern view of a damaged relationship

By Brennan Atkins Arts & Features Editor

By Noah Barnes Entertainment Correspondent

The latest film from Noah Baumbach, “Marriage Story,” is a shining example that Netflix’s original films continue to climb in quality.

The film stars Adam Driver as Charlie, a theater director in New York, and Scarlett Johansson as Nicole, an actress in theater and television.

Nicole gets a lawyer for the divorce after she explicitly states to Charlie that no lawyers will be involved. This, mixed with the fact they live in different states starts to take a toll on him financially. She goes behind his back, and doesn’t talk to him about the problems she’s having. Charlie might not even be able to visit his kid.

But Charlie is far from innocent - many of the choices Nicole makes in the film are simply made because Charlie never listens to her wants or desires. The life she lived was Charlie’s. They moved to wherever he wanted, no matter how many times she requested other places. If Nicole never went to a lawyer, odds are, this divorce situation wouldn’t have worked out for her at all. Nicole goes

against him in this film because she wants something to work in her favor for a change.

“Marriage Story” shines with its leads - both of them arguably give their best performances to date - they do such a realistic job of capturing the anxiety-ridden process of a divorce.

While we never thought we’d say this for a Netflix film, their Oscar nominations for best actor and best actress are well deserved.

Both make mistakes that send the other into a deeper depression. Both refuse to talk to each other, and hired lawyers and convinced family to argue for them.

They want to stay friends, and initially don’t act as if there are any real issues. Instead of expressing their grievances, they each vent their struggles to their lawyers - lawyers they don’t even want to pay for. You slowly see both characters become more and more vocal about each other’s flaws.

One of the best words to describe this film is uncomfortable - but that’s not a bad thing. When Charlie and Nicole shout their hearts out, they are at their worst. Months of pent-up anger is released in minutes, and it’s not something anyone would feel comfortable watching in real life.

The soundtrack of the film fluctuates between somber piano melodies, to playful arrangements of string instruments. However, the silence in some of the arguments make every bit of the dialogue memorable.

Just like a bad argument can linger in one’s thoughts, this movie’s dialogue accomplishes the same. The writing achieved by Baumbach is at its best, and we’re hungry to see more from him.

While many are likely to favor one parent over the other, the film doesn’t pick favorites. Both parents have plenty of redeeming qualities on top of their clear mistakes.

It’s not all misery though. There’s quite a few wholesome and humorous moments, which both simultaneously ease your emotions, while also making the sad moments hit all the harder once you’ve recovered.

While Charlie and Nicole are consistently reaching new lows, the various lawyers involved in the process, played by Laura Dern and Alan Alda, are practically comical. Nothing is personal with them - they’re experienced in divorce cases, and they’ve seen all this before. They may appear aggressive in court, but outside the case, they often switch to a carefree and lighthearted personalities.

“Marriage Story” shows the reality of divorce - how it may be terrifying, may be ugly, and it may be painful, but no matter how hard it seems, you will ultimately recover and move on. ADMIT ONE ADMIT ONE Grade: ANoah Baumbach creates an oddly beautiful story out of this grim situation, evoking a strong, uplifting energy to what feels like a hopeless situation. CONNECT WITH BRENNAN ATKINS AND NOAH BARNES batkins@student.framingham.edu nbarnes@student.framingham.edu

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Puzzle solutions are now exclusively online.

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