Ok, please don’t kill me for asking this…
I’m black, and I wanna do an Afrocentric cosplay of Jeff, the Killer. I’m planning on getting dreads or braids for it, but I also thought about maybe doing some Vitiligo-type makeup for it. but idk if that’s okay to do or if that’s offensive.
I don’t have vitiligo, I never did. The reason I ask if it’s okay to imitate this is because Jeff the Killer is canonically a burn victim due to either fire or chemicals. Sometimes, if you have dark skin and get burned like that, you’ll have white patches left behind once the skin heals which look a lot like Vitiligo. I’m unsure of what lines can and cannot be crossed when it comes to doing theatrical/character makeup other than “don’t do blackface”
Im autistic, so if some of the stuff i say is offensive just be aware that wasn’t my intention, thanks!
I used to be really into cosplay and the cosplay community and these kinds of questions about makeup and skin color would come up regularly. And without fail, the consensus always ends up being that it’s a bad idea. The rule tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color unless it’s a fantasy color like purple, green, etc. It very likely will be offensive to someone. If you’re okay with offending people, that’s your choice to make. But if you do this, especially at a convention or if you post it online, there will very likely be people who are bothered by it. The fact that you felt the need to ask usually means that there will be at least a few people bothered by this.
This is a bit of an atypical situation though since you’re black and you’re portraying the character as black. You’re not portraying a different race than your own. I think that’s what bothers most people. Especially if it’s white people mimicking a different race.
But although this isn’t mimicking a different race, it is mimicking a real skin condition that people can be born with and it can be a struggle for them. People may see that as insensitive to their struggle.
Personally, I don’t think your costume idea is a major offense, and you probably won’t get too much backlash for it, especially considering that you are portraying yourself as your own race. But some people will definitely see it as an offense. If you don’t post it online, and you’re not going to a huge convention, it might not be an issue for you at all.
But if I was a person with vitilligo, I might be a lot more upset by it, especially considering that the character is a horror character meant to be scary to look at. Imagine having this disorder and running into someone at a convention who is wearing the thing you’re insecure about to look scary. It might be a bit hurtful and make them feel worse about their condition if it’s something they struggle with or have been bullied for.
Unrelated to your issue, but I saw another comment in this thread saying that portraying black characters as a cosplay is different than doing Vaudeville-style blackface, but most people in the cosplay community would disagree with that. Nobody has a problem with people playing characters who are a different race than the cosplayer, but the consensus tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color to do it. It’s heavily discouraged. “I can’t take off my race at the end of the day” is something I’ve heard from black cosplayers a lot when this discussion comes up.
I’ve seen white people cosplay black characters in full makeup at conventions and it doesn’t go well. A white woman cosplaying Michonne From The Walking Dead in full makeup was the talk of a con I went to once. Lots of “oh my god, did you see that? Why would she think that’s a good idea?” Changing skin color makeup is definitely a big deal in the cosplay community, and a lot of people have zero tolerance for it, even for this kind of thing.
Anyway, this has gotten very long. I’m not going to tell you what I think you should do, but I wanted to share my experiences with this. I don’t think your intentions are hurtful. But if you choose to do the costume, you need to be okay with the fact that it will very likely offend or be hurtful to some people who see any skin tone changing as completely unacceptable. Consider where you’ll be wearing it and the kind of people who might be there and make a decision from there. I don’t think it’s really very offensive, but I’m a white woman and I don’t have vitiligo so I can’t speak for everyone. I have a few mixed feelings on the issue, because it’s complicated. But personally I would rather avoid doing something potentially hurtful, even if it’s unlikely to happen, than risk upsetting someone or making them feel bad about themselves because of what I chose to do.
I hope that helps you make your decision, and I wish you good luck no matter what you decide.
Bro that’s crazy.
TL&DR: Cosplay your own or fantasy colors. Probably no issue with burn-mark makeup. (Think Freddy Kruger but tasteful)
how tf does one make Freddy Kruegar tasteful? /g
his whole existence is centered around him hunting down and killing little kids
jeff being burned white is not why he’s scary but alright 😭😭😭😭 Jeff the killer is “Scary” because he cut a whole smile into his face and killed off his whole family. if someone assumes the Vitiligo makeup was only added to make him “Spookier” I feel like that says more about them than me. I want the Vitiligo makeup because it adds more character to my version of Jeff The Killer. Dark skin, long black dreadlocks and these bleached white patches on his skin… It all apart of the character design, MY design. It’s cool as fuck, and if anything should be the opposite of offensive seeing more black people like me still active in the Creepypasta community.
I thought over it for some weeks, and tbh- if someone is truly offended by it, 9/10 their getting offended for someone else, or are getting themselves mad over what deadass isnt that offensive at all.
I feel like this sorta goes back to that whole thing of just white people(dont kill me for saying this it’s just an anecdotal observation ;w;) being offended for something that fr doesnt effect them, no offense… Jeff’s skin being pale is not his horror aspect, if people really knew who he was, then they’d know that and just respect the choice I made on the cosplay. This is like going to see a certain movie or a haunted house and then being offended because someone has on Burn-victim makeup/SFX scar makeup. I always thought It’s weird asf for people to just kinda- pick and choose what they wanna be offended by and what they dont. Like If I wear blinding white eye contacts; the ones that make you look like you have no iris, that your eyes are blind or all white; I’m not mocking those who already have blind eyes, it’s a cosmetic and nothing more, especially if its just for a goofy little cosplay like a ghost or Storm from X-men.
Offensive is me wearing the makeup without the cosplay, putting on white splotches and scar tissue SFX and then just walking around like that in public where there is no convention; It wouldnt be in a costume either, it’d just be the makeup. That I can understand, cus unless it’s just to see how convincing you can make your SFX makeup look, there’s no real reason for someone to be doing that tbh, and if they wanted to spook people, there’s plenty of other wounds and scars they could go with.
Me putting white splotches on my skin to portray a character that is a burn victim of some kind or that they had had lost melanin on some parts of their body body due to a traumatic injury to their skin ain’t changing my race tho 😭 Like- I’m still black, I’m just applying small splotches of pale colored scar tissue to my face to look as though I’d been affected by a bleach attack… Which jeff was. His skin was bleached and set on fire. I’m not painting my whole face white XDDD that’d defeat the purpose of me making it afro-centric.
To be honest, I’m not really sure why I asked in the first place 😭😭 I think I was just really paranoid at the time and thats why I hurriedly went and made this post. My general existence is an offense to most people by default, so me doing some funky makeup ain’t gonna make much of a difference in that fact XD I’m cosplaying a fictional emo serial killer, any effort of being tasteful then is now automatically lost by that fact