the man-faye debacle

Just a few quick thoughts about the creature known throughout the world as "Man-Faye", and the incidents that happened around him.

The only picture of the Man-Faye you'll hopefully ever see on this site, and one of the few images of him on the web that won't completely offend your eyes. In fact, he looks downright human here.

The legend of the Man-Faye (and yes, I refer to him as the Man-Faye, because, well, frankly, his infamy is deserving of the definite article) continues to spread throughout otakudom and fandom everywhere.

His presence at Anime Expo 2004 was noticeable as usual. From some, the reaction was of sheer delight (along the lines of, "hey, it's Man-Faye! Let's get a picture of him!"). From others, the reaction was of sheer terror (along the lines of, "oh #&?%$!, it's the Man-Faye! Let's get the ^*#&$%@! outta here!"). And from yet others, the reaction was of ambivalence, either because they were smart enough to avert their eyes, had already grown to tolerate his presence, or had already been blinded by his shaking, hairy, Man-Faye ass.

However, unlike previous years, his presence this year did not go unchallenged. Indeed, there was an incident that eventually cost the Man-Faye his badge. Pretty much, it was a battle of security reacting to complaints about what is clearly a costume that was meant to offend versus the rights of people to express themselves in whatever fashion they like. From second hand reports, there have been accusations that the charges against him were trumped up. And though I wish I could believe that people would not go so far as to lie to get rid of the Man-Faye, I suppose the possibility has to be considered. In the end, while he lost his badge, he was still able to return to the grounds and stick around outside, entertaining the crowds with his visage.

I suppose the question of where the line in the sand exists is still too tough to call. The Man-Faye loses his badge, but some would argue his costume was less offensive than at least some of the others worn by cosplayers. The problem is that the line is only solid in the minds of individuals, and does not necessarily exist in the same place for two different people. As a group, that line is probably blurry, and the Man-Faye falls right inside that blur. Personally, while I wouldn't mind having Man-Faye just stop dressing up, I don't think he's exactly on the wrong side of the line. In fact, with only some rare exceptions, I can't think of any costume really on the wrong side of the line. For example, some have mentioned in blogs some costumers that were wearing Nazi-ish outfits that might've crossed the line; if they are the people I think they are, though I think it's a suicidal move at best, I still also think it's within bounds, to be honest.

His reign of infamy continues. So large is his shadow that we even dedicated an award to him, the "Man-Faye Endowment for the Arts" award, awarded to the "finest" examples of crossdress/crossplay that we saw at the convention (more on that later). On staff, we secretly pray that his reign will end, but we all know that even if the Man-Faye were to drop down into the shadows forever, his legacy will live on forever-and-ever. He may have been wronged (nay, he was wronged) this year, and we hope maybe he'll get the message that he risks a lot in coming in that outfit, but I suppose if he feels he must continue on with his legacy, all the power to him.

I just hope he doesn't find out about Ani-Magic.

Sorry, time for my daily eyewash. I still can't get that hairy ass image out of my eyes. It burns! O_o

—jason