This is the 501st Legion. In the Star Wars Universe, the 501st is an elite group of the Galactic Empire under direct control and leadership of Darth Vader. This gave them the nickname "Vader's Fist". In real life, however, the 501st Legion is a costuming group filled with fans of Star Wars dedicated to do some good for their community all the meanwhile looking great doing it. The 501st is known to go to children's hospitals in full regalia, decked out head to toe in Stormtrooper armor or Jedi robes just to make a less than fortunate child's day a little brighter. I mean, what's cooler than having Darth Vader give you a high five? This is just one reason of many as to why Fandoms like Star Wars, Marvel, and DC (to name a few) are awesome and are growing to legendary proportions.
Go to a Target, or a Walmart, or a ToysRUs. What do you see? Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Darth Vader, Luke's Lightsaber (minus hand). We are in a period of life where the heroes we read in a comic book or the one our dad read in comic books are becoming more and more popular. Fandoms are growing like crazy and it could very well be the best thing that is happening to our lives.
Think about it, what do you see in the news today? Well, if you are reading this on the day it is published, it's all about Trump, but beside him, the news also reports nothing but the riots and the robberies and murders and everything that could hurt you. Then there are places like Comic Con or in my case, MisCon, where we go for a couple of days, enter a building and instantly, you're surrounded by this...
Heroes and heroins alike. People to look up to and admire, Superheroes, in real life! I can't imagine how blown my little mind would be if I was 10 years old today. I can go to one of these conventions and see Spider-Man or Darth Vader! Ok, I like Vader but that is the point!
Fandoms allow our minds to go to fantastical places, exciting planets or alternate histories where we can leave the doom and gloom behind and, albeit, for a little while, we can be a kid again. I never thought I would be able to see Star Wars on the big screen again like my parents did in 1980. I never thought I'd see Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, and Black Widow fight in New York City against supe rvillains like Loki.
I think more important than being a kid and being able to see our heroes leap from the pages, we can let our guard down. We can leave our cynical and pessimistic minds behind for a bit and be happy again. I think that is why events like Comic Con and Star Wars Celebration are getting to be ginormous...that and you can talk to Luke Skywalker and Tony Stark, I mean Mark Hammill and Robert Downey Jr. or you can be them.
With the rise of these juggernaut franchises also comes the cosplay community. Cosplay is, in the most basic terms, dressing up as fictional characters and it is growing fast. As of right now, the 501st Legion Costuming Group is over 10,000 members strong(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501st_Legion) and that is just one group of fans! So why dress up as a Stormtrooper or Iron Man or a superhero of your own making? The more difficult question would be why not? Think about it...you can be a superhero and even more than that, you take credit for building it yourself. One of the largest aspect of cosplay is being able to build the costume yourself and take pride in what you created. There are kits, sure but ultimately, it is your hands that put it together, and when it is done, you get to feel like a badass. I myself have a couple of lightsabers, but no Jedi Robes...yet. Being able to cosplay also says a little something about yourself, whether you just really like the look of a costume made for Cap or you want to be a symbol worthy of the Galactic Empire, you show just a snippet of what you like and what kind of person you could be if you weren't an average citizen. Are you a Joker whose maniacal antics and unhinged personality makes you one to be feared, or are you a Dark Knight who lives to see justice and good prevail in a world of peril and doom? Are you a Jedi whose mind and spirit is committed to peace and balance in the universe, or are you a Stormtrooper who carries out the will of the Emperor in order to maintain peace and security in unstable times?
A world full of growing fandoms and new content to further boost the love of your favorite movie or TV series is the best thing to happen in everyone's lives, young and old. It allows us to cut loose, be our heroes, and most of all, have fun and I think because of these possibilities, fandoms and cosplay are growing larger and faster each day, and there isn't a single bad outcome that I can think of from it all. So why not be a kid, go to a cloth store, sew up a costume and be Superman, or go the 501st route and be a force for good in bleak times. I'm sure you make some little 10-year-old very, very happy.
