Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is Casting, but You Have to be Hot

Wanna be an extra in Guardians of the Galaxy 2?? Well, if you've got lady parts, I hope you're a model:

According to the casting call that took the internet by storm today, the only opportunities for women to be cast as alien extras require them to be "Beautiful/Model Aliens ... very attractive, physically fit, slender, or thin..." and you'd better show up in form-fitting clothes. Oh, and make sure you don't bother bringing your fat friend with you because they don't want to clutter up the place with children and "others that are not one of the types above." 

Men-folk, on the other hand, only need to be basically human shaped for a shot at a role. They even have their very own category for "Character Aliens" specifically looking for non-model types. It's hard enough for women who aren't build like models to land a role as a human, now it's clear that we're not even worthy to grace the screen as imaginary alien races. Don't get me wrong, this is nothing new, but it's disheartening at best to continue to see these kinds of ridiculous double standards persisting, especially for films based in nerd culture (a traditional bastion for women and girls who never fit the cheerleader archetype).

Could we please move on and recognize that it's ok for people to be people shaped?!

**EDIT**

According to director James Gunn via Twitter this is just the first of many casting calls, and the scenes being shot are specific to model types. So, it looks like there is still hope for us yet:

Is There Really Room for Self Love in Cosplay?

(Photo: CosCouture and Titan Cosplay)

Cosplay is a huge piece of the fandom pie. From once-a-year-at-Con cosplayers, to those who travel hundreds of miles every year to cosplay all around the Country, to sneaky cosplayers who construct costumes so subtle they can be worn to work, cosplayers (it seems) are everywhere. Some view cosplay as a way to embody their favorite characters and to bring their inner warrior or hero or evil genius out. Some just love the art of creating elaborate costumes and intricate armor pieces. Some revel in the spotlight and the attention they receive while wearing the costume of a beloved character. Whatever their reasons, cosplayers are generally a dedicated and creative bunch of people. Given, however, that the basic idea of cosplay is to dress up as a character (often from a comic book, video game, cartoon, etc.), and that many characters are drawn with a very specific, exaggerated, and sexualized physique, is cosplay really an area of fandom that fosters self love and body acceptance?

For me, this question came up when I found and shared this "breastplate" contraption to a social media cosplay group I'm a member of:

A New Year is Coming; Time to Hate Yourself!

Calvin and Hobbes shaped the majority of my childhood.

Now that the holidays are coming to an end, and the New Year is fast approaching, the yearly onslaught is upon us. Every year, around this time, we are subjected to more and more ads telling us just how unhappy we are and promising that their products will make us complete and healthy members of society. I'm referring, of course, to the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions and the insane amounts of adverts aimed at subtly nudging us into making them by promising to help us actually keep them.

While spending less money, eating better, exercising more, and falling in love (because deciding you're going to fall in love with someone at some point in the next 365 days is a super healthy goal, and not at all one of the fastest ways to prematurely jump into a bad relationship) were among the Top 10 list of resolutions, according to a study by the University of Scranton on Statistics Brain, the #1 New Year's Resolution for 2014 was to lose weight. That's about as disheartening as it is unsurprising. We have been conditioned to hate ourselves, and that is super sad. Here's the thing: You wanna be more healthy? Great! Be more healthy. There, done. You don't need the pressure of media and adverts to make you hate yourself as motivation to change how you look. No one needs that. It's not inspirational, it's cruel. If you really feel like you need to make a New Year's Resolution, resolve to learn to love yourself for who you are, to be more kind, donate more of your time to those in need, to learn something new, or to simply be more thankful for what you have instead of focusing on what you want. This may all sound like a bit of New Age, hippy, after-school special rubbish, but I'm of the opinion that if you're going to bother to make resolutions then you may as well make them count. Personally, I don't think you need to make any resolutions. You can certainly chose to change something about yourself that you're not 100% proud of, but you can do that at any time of year. So, despite all the adverts subtly telling you all of the ways you're not perfect, and how much you should change to meet the standards of other people you'll likely never meet, I leave you with one of the greatest memes ever created. Any time you begin to feel down about yourself, take a look at this fantastic piece of motivational support, crack a smile, and go on about your day, you brilliant, sexy beast, you!

Super Great

A Little Cosplay Etiquette

Ah, cosplay. What was once a relatively underground aspect of geek life has come out of the craft closet and into the spotlight. I remember the days when people would spend the whole year working on their costume for DragonCon; now there's a TV show dedicated to people who pull elaborate costumes out of their ass in less than a week, and travel the Country doing so for a living. Don't get me wrong, I love cosplayers. My concern for cosplay etiquette stems from the drama and nitpicking and judgement that seems to be escalating throughout the community. So, here is a basic guide for everyone to keeping cosplay civil: