If you don’t know who Jessica Nigri is, now is your time to find out. She is quirky, sweet, an utter fangirl – and a well known figure in the cosplay community.
To those new, cosplay (from costume play) is simply the word that sums up what most people think of when they think of comic conventions: nerds dressing like the nerdy things they like. There is so much more to it, however, with an entire culture surrounding it, which even changes from country to country. The cosplayers in Japan are different from those in Australia, for example.
It has burgeoned into a community of fandom, craftsmanship and, often, elitism. In the end though, almost every cosplayer starts out the same way: with love for their fandom.
Jessica Nigri blew into the spotlight after attending the San Diego Comic Con in 2008. Though she cosplayed without any expectations about it, she caught attention almost immediately with her somewhat risqué version of a Pikachu. Christened JNigs by fans and haters alike, she has been expanding her image and working tirelessly on her costumes, building up her skills and travelling to conventions.
Known for her sexy versions of beloved game and TV show characters, she has garnered more than her fair share of unwelcome attention. Preparing for Calgary Expo in April, she treated us to an early interview to discuss cosplay, the community that fosters it, and its current hot topics, like the advent of the Cosplay =/= Consent movement.
GC: What drew you to cosplay in the first place?
JN: I had no idea what cosplay was when I first started. My friend got me a ticket for San Diego Comic Con for Christmas in 2008. And he was like, sometimes people dress up, I don’t know if you want to do that, and I was like, ok! And I was literally like I love Pokémon, and I’m blonde, and Pikachu’s yellow, so..., and I went, and it just blew up. I had no idea what cosplay was, and then all of a sudden it was just there, staring me in the face. You get to make cool things, meet awesome people; everyone has the same interests... so that’s how it started for me. I was thrown into it.
GC: Besides cosplay, what’s your favourite thing about conventions?
JN: I really, really enjoy conventions for the people, because it’s so great meeting someone and telling them that you have such and such amount of collectible figurines, and having them not stare at you awkwardly, you know? It’s really awesome common ground for people to hang out and just be who they are. I like seeing all the costumes, too, because the craftsmanship of other people just astounds me. I’ll tell you right now, I don’t think I am an accurate portrayal of the cosplay community. I think I am an easy gateway drug. I’ll cater to everyone and in that way, I get all the people on my page, and then they get to see the real, real intense people who actually know how to cosplay and stuff. I’m kind of like... a spokesperson for the general public.
GC: You’re interactive with your fans - did you decide to be like that or was it just naturally what you wanted to do?
JN: This is how I am. I don’t ever see myself as famous or anything, I just kind of see myself as one of them. I just wanted to steer myself away from that idea of fame. Everyone is bros. Everyone.
GC: In terms of cosplay harassment, do you think you’re more exposed to it, or does your status protect you?
JN: I feel like I’m a Shieldmaiden of Rohan; I’m right in the front. I legitimately don’t care what kind of costume I do, as long as I like it and have a connection with it. I won’t follow the cosplay norm, and I think that pisses a lot of people off because it’s a little bit more risqué, but that’s just how I like to show my fandom. It does really irritate a lot of people in the community. They judge you so hard before they even get to know you and it just blows my mind.
GC: It opens up a lot of discussion when you think about how a convention is for us to get together and be ourselves, and there’s still people who want to marginalize each other. There’s been a lot of talk about the movement Cosplay =/= Consent, and how people at cons face a lot of bad attention.
JN: That’s why I’m always nice. People will be blatantly talking crap about me and I will just go up and compliment them on their costumes, because I was kind of raised Catholic... treat people the way you want to be treated, turn the other cheek, that kind of stuff. When people are mean I try to diffuse it or act nice to them, because I think we all like this kind of stuff because we want to escape a little, because maybe our lives aren’t really that great and we want to be able to dress up or something and become someone else for even a little bit. And if someone that doesn’t know what it is tries to encroach on that, people start to freak out. So I’m always nice to people even if they’re mean to me, because I’m like, dude, you’re probably hurting inside, so I’m going to be nice.
People always ask me how I deal with the way people talk to me, and treat me online, and honestly I just ignore it because I know it’s all bullcrap anyway. I know a lot of people that aren’t used to it can get really offended, with good reason. I do believe cosplay is not consent, but I do believe you have to have a backbone if you’re going to dress the way you dress. If you dress this way, you have to know - you can’t think you weren’t going to get that kind of attention. Of course you did. So when people are like that to them, I think they should be able to defend themselves and not look like a b----.
GC: One of the problems is that people who come to conventions – be they men, women, or in between – sometimes they don’t feel safe to disagree with the attention, and some conventions don’t have policies in place.
JN: That’s true. I do think that conventions should have those things in place, where if you are harassed, that person should get kicked out. If you want to dress that way, you should be able to deal with it yourself and be able to talk to someone about getting rid of that person.
GC: Do you have any personal experiences about the fake geek girl myth that’s been going around recently?
JN: Ohhhhh. Every day. People always want to play League of Legends with me, and then we play and I destroy them, and they’re like, ... Oh. You actually play. Yeah. Yeah I do.