What is this project?
September 22, 2021
Dear friends, social media followers, and website visitors,
Over the next forty days, I will be unveiling a project I’ve been working on for the past year: “Cosplay for a Culture of Life.” This project features pictures of myself cosplaying as different characters from popular books, movies and musicals, holding signs with quotes from their respective stories. These quotes convey themes of hope, love, truth, justice, advocacy, solidarity, and the value of human life.
Here, I want to explain my reasons for creating this photo series, which may be continued in the future.
Some reasons are personal in nature. I wanted to find a way to combine my activism with my love of stories and my hobby of cosplaying my favorite fictional characters. I hope it will encourage activists to incorporate their creative talents into their work. I also want to break stereotypes and show that people who advocate for the things I do are ordinary people who enjoy pop culture as much as the next person.
This project is also an experiment in content, context, and communication. Although only a few of the quotes directly address particular social issues, many of them could be applied to different topics. I posed for these portraits with a plain backdrop of a fence, but how would the message be interpreted if I were at a gun control march, or an anti-racism rally, or the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic?
This series highlights the power of stories and symbols. By using popular characters, I want to call attention to the values people promote through their media consumption and creation. I have run into many situations where the creators of a story I love try to get their followers to support a cause I don’t agree with. Rather than boycott such talented people and inspiring content, I want to challenge creators of pop culture to think about the values their work promotes, respect their fans who disagree with them, and not ask fans to compromise their values in order to support the arts.
There will be a total of forty pictures in this series, one for each day of the fall 40 Days for Life campaign. On Facebook (@JacquelineTetraultWriter) I will release one portrait a day in an album. On Instagram and Twitter (@JackieTetrault) I will release one character’s set of portraits each weekend. I will also display them on my website, www.jacquelinetetrault.com/cosplay-for-a-culture-of-life.html. Feel free to share through social media, so long as it links back to my original posts.
Yours in building a culture of life,
Jacqueline Tetrault
Dear friends, social media followers, and website visitors,
Over the next forty days, I will be unveiling a project I’ve been working on for the past year: “Cosplay for a Culture of Life.” This project features pictures of myself cosplaying as different characters from popular books, movies and musicals, holding signs with quotes from their respective stories. These quotes convey themes of hope, love, truth, justice, advocacy, solidarity, and the value of human life.
Here, I want to explain my reasons for creating this photo series, which may be continued in the future.
Some reasons are personal in nature. I wanted to find a way to combine my activism with my love of stories and my hobby of cosplaying my favorite fictional characters. I hope it will encourage activists to incorporate their creative talents into their work. I also want to break stereotypes and show that people who advocate for the things I do are ordinary people who enjoy pop culture as much as the next person.
This project is also an experiment in content, context, and communication. Although only a few of the quotes directly address particular social issues, many of them could be applied to different topics. I posed for these portraits with a plain backdrop of a fence, but how would the message be interpreted if I were at a gun control march, or an anti-racism rally, or the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic?
This series highlights the power of stories and symbols. By using popular characters, I want to call attention to the values people promote through their media consumption and creation. I have run into many situations where the creators of a story I love try to get their followers to support a cause I don’t agree with. Rather than boycott such talented people and inspiring content, I want to challenge creators of pop culture to think about the values their work promotes, respect their fans who disagree with them, and not ask fans to compromise their values in order to support the arts.
There will be a total of forty pictures in this series, one for each day of the fall 40 Days for Life campaign. On Facebook (@JacquelineTetraultWriter) I will release one portrait a day in an album. On Instagram and Twitter (@JackieTetrault) I will release one character’s set of portraits each weekend. I will also display them on my website, www.jacquelinetetrault.com/cosplay-for-a-culture-of-life.html. Feel free to share through social media, so long as it links back to my original posts.
Yours in building a culture of life,
Jacqueline Tetrault
Diana, Wonder Woman
Costume pieces purchased from various vendors. Quotes from the 2017 movie directed by Patty Jenkins and written by Allan Heinberg from a story by Heinberg, Zack Snyder and Jason Fuchs.
Eliza, Hamilton
Costume made by Amelia Smith. Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Rey, Star Wars
Quotes from Star Wars Episodes I-IX.
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Katherine Plumber, Newsies
Inspired by the costumes in the Broadway musical, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein; based on the film screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White.
Eponine, Les Misérables
Lyrics from the musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel (original French lyrics), and Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics), based on the book by Victor Hugo.
Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
Quotes from the books by J.K. Rowling.
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Eurydice, Hadestown
Lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell.
