For today I have a very special post for you guys and I'm beyond honored to have been given the opportunity to interview my amazing friend Carlos (otherwise known on his page as Rage Custom Creations) regarding Saudi Comic Con. This is important since not only was this Saudi Arabia's first Comic Con ever, but Carlos and a select few were pretty much the first ever American cosplayers to set foot in the country. So not only did they see themselves in a way as ambassadors of the US cosplay community but representatives of our country as a whole. No pressure right? Learning about how it went was pretty remarkable. For starters, the convention was set up by request of the government to pretty much have this kind of event for the first time. When Carlos was initially selected, he was allowed to hand pick a few other cosplayers to attend with him. Those included Knightmage, Riddle and the giant Hulkbuster cosplayer who you may have seen online maybe a year or two ago.
Surprisingly, majority of the convention attendees spoke/understood English so conversations was made simple. In terms of exhibitors, Carlos stated that it was heavily comic based with your typical vendors you'd see in the US, and many local artists. Some big name stars attended like Jason Momoa and several other GoT stars. The convention believe it or not was the first event of its kind to have men and women congregate in one place together without the need to have everyone chaperoned/be related to one another. I just didn't learn about the convention itself, but more so about the culture of Saudi Arabia. It truly was something else guys. The women had to attend in full coverage of their traditional clothing with their cosplays/geeky shirts underneath.
In one instance, Carlos relayed how he asked permission of a fan to take a picture with her. The reason being she had a Jurassic Park shirt underneath her garb, which to him was freaking awesome. Add in the fact that the fan knew him, and overall it was a heartwarming moment. The convention was out in an open field and divided up into 3 tents. One held the arena for the cosplay contest, another had the main vendor hall, and the last one was specific for females only so they could show off their cosplays to one another. Speaking of which, the cosplay from both genders was absolutely phenomenal. Especially given how limited the resources are available for cosplayers in this country. Commenting again on how the genders are viewed in Saudi Arabia, the cosplay contests for both were held in different areas. The guys judged the male competition, and Riddle did judging for the females.
When Carlos arrived at the convention, a few interesting things conspired, for one it had rained in Saudi for the first time in 284 days. Second, he was surprised at how outwardly positive/energetic the people and accommodations were. When stating this, his handler/translator explained it through the saying/concept of "
Atithi Devo Bhava". For the people of Saudi Arabia, this means that every guest was treated as if God himself came down as a guest himself. All Carlos could do was smile and feel incredibly humble for this overall experience.
Many conversations took place while Carlos and the others were guests. The same questions were asked by different people, the reason has an unfortunate political side to it regarding our unfortunate view on Muslims here in the US. At the end of it all, the cosplay guests had a changed perspective on things. They were invited mainly for the fans and appreciate them, not based on their status in the cosplay community. At the end of the Interview I had, Carlos mentioned one thing he wanted to do was to gather as many cosplayers they could find for a group photo. Due to time constraints and the nature of the event, that wasn't possible. The point being (and I wholeheartedly agree) is that no matter the distance/differing countries, there's people who are into the same things we are into here in the US. The people of Saudi Arabia are incredibly proud of who they are, and are #JustLikeUs.
Check out these other pictures I selected that Carlos took/had taken during his time at the convention.
I can't thank Carlos of Rage Custom Creations enough for giving me the honor of writing about this historic event. Each of the cosplay guests had an amazing time and I couldn't think of a better group of individuals to represent the US Cosplay Community in their visit. Below are links to each of the guests' FB pages. Definitely give them a look!
