Catholic Cosplay Goes Mainstream

Several Patheos bloggers have written about the recent 2018 Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year’s event had the theme “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”

Cardinal Dolan and Fr. James Martin attended, and some of the pieces on display were on loan from the Vatican.

The big uproar is about the various costumes worn by attendees. I hadn’t realized that Catholic cosplay had gone mainstream!

For the benefit of the non-nerds out there, “cosplay” stands for “costume play.” It involves dressing up as your favorite character from a TV show, movie, comic book, etc., or sometimes putting a unique spin on a favorite character — such as a female Joker or a steampunk Dr. Who. Cosplay is most often seen at sci-fi/fantasy conventions (e.g. Comicon).

You could say that All Saints’ Day is the Catholic Cosplay event of the year, and now the secular world has joined in on the fun, albeit a bit out of season.

Some of the costumes were in poor taste (at least in my humble opinion) but others were surprisingly good.

Zendaya nailed (mailed?) St. Joan of Arc:

Rihanna’s “Pope Francis after a dip in Scrooge McDuck’s money bin” needs work:

Sarah Jessica Parker’s homage to the Nativity featured a “Bethle-helm” (hah!):

I thought T’Challa worshipped Bast, but I have no objections if The Black Panther converts to Catholicism:

Katy Perry’s take on an angel was ambitious, but the wings overshadow everything else (and had to be both heavy and tough to maneuver):

I have no idea who Gigi Hadid is, but her rendition of a stained glass window was stunning:

I think my favorite, though, was Scarlett Johansson’s nod to St. Therese, the Little Flower:

I was disappointed that no one tried a Fulton Sheen cosplay, but I suppose the chalkboard would be a pain to haul around. Maybe next time.

Have you ever done a Catholic Cosplay?