It took me a while to decide how to end this "issue."
It was a JOKE, taken too seriously. Are we so serious we can't take a joke any longer?
With all the talk recently about "uniform" this and "uniform" that, we really need to remember...
Didn't we have some ladies in USCM Pinup attire march in the parade in years past?
Did anybody complain?
We had Weyland-Yutani civilians march in the parade. Did the crowd even know
know who/what they were?
Did anyone complain?
Don't some of us have vulgar phrases, pinups and sexy silhouettes painted/stenciled/
stickered on our armor?
Has anyone complained?
We have to remember a couple things that I think some of us have forgotten along the way...
1) We are NOT the real military.
We're not the USMC. We're not part of the Department of Defense, the Japanese, Australian,
Spanish, French, British, Mexican, Canadian or US Military.
We're FANS of a MOVIE.
2) This is supposed to be FUN.
We spend hundreds (some, Thousands) of dollars on a COSTUME to share the LOVE
of a movie that MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW EXISTS, or if they do it's only because they
played a game about it on the Xbox. If we're taking ourselves so serious that it's NOT
fun any longer, then maybe we DO need to step away for a while.
3) It's not a
uniform, it's a
costume.
Seriously, look at us. There's nothing "uniform" about us.
We all have various takes on how the film costumes looked. But our armor camo, BDU patches,
web gear, etc., none of it matches the others completely. Hell, the costumes inthe film didn't even perfectly
match each other.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't take pride in how we look, but we can't forget that at our core, we're
movie fans and a
prop/costuming group, NOT a military, paramilitary or PMC organization.
4) We're NOT the 501st.
Say it with me again. We're not the 501st.
What couple of things easily classify the 501st?
-Amazingly detailed costumes.
-Strict adherence to defined costuming rules and guidelines.
This means, if your costume doesn't meet the basic guidelines set down by
your local chapter, you can't participate in "official" functions. One detail wrong?
Fix it or you're not approved. Too bad, so sad.
But what else classifies the 501st?
Pretty much EVERY member of the 501st I've met, has been friendly, and willing to discuss
how they made their costumes, give you pointers or places to go to find additional information.
In general, aside from a couple power trippers, they're all a pretty nice group of people with
positive attitudes, despite the fact they're walking around, outdoors, in the sun, heat and humidity of
Atlanta... wearing a hard plastic head to toe suit.
Which gets back to the point at hand.
We, at the Aliens Legacy decided a long time ago, when the costuming aspect of the
"props and costuming" started to take center stage, we decided that with as few
restrictions as possible, everyone would be allowed to participate and NOBODY would be excluded.
Let's re-read that again:
"everyone would be allowed to participate NOBODY would be excluded."
...Within reason. Assuming they do no harm and don't offend the general population.
We're here to share our love of the film/media series that started with Ridley Scott and grew to
encompass 3 more films, and a few spinoff films, as well as video games, comic books, etc.
OF COURSE we want people to make an attempt at a costume style as seen in the films.
But we've had, in the past, people dressed as civilians with only a W-Y patch or nametag.
We've had kids in Woodland Camo with USCM patches. We've had people wearing urban,
OD green, black, South African, British DPM, multicam AND desert digital camouflage.
We've had a Dog with scrap armor bits strapped on. We've had people in Black painted
Armor. We've had people in OD Green armor. We've had Aliens with dog collars and
restraint chains. None of these have been seen in the films.
So why do we allow this, if we're oh so serious and dedicated to the films?
Because we want people to be INVOLVED and have FUN.
Yes, being asked to march at the head of the parade is an honor. Yes, we should
treat it as such.
But the average person standing on the curb 10 feet away cheering as you call out the
SAME EXACT march cadence that's been called out since 2006 Isn't going to be
able to read the name on your chest plate, much less be able to tell you have camo
comprised of sexy girls.
I'm a fan of costume accuracy. If you want to get really technical, with maybe the exception
of a couple people, NONE of the service C uniforms worn by the fans are accurate to the film.
Does that mean they don't look good? No. Does that mean people standing on the side of the street
will know they're not accurate? No. Does that mean the people on the side of the street CARE if
they're accurate? No. Hell, the Atlanta news media STILL calls us the "soldier guys leading the parade."
The point is, WE know who we are and what film(s) we love.
We also need to really remember that we CAN'T take it all quite so serious. With two different
misunderstandings in a year, over costuming JOKES, maybe it IS time we all took a break to
remind ourselves why we're here:
A love of the Alien films...
...and hopefully, each other.
Russ Krook III
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