You know, I think it's incredibly arrogant to demean people who apply parts of the anime culture to their life just because they're not Asian. It doesn't occur to many people that the anime fanbase may be acting out anime culture, not intentionally or unintentionally poorly mimicking Japanese culture. Too many people fall into the trap of thinking that anime Japan and real Japan are the same place, and if they ever take any time to actually research the culture, the language, the society, politics, economy, etc; they find out that they're two entirely different worlds. Anime is the beautification and idealization of many things that many cultures worldwide lack and long for, and anyone with an eye for quality and art should at least be able to see this.
The biggest defence mechanism of jocks against people who they don't understand is to attack them, pass them off with any number of popular labels that instantly categorize someone as inferior, an outsider, an undesirable, etc; and I've been incredibly surprised at how many jockish attitudes I've seen in this thread. I know I can't make any points that will resonate with anyone of that mindset in here because I don't have their flair for sharp hatred and complete convincement of their own superiority, so I won't bother to continue much on this point, but I will brush on the subject of cosplay. The point of cosplay is fun; people don't try to look good or look similar to any character, it's just one of those mysterious forms of entertainment that jocks don't understand that don't involve looking good and making sure everyone else knows that you look good. It's odd, it's inventive, therefore many people hate it.
This also ties into the incredibly foolish and racist Asian part of the debate; many Asians on the internet that I know have a complete self-absorption and superiority complex just because of their race and like to flaunt it wherever I go. I can't say that I've seen it much at this board, but many others I've been to it's rampant. Just think of all the little n00bs that have "azn" in their name...if the only possible way you can think to identify yourself is to flaunt your race, it's incredibly sad. I would be crucified if I went to a board and had a name that emphasized my whiteness; and somehow people think that I'm less deserving of being able to experience anime in my own way because of belonging to an inferior race. Anime has never been about race; anime characters are actually drawn to be as race-neutral as possible to give them more universal appeal; it's just the human image, and there are still people who are trying to portray it as the complete opposite. If you're Asian, fine, be as proud as you want of your heritage but don't use it as an excuse to claim personal rights to anime, and don't use it to raise yourself above a subculture. It's stupid, it's based on complete misinformation of what anime is even about, and it perpetuates prejudice that so many of us would be willing to bury forever if not for people bringing it up over such trivial reasons. Anime fans don't care what other people think; I could easily go on a tirade about how athletes, goths, etc. live their lives, but I don't see any point in it. There are just some people in the world so desperate to persecute another group of people that they'll turn on something completely harmless, something meant for enjoyment, appreciation, enrichment of life, just as long as their superiority complex can justify them seeing it as inferior to their own way of life. This is nothing new, this is just another example of common idiocy.