When I found out about the 501st Legion, I was absolutely baffled. George Lucas dressed the bad guys to look like Nazis, and now fans were dressing up as the bad guys because they love the movies so much? What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Then Captain America came out and people started dressing as Hydra agents, and I was like, “Oh, they’re just straight-up okay with Nazis. Got it.”
I had the impression the 501st was a different beast from “The Empire Did Nothing Wrong” types. I thought the point of them being stormtroopers was so everyone else had someone to heroically oppose? Their charity events seem to focus on things like kids shooting them with dart guns.
I’m not saying they haven’t been co-opted since I learned about them several years ago; but last I knew, they were happy playing bad guys to let other people be good guys.
When I found out about the 501st Legion, I was absolutely baffled. George Lucas dressed the bad guys to look like Nazis, and now fans were dressing up as the bad guys because they love the movies so much? What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Then Captain America came out and people started dressing as Hydra agents, and I was like, “Oh, they’re just straight-up okay with Nazis. Got it.”
I had the impression the 501st was a different beast from “The Empire Did Nothing Wrong” types. I thought the point of them being stormtroopers was so everyone else had someone to heroically oppose? Their charity events seem to focus on things like kids shooting them with dart guns.
I’m not saying they haven’t been co-opted since I learned about them several years ago; but last I knew, they were happy playing bad guys to let other people be good guys.