Fandom In Context: 'Simpsons' Cosplay Is A Trippy, Horrifying And Hilarious Funhouse Online

The Simpsons are probably the most famous family on Earth. They're at least the most animated family. We know so much about them, especially their appearance--four fingers, bright yellow skin and hair that is strangely inconsistent with the rest of Springfield. Since debuting in 1987, the images of Marge, Homer, Lisa, Bart and Maggie have burned their way into the minds of millions—perhaps, billions—around the globe.

That recognition comes at a price. When we become so used to something, even the slightest change can disrupt our understanding of the character. Bootleg Barts, untoons, fan art, or even updates to the show's character designs can trigger feelings reminiscent of the uncanny valley, a feeling that something isn't right. Yet, fans of The Simpsons continue to tiptoe in the valley through cosplay.

Cosplay is one of the oldest and most popular forms of fan expression. The Know Your Meme database places the beginnings of fantasy costumes in 1934, while the word "cosplay" entered the lexicon roughly 50 years later. Simpsons fans are not immune to the temptations of dressing up as their favorite characters. However, the mix of the traditional character designs, which are already pretty ugly, and homespun attempts at costume-making has turned the family into a grotesque sight.

The weirdest part about the nuclear power plant of fear that is Simpsons cosplay is, fans love it. "A couple of years ago I started doing a "The Simpsons Man Halloween Contest," writes Dave, who goes by @the_simpsons_man on Instagram, "and every year I have hundreds of submissions of people dressing up as their favorite Simpsons characters." Dave started the account nearly seven years ago, and his array of Simpsons related ephemera attracted more than 100,000 followers, one of the few Simpsons meme accounts to cross 100k.

Dave has a firsthand understanding of what kind of content Simpsons fans want. To his mind, they love this kind of cosplay, the kind with caked-on yellow makeup, bulging eyes and deeply-seeded references. "If you want to go all out with your Simpsons cosplay, you will need to go all yellow with a combo of crazy options, especially if you want to stand out," he writes. "Some might appear weird to some people because Simpsons Cosplay could be a normal looking person wearing weird a sign on their shirt that says 'Idaho' If you didn't know the Simpsons reference behind that then you would be super lost and confused."

However, even the most-seasoned makeup artists and cosplayers know that Simpsons characters need to be big. Theresa Spencer, a makeup artist and TikToker, with more than 1.6 million followers, regularly dresses up as Springfieldians, like Milhouse and Mr. Burns. Her most popular video, and the one that got her going on TikTok, is some Marge Simpson cosplay, which attracted more than 11 million views. She documents the whole process in her clip that runs less than 20 seconds. Producing a realistic Simpsons cosplay video, however, takes much longer.

"It takes about 11 hours to think of the scenes, grab the props, make the props, do the makeup, create the video while makeup is in process, do the acting scenes then post," she says. "So, from the time I wake up at 6 a.m., do my daily business for eight hours, then straight to creating, it takes a huge chunk of my time."

The videos are undeniably impressive. From start to finish, Spencer puts her all into transforming into Matt Groening's most famous creation. But what makes her work such a curiosity are the eyes and the teeth, which take on an unsettling white tone to match the show's color palate. Spencer walks the line that Dave the Simpson's Man described, between the show's specific mythology that fans recognize, like her choice to showcase Marge with her hair down, a rarely seen character design.

These creations are, no doubt, designed to delight, and for some it does. However, digging into the comments, you'll find others who find this costuming a bit unsettling. Still, that's all part of the fun for Spencer. "I knew The Simpsons would be fun to do because their personalities are one of a kind," she wrote. "I enjoy being the wild, weird and creepy characters because I embody them the most."

Delight is at the front of mind of Okilly Dokilly, the world's first heavy "nedal" band, which is to say Simpsons-themed metal band. Since forming in 2015, the group, who all wear the same matching pink-shirt-green-sweater combo made famous by Ned Flanders, have toured the world, put out two records and had their music featured on the big show: a 2019 episode of The Simpsons.

Theatricality has always been a primary element of metal. From Black Sabbath to Mercyful Fate, the history of heavy metal is plastered with face paint and clothed in rusted spikes and leather. Okilly Dokilly inverts this aesthetic by taking on the persona of the show's most pious character. This was always part of the plan, says Head Ned, the band's lead singer. He came up with the idea for the group while joking about "the worst possible name for a death metal band" with Bled Ned, the band's drummer. "Imagine Rammstein-style pyrotechnics and a stage littered with brutal decor and death-themed everything. Then the band walks out and the singer says to the crowd, 'Hi, we're The Fuzziest Bumblebees.'"

Eventually landing on the name "Okilly Dokilly," the band expanded the idea to costumes, stage shows and lyrics. While never letting "a good pun go to waste," the bespectacled band forged ahead, finding fans that love their mix of Springfield specifics and deep, growling vocals. "Bonus Neds," as the group calls them, are fans who come to gigs in cosplay, and they're fixtures of their concert. "We played a show in London on Halloween night in 2019 and had the highest concentration of Bonus Neds ever. I think around a quarter of the audience was dressed as Ned. We've had fans do other characters too. Homer, Otto, Sideshow Bob, Rod & Todd, even a few Maude's and a zombie Maude."

As enjoyable as this can be for fans, others prefer their cosplay dirtier, more anarchic and sometimes downright menacing. Soggy Nugget, an English TikToker and Instagramer, makes videos in the style of Filthy Frank and iDubbbz: loud, unpredictable and disgusting. Wearing a one-of-a-kind discount-store Lisa Simpson costume, Soggy has amassed a healthy following on both platforms, but TikTok, where he has more than 3 million followers, is his bread and butter.

All this was kismet, says Soggy, when he found a child-size Lisa costume in the bargain bin, but when inspiration struck, he followed. "I didn't start the account with the intention, like, let's make some Simpsons videos," he says, "but because we found the creepy, just horrible Lisa Simpson costume and made videos for that, it sort of went from there. I felt like, well, we may as well try and expand them all." From there, it was just a question of rounding out the cast. He made a Marge suit, whose tall blue hair is made from wrapping paper. He found a Krusty the Klown at the same costume shop at an unbeatable bargain of £5. The head sock that became Homer was just lying around his house. His videos' lo-fi energy have a horror-movie vibe, like if the family from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre suddenly dropped the cannibalism and became influencers.

Why are so many people eager to see videos of a demented Marge Simpson throwing up hot dogs, eggs and an unspecified red sauce? Soggy Nugget believes it has something to do with subverting the image of the characters. "The Simpson are so recognizable," he says. "So if something's wrong, if there's a detail off, if the head's the wrong shape or is not the right color, I think it just stands out a lot more."

Like so much of meme-dom, the thing about cosplay that entertains people is this remixing of cultural parts. In the case of The Simpsons, a lynchpin of western culture for more than 30 years, it's honoring and subverting that legacy that attracts people. Whether they enjoy being grossed out, amazed or simply like the tunes, cosplayers use The Simpsons as a vehicle to explore their own creative pursuits. And for those who either know The Simpsons by heart or think the show is well-passed its prime, cosplay provides them with a new spin on an old formula.