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Mr. Incredible vs. Batgirl: Exposing the Cutthroat World of Hollywood's Costumed Characters

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | October 23, 2014 |

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | October 23, 2014 |



Finally, we the public have been given a glimpse into the shadiest, seediest underbelly of Hollywood’s most competitive subculture, a world where territory infringement is liable to earn you a few broken bones and some major public humiliation. I’m talking, of course, about those terrible costumed characters infesting the tackiest, grossest street in California: Hollywood Boulevard.

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A fight broke out earlier this week between a few of these characters (video below), and while, yes, it is hilarious to hear that Mr. Incredible and Batgirl duked it out, while Chewbacca and Freddy Kruger tried to keep the peace, the reality is much more disturbing: that a man attacked a woman, repeatedly knocking her to the ground in front of hundreds of onlookers.

The fight reportedly started when Batgirl wandered to far into Mr. Incredible’s self-delineated territory. The thing about these costumed characters is that they’re a totally unofficial, if iconic, addition to the tourist trap that is Hollywood Boulevard. None of them have any officially assigned location, and while some of the costumes are legit quality, most of these people are struggling actors with access to a Party City store. They also work only for tips, so the competition between characters is understandable. Parents probably aren’t going to shell out $5 for their kid to take a picture with Spiderman, and then another $5 half a block later for Sad Darth Vader.


That reporter mentions the risk to the industry’s reputation that this fight has caused, but if you take a look at the Hollywood Boulevard Sidewalk Characters Yelp page, you’ll see that they didn’t have much of a reputation to start with. Still, this is the summer blockbuster equivalent of realizing Mall Santa is just a drunk guy in a polyester suit. You know, if drunk Santa also publicly assaulted an elf in front of all the children.


Via LA Times, H/T Harold Hill.