Most say because they enjoy reenacting. For most of them, reinacting is a hoby that stems from the study of American history. It also allows them to connect to a time that is percieved to be a time of honor and (Americanized) chivalry. It also connects to the roots of the south, much in the way that other cultures connect to their pasts (i.e. the Japanese and samurai, the English and knights).

I will admit though that some do it to connect to a period when the white male was the undisputed athority in the nothern hemisphere.

Cosplayers “…are one thing I just really do not get at all.”

A reenactor is an “actor”. They go and present a “play”. Some have lines, settings, backstories, “stage” direction. Cosplaying seems to be the oddity.

Dressing as a fantasy character and taking on the identity of this, in the majority of cases, completely fictional character. I think the cosplayer steps farther from “reality” when they attempt to become a “ninja/deamon-vessel” (naruto), a “chimera” of ape/feline DNA (catgirls), or any number of fantasy creatures created to provide an entrance into a purely fictional world.

The reenactor takes his stage as a display of American history. This display is not done for the glory of conflict, it is done is remembrance of a period in history that many would have you forget or pervert to the point of falsehood.

If you want to talk about “mind-bogglingly horrific events”, start in our schools, our sources of news, information, “entertainment”, and in our homes.

Sometimes the line between fantasy and reality is very thin….

I mean, you know, when someone gets murdered, you hold a funeral and a wake in their honor. You share memories and mourn the tragedy of it all.

You don’t dress up and re-enact the murder scene.

As to the reenactments…I think it’s more of a remembrance. You know…those who forget history are destined to repeat it.