A paraplegic Mad Max cosplayer was the king of DragonCon

By Charles Pulliam-Moore  |  September 14, 2015 | 3:35pm
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In the world of extreme fandom, there’s cosplaying and then there’s cosplaying. Telling the difference between the two can be difficult for non-nerds, but every so often you meet a cosplayer whose outfit transcends the idea of simply dressing up as a fictional character and really exemplifies what it means to be a fan.

Ben Carpenter’s is one of those cosplayers.

Carpenter rode into this year’s DragonCon in Atlanta in what is perhaps one of the most inspired feats of cosplay of all time: Max Rockatansky’s blood bag chariot.

In addition to being an avid cosplayer, makeup artist, and engineering student, Carpenter also lives with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic condition that requires him to use a wheelchair.

As an art, cosplaying can accommodate a wide variety of body types and physical limitations, but Carpenter wanted to create a look that authentically incorporated his chair. So he did what any sensible person would do and looked to Mad Max: Fury Road for inspiration.

Fury Road opens with the film’s titular character being chained to the hood of a car, muzzled, and drained for his blood while he speeds through the desert. Carpenter’s motorized “blood bag mobile” recreates the look right down to the war boy operating the vehicle in the back.

Unsurprisingly, Carpenter’s costume has been blowing other cosplayer’s looks out of the water.

The message behind this particular costume is a simple one: when you cosplay, you have to cosplay to win.

 
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