"How Cosplay is Getting Me Through Lockdown"
By Tyler Edwards
9 April 2020
Our regular 大象传媒 Sesh contributor, Josh Reeves, has cerebral palsy. He talks about how cosplay is getting him through lockdown...
What is cerebral palsy?
According to the NHS, “cerebral palsy is the name for a group of lifelong conditions that affect movement and co-ordination. It is caused by a problem with the brain that occurs before, during or soon after birth”.
Being classed as more vulnerable makes me feel more disabled than I guess I am.
Josh’s condition impacts his legs and affects his daily activities like getting out of bed and showering, as he may need assistance. He wishes he had the power of ‘The Force’, like Obi-Wan, so he wouldn’t have to ask people to do such things for him.
How does the coronavirus affect people with cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy falls under the government’s published list of conditions that put people at an increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus. Having cerebral palsy doesn’t mean you’re at a higher risk of getting infected with coronavirus, but it may affect your ability to deal with the virus if you were to contract it.
“Being classed as more vulnerable to the virus makes me feel more disabled than I guess I am”, says Josh.
But when he's dressed up as his favourite cosplay character, Spiderman, he's scared of nothing he jokes. Although, when he's ordinary Josh, he admits he's worried about the virus because of the serious impact it's having and the amount of deaths it has caused.
He compares the coronavirus to Thanos, Marvel’s biggest villain in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
But Josh fears more for those that have greater underlying conditions. He says, “I live in a residential home with disabled people who have way more health conditions and more complexities than I do. The only condition I have is my disability. I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about them.”
Josh’s love for cosplay
Above all, the disability rights activist wants to use his platform to help others.
Right now, Spiderman isn't the hero, it鈥檚 the NHS and key workers that are getting people through this pandemic.
Josh wants to ensure people know that ‘there is always help’ because he fears that self-isolating will affect his and others’ mental health.
But for him, it's cosplay that's keeping him busy through these strange times.
“It's a way of escaping from the difficult times”
It takes me into that place where I want to be, where I dream of and that’s dressing up as Spiderman, because I would love to climb up a wall or swing around in a city, but that’s not realistic. I wish I could do non-realistic stuff and one of those non-realistic things for me is to be able to walk, because of my disability.
“Spiderman isn't the hero. It's the NHS and key workers”
My favourite character Spiderman would struggle quite a lot, but Peter Parker has been through difficult times and managed to get out of it, so hopefully he could be the hero. But right now, Spiderman isn't the hero, it’s the NHS and key workers that are getting people through this pandemic. So, they’re the heroes I'd want to clap for.
“It’s good to keep a sense of humour during lockdown”
I’ve been posting a lot of funny photos online and cosplay memes to make people happy, like drinking my wine in my Spiderman suit! I always find that funny, but also every time someone coughs I’m like, “Oh, Corona!”. I wind people up because that’s my new way of keeping a good mind through it all.
“I would love to have 'The Force'”
I love being Obi-Wan and I would love to have 'The Force' to push things with my hands, that would be amazing; just opening doors so I don’t have to ask people to open doors for me because obviously the difficulty being a wheelchair user opening doors for myself, I could just go 'whoosh!'. It would be great!
“You might get a Spiderman costume with a mask saying, 'support the NHS!'”
Some of the cosplay community is reacting pretty well because people are sharing views and their ideas, but also a lot of cosplayers are struggling because they’re used to going to certain events. I know a lot of my friends that are struggling because MCM Birmingham Comic Con was postponed as well as London’s Comic Con in the summer, which is sad really because I’ve booked tickets for that and was looking forward to going.
I'm one of those people that like to be with people and say, “Hey! Nice costume”. I like to go around Comic Con making new friends and seeing what costumes they’ve designed. I'm going to see a lot of people creating some Covid-19 costumes. I don’t know what, but it might be interesting. You might get a Spiderman costume with a mask saying, 'support the NHS!'.
Being in lockdown has given Josh tonnes of new cosplay design ideas which he’s being coy about.
He said: “I’m a very secretive person so, I’m not going to tell you anything!”
So, I guess we’ll have to keep an eye out on his social media to see what he pulls off at his next Comic Con when all this is over.
