First Chadwick Boseman slipped on the cleats of Jackie Robinson, then the Godfather of Soul’s dancing shoes, portraying both Black American icons with a searing intensity that commanded respect. When the former playwright suited up as Black Panther, he brought cool intellectual gravitas to the Marvel superhero whose “Wakanda forever!” salute reverberated worldwide.It's probably impossible to overstate how big a star Boseman became. Black Panther made a liar out of all those people in Hollywood who said that whites wouldn't go see a movie that was almost entirely populated by Black actors. Black Panther is the highest-grossing solo superhero movie ever made, 4th top-grossing movie of all time.
As his Hollywood career boomed, though, Boseman was privately undergoing “countless surgeries and chemotherapy” to battle colon cancer, his family said in a statement announcing his death at age 43 on Friday. He’d been diagnosed at stage 3 in 2016 but never spoke publicly about it.
It's a movie that offered vision of a Black man running the most technologically advanced nation on the planet. What it must have meant for Black kids to see a movie like that!
Tributes for Bosemen are pouring in from all corners. Except from You Know Who.
I heard this morning that he had passed away from cancer, and was sad for him and his family. 43 is just too young to die, especially when he had such a large and growing career. I actually have never seen Black Panther, but I saw him in 42, as Jackie Robinson, and he was fantastic. His talent could only have brought him even larger and more intense roles, that he could bring his obvious talent to.
ReplyDeleteRIP to a heroic man, not for his color, but for fighting a battle with colon cancer, mostly out of sight, for 4 years, and not letting his fans hear him complaining about his misfortune, but instead, allowing his work that he had already done stay as his voice. Many will miss him,myself included. Now I will be certain to find his most celebrated movie,and watch it,both for the entertainment value,and as a tribute to his career and talent.
pigpen51
Pigpen, the film is well worth a watch. Some of the visuals are flat-out luscious, the characterizations great -- though they couldn't resist going to pew-pew spaceship battles at the end.
ReplyDeleteBlack Panther is likely the best of the comic hero story lines and
ReplyDeleteI've seen it on the big screen and smaller. He gave it an intensity
that was compelling and enjoyable to watch.
We need more heros.
Eck!
I personally found the Black Panther movie to be rather ordinary -- other than the fact that it depicted black people as nerds and scientists and heros and the center of the story. Representation is important.
ReplyDelete