Icons Series: Chadwick Boseman

I originally started writing just a brief blurb in my Instagram stories after reposting a photo with magazine cover star Chadwick Boseman. However the blurb starting to turn into a paragraph, and a paragraph into an emotional essay, and I realized Chadwick Boseman deserved his own post, so here goes…

This one still hits hard. I’ll never forget seeing Black Panther in theaters and loving it because I am a Marvel Superhero movie fanatic! But also because it was a quality film with an outstanding cast, a solid plot, and a great balance of story and action sequences! But it wasn’t until after the movie was over and the audience was exiting the theatre, that the impact of the movie, and the actor’s power really hit me. 

As I was heading towards the building exit, I passed a group of young boys standing together outside the theatre. They were all still so excitable after the movie! They were enthusiastically discussing their favorite scenes and all the “cool” characters. They re-enacted (to the best of their ability lol) some of the fight scenes and moves, that the Wakandans could do. But it was when I overheard one of the little boys proudly brag to his friends and say “I’m like Black Panther!” that the real, true power of the movie hit me. Suddenly Black Panther wasn’t just another one of the many superhero movies I had seen. There was suddenly something different about this movie that stood out from the rest for reasons other than script or filmography quality. I had been reading reviews all week about how it was a great film, but also that it was the first in the Marvel Universe to have a predominate Black cast. People were loving it and celebrating its inclusivity and achievements, all great things! But like most things, it is one thing to read it and another to SEE it. The most that entered my mind when reading these articles and reviews was “that’s great!” But when I actually saw that little boy see himself in a Marvel Superhero, I started tearing up as I walked out of the building. THAT is when the movie, the actor, and the reason behind the film’s undying praise hit me. I had literally just witnessed a little boy discovering a new hero to look up to and aspire to be. Chadwick Boseman had become a Superhero and a childhood Hero to millions around the world.

It was at this moment that for only the second time in my life, I had really thought about/considered the lack of representation of  POC in movies. The first time was when Disney introduced a new princess: Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. I remember talking to a little girl who said Tiana was her “favorite princess” and I asked her why? Her exact answer was “because she looks like me!” Thinking back to my own childhood and who my own favorite movie characters were, I realized I loved Aurora and Cinderella! As many times as I rewatched Disney movies, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were probably ranked the lowest in terms of watch count. So WHY were these my favorite princesses? I watched Aladdin on repeat, I loved the music in Tarzan, and Aurora and Cinderella didn't exactly have the most ~exciting~ personalities, but they were my favorite? Both my brunette sister’s favorite Disney princess was Belle! I’ll give them a little credit in actually recognizing that she had an interesting personality with a passion for reading and an intolerance for toxic Alpha Males, (but let’s be honest, we aren’t comprehending that at that age). I had a redhead friend growing up who’s favorite princess was Ariel! She was bullied a lot for her hair in younger years and I remember her obsession with The Little Mermaid. The common denominator of all these examples: that the favorite princess is the one that LOOKED like us. It is the one we see ourselves in. The one we identify with. This realization hit me really hard because Disney was such a HUGE, MONUMENTAL part of my childhood. And I just suddenly thought of all the little boys and girls who didn’t see anyone like them in the Disney lineup, and how devastating that might be. Watching TV and movies now, we like the characters for their personalities, strengths, humor, character development, etc. But it’s different with kids because most of the time we aren’t fully grasping what it is we are watching. We like pretty colors, cartoons, and— characters that resemble us. So when you think about the live action Marvel or DC Superhero lineup, what is it you are seeing a lot of there? So when that little boy announced his new favorite superhero loud and proud enough for me to hear it on my way out of the movie theatre, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming scale of emotions. 

Fast forward to teen years, I think of all the adolescent rom com classics like A Cinderella Story, What a Girl Wants, Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You… all the main characters were these gorgeous, desirable, cool girls that we wanted to look like! We were influenced into believing THAT was what was beautiful! This goes into body image, and personality identities as well, but that’s for another blog lol. I remember watching a video on YouTube of the Clark Doll Experiment. If you haven’t heard/seen, it’s an experiment done with a group of children brought in and individually interviewed about two baby dolls that are presented before them. The interviewer asks questions like “which is the nice doll?”, “which is the bad doll?”, “which is the ugly doll” , etc. Every child interviewed Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, etc. is shown choosing the white doll as the “pretty” and “nice” doll. Again, a child’s innocence is a pure, blank canvas. Everything that makes up that child’s individualism is learned through things they experience, feel, hear, and see. So what if the majority (or all) you saw on TV were skinny, blonde, white girls? Or 6’5”, muscular, white boys? These same characters you see over and over and over and are presented in movies as the “hero” or the “popular boy” or the “shy reader who eventually takes off her glasses and suddenly becomes hot and gets the popular jock, girl.” Even without experiencing racism first hand, hearing your elders discuss race, enduring racist comments from classmates, a child that is constantly seeing a certain type of person cast as the likable main character, is GOING to see that and it is GOING to affect the way they see themselves.

I hope this helped present a new perspective for those of you who haven’t quite fully grasped the importance of the conversation of the lack of representation in Hollywood. There are so many different types of beauty, personalities, cultures, stories, life experiences to be seen, heard, and celebrated. People aren’t just trying to find something else to get mad about or offended by. They're starting this conversation because a mother just wants her daughter to see herself in a Disney princess. A sister wants her closeted brother to see his sexual identity in his favorite TV show. And a father just wants his son to see himself in a superhero.

Thank you Chadwick Boseman for changing minds, changing hearts, and changing lives. RIP.