Fleeting Time

I can’t stop thinking about it. Time.

Right now, Time seems like a cruel joke, long and short all at the same time. Those who deserve it, seem to have little of it. And that is causing heartache on a global scale today. Like many of you over the last months I’ve discovered the greatness that is Hamilton. It’s full of amazing songs, about amazing ideals. But the last song is my favorite. It talks about Time. The adudance and absence of it. And when your time is up, what do you leave behind to be remembered by those left.

Some people live life with the ampleness of time high on their minds. They make plans for the future, for distant times in the distant future. I do this all the time. I talk boldly about futures in AD chairs, on television film lots, on political stages. But Time is one of the most unpromised things we have. The ones who we think have it, often don’t. Us ourselves, often don’t. Chadwick Boseman seemed so full of time. So full of grandiose and futures. Full of even more Hollywood stardom, and stars on walks of fame. He epitomized the past, but more importantly the future. Wakanda became a symbol of hope, of innovation, of promise for black people around the world. And Black Panther, King, Hero, become an inspiration to children everywhere. Heroes could like us. They could look like him. Strong, proud, ambiguous, free, and black.

Personally, today I’m devastated. As many of you know, I have been a Marvel fan forever. Since I saw Tony Stark suit up in 2008, and even before when Toby Mguire webbed his way through the streets of New York. You see my love of fairytales, of heroes and capes, was there from the beginning. But it wasn’t often that I became attached to a hero, to a world, like I did when Black Panther came out. It was a moment in time, unlike many we’ve seen, or will see. A community was united, Social media was full of whimsy, and we all went around saying Wakanda Forever, jolting our arms toward our hearts with strength, and power, and dignity.

He gave us that. They all did.

The death of the young is always the hardest. And this year, we’ve seen too many of our forever heroes taken away too soon. From Kobe, to Nya, to Chadwick. It’s been hard. It’s challenged our will to go on, and our outlook on our own mortality. But in passing, Chadwick Boseman gives us one final lesson, one final performance to be praised. For four years he battled cancer, in that time giving us so much of himself. He gave us some of his greatest roles, and some of our favorite film moments (will never forget him walking out of that portal in Endgame). He became a worldwide star, a cultural icon, a filmmaker, an inspiration, a husband, a role model, a movement himself. He was a man running out of Time, so he gave us everything. And man, what an everything it was.

“Will they tell your story?”.

It’s the line echoed at the end of Hamiliton. It’s a question I think we all ask ourselves. Is my story even worth telling? Did I use my time in a way that’s worth remembering? Did it mean something? I think of these questions everyday. And while I don’t have my own personal answer just yet, Chadwick most certainly does. We will tell your story. We will share the magic you gave to us in film, and the ones you have to us in life. No one will ever forget you. We will make sure of that. I can’t wait to show my kids 42, and then show them Black Panther. Our past, and hopefully the precursor that strutted us to our magnificent future present. You will be a man out of time, remembered forever, like the stars of old Hollywood past.

We love you. Our King, Our Jackie, always. #WakandaForever.