Chadwick Boseman. The Black Panther, the King of Wakanda, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, James Brown, a family member, a friend, a loved one. Most people knew him as one of his many memorable roles, both fiction and nonfiction, but people who were close to Chadwick knew him as a man of great character, and had nothing but high praise for him. He stole scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU, and paid homage to many historically Black figures, but most of us did not know what Chadwick was going through in his everyday life.
the red carpet of the Oscars, posing with the
Wakanda forever symbol from his prominent
film Black Panther.
Tragedy struck at the end of August 2020, when news broke that Chadwick Boseman passed away due to an ongoing battle with colon cancer. Response to his death came in varying waves. Immediately, people grieved his death, and celebrities who knew him shared anecdotes, memories, or thoughts on and about him that shone a light on his compelling personality. ABC, a channel in connection with Disney and Marvel, played Black Panther, arguably his most prominent film, the night of his death, and closed the night with a touching tribute to him.
With more information coming out about his death, the public learned that no one, except for his close family and select friends, knew about his illness. Even Ryan Coogler, the director of Black Panther and close friend to “Chad,” stated after his death that he did not know Chadwick was experiencing this. Once this came out, tweets went viral, expressing how impressive it is that Chadwick filmed at least 5 movies in a row, with seemingly no breaks, while fighting cancer. Many people shared that they felt that Chadwick’s method of trucking through the pain should be the goal for people sharing a similar circumstance. These takes are, to put it bluntly, dangerous, even if that was not the intent. The expectation that people who are sick, or disabled, should put their bodies at risk in order to seem “normal” or to blend in to the general public dismisses the experience of these groups of people. Sick bodies, disabled bodies, menstruating bodies, and/or bodies in pain who push through that pain or discomfort risk worsening their condition and, because we live in a capitalist society, worsening their overall performance on the job. The prioritization should not be on the job or the outcome of the work; the priority should always be with the bodies and the people who claim these bodies. When we as a community prioritize the work, the conversation changes from grieving the death of a person to grieving the loss of his production. On the day of Chadwick’s death, conversations arose about the upcoming Black Panther 2 movie, instead of sitting in the mourning of his body, not his body of work. Why is the conversation centered on what he could have done if his body had not passed away?
Chadwick Boseman had valid reasons for choosing the path that he did, and I respect his decisions. Among other things, he did not want to take away from the experience of the public when viewing his movies. He did not want his cancer to be centered when people talk about his movies. However, I believe that there is a way to mourn and honor Chadwick Boseman and what he did in his life, without putting “othered” bodies on the hot seat in their respective positions and lives to emulate what he did.
Unruly Bodies 
I think the fact that Chadwick hid his disease and powered through life really made him a superhero. I agree that I bet he did not want his cancer to always be mentioned when talking about his roles or performances. He probably wanted to still feel like himself and feel judgement. I agree with you that the idea of pushing yourself to the max is a very dangerous method for many people. Chadwick had the money for the best doctors and care that he could get and could have the ability to not work if he did not want to. He chose to work and push himself, but that should not be seen as the norm or ideal. Some people don’t have the energy, physical ability, or want to do that. So looking down on someone for not meeting Chadwick’s work ethic is extremely toxic, especially if it is coming from a physically able person. My mom had breast cancer and she had to stop working because she couldn’t keep up with appointments, transfusions, chemo, and teaching kindergarten. Doing too much physically would make her exhausted and she could not do what a “normal” mom would be perceived to be able to do. She still did her best and I think it is disrespectful for people to push their expectations on someone going through something they know nothing about. Additionally, if you are not giving people access to the best health care, insurance, medicine, etc, then it is ridiculous to expect ideal performances at all times.
I think this really ties into a discussion on the emotional labor of capitalism. Chadwick’s death makes me think back to a similar story about Emilia Clarke; during the filming of Game of Thrones she survived two brain aneurisms. While both Chadwick and Emilia’s stories are powerful ones of dedicated people, I cannot help but think of the emotional burden this played. Knowing that they have people counting on them to work every day, having to literally act like nothing is going on. “The show must go on” is a dangerous trope. I think stories like these, while powerful, can also be detrimental. Not only will it create the idea of “if Emilia did Game of Thrones with an aneurism, I can do my serving job with a cold”, but it promotes the idea that your body is a mode of labor production, and the people who produce, no matter what, are praised for it. I know both of their stories are heroic ones, but I also see them as both sad representations of the body’s meaning to a capitalistic society.
Such a good connection, rose1324!