Everyone on social media is using the same picture of Chadwick Boseman on the red carpet, in front of that weird corridor-photo wall they had this year. It’s this one:
Partly, it’s because you can clearly see his floor-length caftan jacket of awesome, it was tough going to get a good look on the red carpet shows in the beginning, because everyone is milling around and everything below the waist tends to blend – especially on the men, who wear dark below the waist, (unless they’re Pharrell). It’s one of the reasons I think nobody should ever stress about shoes if they’re going to a party – nobody will ever see anything below your hips. Job interview? Consider the shoes. Party, concert, wedding? Make yourself happy, they’re going to be 98% out of view.
The other reason everyone wants this one shot in particular, though, is because his face says, “I get it.”
I know what you want, says Chadwick. You want long shots of the jacket, we can get that done. You want to see me pull my girlfriend closer, hold her hand through the whole mess? We can do that. Her name is Taylor Simone Ledward, by the way – I know you wanted to know, so now you do.
Chadwick gets what’s important to you. He gets that you’re gonna want to see him a little bit embarrassed and a little pleased when Maya Rudolph intones “Wakanda plans you got later” in her Hormone Monster voice. I’m not trying to speak for him, you understand, it’s just clear to me that all the things he does and wears that are a little out of the ordinary are because he’s who he is, but he’s so confident in himself that he’s not shy about sharing any of them. He knows you want to see his unusual fish-scale sequined robe-coat (what was with the fish influences last night?) or his piercing eyes looking at Constance Wu… or you, through the screen – and as long as it’s something he wants to do, you’re on.
The reason this man is so sexy is not because of his face, or because of his amazing walk, where his arms are so chill they’re always a half-sway behind him, but because he has intelligent eyes that are always watching, and also somehow speaking? “I get it,” his eyes say, “And yes, I’ll try to fit in a romantic comedy one of these days. Promise.”