In George C. Wolfe's film of August Wilson's play "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", Levee Green (Chadwick Boseman), the trumpet player for blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), tells trombonist Cutler (Colman Domingo) what he thinks of the idea of life being "fair": "Life ain't shit. You can put it in a paper bag and carry it around with you. It ain't got no balls. Now death? Death got some style. Death will kick your ass and make you wish you never been born. That's how bad death is." Boseman's reading of these lines as part of his extraordinary performance is even more moving since death "kicked his ass" this past summer. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 5 January 2021)
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