Excelsior, Stan Lee

Tiga hari yang lalu, 13 November 2018, aku membaca postingan seorang teman di Facebook (Arya Ramaniya) yang menyiratkan bahwa Stan Lee telah meninggal dunia pada satu hari sebelumnya.

Stan Lee?! Nama ini terdengar familiar, otomatis mengingatkanku pada Eminem. Loh, koq Eminem? Iya, diantara teman-teman mungkin pernah menonton video klip Stan ft Dido, kan? Nah, aktor dalam klip itu bernama Stan Lee.

Ah, jelas kita bukan mau ngebahas pria brengsek dalam video klip itu. Sebaliknya, tentang seorang pria yang sangat luar biasa, Stanley Martin Lieber (28 Desember 1922-12 November 2018).

Sosok legend dalam dunia hiburan, sebagai seorang penulis, editor, penerbit, produser, dan sebagai aktor. Pencipta karakter Captain America (1941) dan bersama beberapa seniman terkenal lainnya, termasuk Jack Kirby dan Steve Ditko, Stan Lee menciptakan Spider Man, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, X-Men, dan sejumlah karakter fiksi lainnya.

Terus terang, sebelumnya aku tidak begitu mengenal sosok yang dikaruniai usia yang relatif sangat lama ini, 95 tahun. Ironisnya, aku sering melihatnya dalam filem-filem Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Secara aku penggemar berat MCU, tak satu filempun yang luput dari perhatianku. Beliau nyaris muncul sebagai cameo di setiap filem-filem Marvel yang terkenal. Ada puluhan cameonya di filem dan serial televisi, tak pelak beliaupun dijuluki sebagai Cameo Master.

Selain itu, Stan Lee dikenal cukup sering mengemukakan pemikirannya yang sangat menarik, sangat inspiratif dan sangat menonjol melalui berbagai wawancara.

Pemikiran-pemikiran yang menunjukkan karakternya yang bersahaja, pekerja keras nan kreatif, tidak mengenal istilah pensiun, humoris dan sangat perduli terhadap kemanusiaan. Berikut ini beberapa diantaranya.

"With great power there must also come---great responsibility!" (Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962).

"I never thought that Spider-Man would become the worldwide icon that he is. I just hoped the books would sell and I'd keep my job." (Guardian, 2006).

"I think I've had a very conservative life. Someone wants to do a movie of my life now and he's writing a script, and I said to him, 'What the hell could you do? I've never been arrested, I haven't taken drugs, I've had the same wife for 54 years; where's anything of interest to people? (IGN, 2002).

"I don't know where the hell I'll be in five years. Maybe I'll be producing movies, maybe I'll be on a corner selling apples. I don't know, but I'm having a hell of a lot of fun." (IGN, 2000).

"Just keep busy. I think the most important thing is to be busy, because if you have work occupying you, you don't have time to worry about the other serious problems in life." (Toronto Sun, 2015).

"I don't really see a need to retire as long as I am having fun." (The Guardian, 2006).

"I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic-book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: Entertainment is one of the most important things in people's lives. Without it they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you're able to entertain people, you're doing a good thing. When you're seeing how happy the fans are---as they [see up close] the people who tell the stories, who illustrated them, the TV personalities---I realize: It's a great thing to entertain people." (The Washington Post, 2010).

"Some people will say, 'Why read a comic book? It stifles the imagination. If you read a novel you imagine what people are like. If you read a comic, it's showing you.' The only answer I can give is, 'You can read a Shakespeare play, but does that mean you wouldn't want to see it on the stage?" (Denver Post Online).

"Another definition of a hero is someone who is concerned about other people's well-being and will go out of his or her way to help them, even if there is no chance of a reward. That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt a real superhero." (Newsweek, 2017).

"You know, my motto is 'Excelsior.' That's an old word that means 'upward and onward to greater glory'. It's on the seal of the state of New York. Keep moving forward, and if it's time to go, it's time. Nothing lasts forever." (Playboy, 2014)

Well, terima kasih atas pemikiran-pemikiran dan segala apa yang telah engkau lakukan untuk menghibur kami, Mr. Stan Lee. Selamat jalan. Excelsior!

@ajuskoto