Sitting down to watch Green Book in this current atmosphere of ‘cancel culture’ and supreme ‘woke-ness’ is to sit down with a film that you’ve possibly already made your mind up about. Well, that is, if you sit and consume discussions about the entertainment industry 24/7. If that’s not your life (which is likely the majority of people out there), then you’ll enter Green Book with no preconceptions as to what the film will be – and you’ll have a damn good time too.
I’ll jump back to the ‘woke-ness’ part a bit later on as it’s something which I feel may genuinely effect the way people view this film. While the reasoning behind being concerned about the behind the scenes goings on of the Green Book creative team is a salient one, it’s also a perfect textbook example of separating the art from the artist.
Ok, with that in mind, what exactly is Green Book about?
It’s the 1960’s, and black pianist Dr Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) is about to head off on an eight-week concert tour in the Deep South of the United States. Given the fact that segregation is still alive and well in America, Shirley employs a New York City bouncer, Frank ‘Tony Lip’ Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), to work as his driver and ‘protection’ on the tour. Tony Lip is as Italian as they come – big families, talks with hands, he’s the textbook Italian-American stereotype.
He’s also a casual racist. When his wife, Dolores (Linda Cardellini), has workers by to fix the mouldy floorboards in their house, Tony Lip throws out the glasses they drink water out of just because they’re black. All the while, Tony Lip’s brothers and father come by to keep Dolores safe simply because the workmen are black.
Naturally, as he’s the lead character of this story, he’s the audience surrogate for learning about racism in America. With that in mind – this is very much a white person film about racism. It’s very surface level stuff, with the clear intention of getting white folks to understand that hey, life isn’t really that easy for people of colour. This is not to say that Tony Lip doesn’t have problems – he carries his family from pay packet to pay packet, barely making ends meet – it’s just that his problems are completely different from the problems that Dr Shirley lives with.
As the trip in the south rolls on, Tony Lip gradually works out that racism still exists, and figures out exactly how tough Dr Shirley’s life can be. Given the abuse that’s thrown at Dr Shirley, Tony Lip asks the one question that’s on everyone’s mind – why exactly is he putting himself through this endeavour? The response is, naturally, that to combat racism, one must attack the racists and the ignorant with kindness. Dr Shirley leans into his classical music, and openly rejects the ‘whiskey on the piano’ black musician who – to him – panders to the white mans expected motif of what a black man is.
A lot of the negative criticism towards Green Book comes from the way that Tony Lip ‘educates’ Dr Shirley about black culture. And, for me, I immediately had my hackles up when I heard about this – as if mansplaining was bad enough, now we have whitesplaining to deal with too? When will this ever end? But, to applaud the script by Nick Vallelonga (Tony Lip’s son), Brian Hayes Currie, and Peter Farrelly, they make it clear that sure, this is whitesplaining, but just because Dr Shirley is ignorant aspects of black culture doesn’t make him any less black at all. In one Oscar reel moment – of which there are many –, Mahershala Ali shows why he’s one of the finest actors working today as he stands in the pouring rain pleading to a drenched Viggo Mortensen, ‘if I’m not black enough, and if I’m not white enough, then tell me Tony, what am I?’ Andie McDowell, eat your heart out.
Where Green Book has Dr Shirley being educated about fried chicken and Aretha Franklin, it’s worthwhile bringing up the comparison of Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman where John David Washington’s Ron Stallworth is educated about the difference between Shaft and Super Fly by Laura Harrier’s Patrice Dumas. Spike Lee has crafted a career where he explores racism and black culture from a black perspective, and while these are some of the finest films ever made, they do often struggle to reach audiences in the ways they deserve to. This is not a problem with the filmmaker, but more a problem with the system that films operate in. Green Book operates in the realm of safety – there’s no point in distancing audiences by throwing relatively unknown pop culture references at them, when the clear short hand of ‘fried chicken’ exists. Is the reliance on this racist? Well, no, but it’s necessary to understand that it can immediately appear problematic without context.
And that’s what Green Book thrives on – context. When you take elements of it by itself, it’s problematic. But, as a whole, Green Book is a wholesome affair that rewards by entertaining and educating. Jokes about Green Book ‘curing racism’ are overblown – yes, Green Book does have an agenda to help discuss racism and to break down barriers, but at the end of the film, it’s clear that racism isn’t ‘cured’ in America, but it is certainly ‘cured’ for one family. And, if there’s one thing to take away from Green Book it’s that change in society starts at home. There’s a clear need to discuss racism in society, and for Australian audiences, the discussion about what constitutes a racist act appears regularly in the media. It’s disheartening that in the year 2019 there are white people still making a case that blackface and Gollywogs are ‘ok’ things to exist. These people – like Tony Lip – may not see themselves as racist, but their actions and their words certainly are racist, and it’s this area that needs to be rectified. What may seem harmless to one group of people can be exceptionally offensive to another group. It shouldn’t take stepping into another’s shoes to see that this offense can hurt, but hey, if simply taking something on face value (ie. ‘blackface is racist because the history of minstrels and cultural appropriation, don’t do it’) doesn’t work, then maybe, just maybe, a film like Green Book can add to the conversation that white people around the world desperately need to have.
Think of it this way – Green Book is good for you in the way that a gummy vitamin is. It’s sweet, has a little bit of helpful stuff in it, is mostly harmless, and goes down a treat. Whereas, a film like BlacKkKlansman is a wholesome diet of fresh fruit and vegetables and healthy eating. Separately, they have value, but when paired together, they tell two sides of an important discussion that needs to be had.
There’s a lot more to Green Book than just an exploration on racism. Viggo Mortensen’s exercising of his comedy muscle is a joy to watch. The scenes where Dr Shirley helps Tony Lip write letters to Dolores are genuinely sweet and caring, showing the beautiful tenderness that the art of love and devotion to another can bring. Mahershala Ali is a joy to watch, giving a performance that pretty much cements a second Oscar for him. The gentle comedy that thrives in the film is the kind that is best discovered for yourself.
So, that’s Green Book. Good, entertaining, informative, and engaging. White folks – take your parents to go see it, they’ll be the ones who will benefit the most from it.
Now, I mentioned the ‘cancel culture’, ‘woke-ness’, that is plaguing Green Book at the moment. This is something that’s worthwhile touching on, so if it’s a discussion you’re interested in reading about, then by all means, head over to the next page and read on.
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini
Writers: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly
Still here?
Ok, the discussions around Green Book are exceptionally heated. Writing a positive review about the film is almost critical suicide. As the Awards season rolls on, with Green Book collecting award after award, the ever-growing-in-temperature spotlight simply will not leave Green Book alone. Problem after problem plagues the film – and, granted, some of the problems are with merit, while others not so much.
First of all, it’s the issue of a bunch of white men telling a story about racism in sixties America. That’s an easy one to tackle, and on paper, it makes sense why people would be getting angry about it. Who needs a story about racism in today’s day and age written by a bunch of white guys? Hopefully I’ve ticked that problem off in my review – namely, that white folks may actually listen to a story about racism when it’s told from a white persons perspective. Yes, that alone is a problematic, slightly racist act in itself, but here we are in society.
Secondly, there was the time that Viggo Mortensen said the N word on stage. Green Book is a film full of nuance, and here’s a situation where nuance needs to be applied. Yes, Viggo shouldn’t have used the word, but in the context of the discussion, he was mentioning the distances that white society has come when it comes to racism. Problematic, but from my perspective, not something that should stop anyone from seeking out the film.
Thirdly, there’s the revelation that Green Book co-writer Nick Vallelonga shared Donald Trump’s false statement on twitter that ‘thousands of people were cheering’ after the fall of the World Trade Center, adding that ‘Muslims in Jersey City cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on local CBS news’. The ‘thousands of people cheering’ never happened. But, given that Vallelonga wrote and shared this only a few years ago (logically, around the time that the film would have entered production), and that Mahershala Ali is Muslim, well, it’s a huge issue. Is it enough to warrant not seeing the film? Possibly, possibly not. That’s not for me to decide.
Fourthly, thanks to the combative nature of the Awards season, the revelation that director Peter Farrelly (he of Dumb & Dumber and There’s Something About Mary fame) exposed himself to actors regularly on the sets of these films has come out. In the age of #MeToo, this is a fairly heinous act – and it’s one that Farrelly has apologised for. But, it’s an act that viewers should be aware of if they don’t want to support the work of someone who exposed himself regularly. Now, to be fair, there is a difference between what Farrelly did and what Harvey Weinstein did. It still doesn’t make the action ok at all though.
Fifth, Don Shirley's family released a statement denouncing the relationship shown in the film. According to Maurice Shirley (Don's brother) he mentions that Don and Tony Lip were not friends, but instead boss and employee. He further adds that Don didn't need anyone to teach him how to eat fried chicken. Now, a biopic bending the truth of the person it's portraying is not a new thing, but one has to ask, how much can you bend the truth before you break the image and legacy of the person you are representing on film? Especially when (for many) this may be the first time they will engage with this persons life story.
Now, with Awards season, it’s common place for journalists and other filmmakers to come out and throw dirt on other films to dash their chance at Oscar glory. Sometimes it’s small stuff, like Paul Schrader’s self-own where he said he’d like to work with Kevin Spacey. Other times it’s legitimate issues that follow a film – the fact that Bryan Singer is the director of awards favourite Bohemian Rhapsody is a major problem – and for Green Book, the issues that plague it are equally necessary and trivial.
For the majority of film viewers, these problems won’t ever come into play when they watch the film. But, given how fast ‘cancel culture’ works, people who throw some praise on a film can be collected as collateral damage that comes with enjoying a film. So, for example, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga are ‘cancelled’ because of their actions, and in turn, regardless of the fact that Mahershala Ali gives one of the finest performances of the year, the film itself is cancelled. If you throw praise on the film – like I have done – then social media deems me complicit in the actions of Farrelly and Vallelonga.
It takes a basic glance at the immediate bombardment of hate and antagonism thrown at actress Elsie Fisher who tweeted out in joy that she was ‘SO HAPPY RAMI MALEK AND BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY WON GOLDEN GLOBES’. Yes, Bryan Singer has a horrible past, but there was simply no need to jump on Fisher in the way that social media did.
This is not to say that filmmakers are clear from criticism – far from it, as they are in a privileged position that comes with an amplified level of scrutiny that most jobs would not have –, it’s simply that this criticism needs to carry a level of nuance to it. It’s ok to hate Green Book or Bohemian Rhapsody because of the actions of the filmmakers, but if someone enjoys those films, then it’s not ok to jump down their throats and tell them they are wrong. Take a lesson from Green Book itself – educate and explain why there is an issue with the filmmaker, and let the viewer decide for themselves.
I want to make it clear – I’m not jumping up to defend Green Book. I enjoyed it! I was surprised I enjoyed it because I went into the film with all of these things worked up against it, fully expecting to be angry and upset about it. But, it wasn’t that kind of film to be upset and angry about. It has a core positive message that works, and for me, that was enough.
I like to think I’m socially aware and active, and that I’m ‘woke’ enough to participate in discussions about things that plague society. I’m well aware that there are some discussions that people shouldn’t have on behalf of groups that they are not part of, but (that word again), there needs to be a level of nuance applied to discussions online, and in turn, a bit of leeway given to those who aren’t up to speed with literally everything going on in the world. It’s not always possible to be immediately aware when someone has turned milkshake duck, so when someone supports something from someone that you know has issues, just take a breath and have a level discussion about it.