"Green Book" (2018)

The world is full of lonely people afraid to make the first move

My first experience with Academy Award winner in this year was not too good. I tried to watch «Roma», understood that I am too stupid for this film, decided not to shame myself and turned it off. It killed off any desire to watch another winners, but everybody kept saying good words about «Green Book», so I have decided to give the second chance to Academy Award.

In 1962, in New York, an average Italian-American man Frank «Tony Lip» Vallelonga is forced into two months’ unpaid vacation, because his place work (the club) is closed for renovation. He got a recommendation to work as a driver for a black piano player, who is going to give a two-month US tour. Tony is not too tempered to work for a black man, but pride is an unaffordable luxury for a father of two, and he accepts the job…

We should not hide, that Hollywood has gone too far with political correctness. Don’t judge me wrong, I am not against tolerance as a whole, but when Asian people are cast in films about the XVI-century England, this is too much. Such films, along with teary and judging dramas, teach us quite differently (remember the great quote from Carnage: « I saw your friend Jane Fonda on TV the other day. It made me want to go out and buy a Ku Klux Klan poster»).

Forcing down the throat, especially concerning moral and ethical norms, almost never works. In order to cultivate «saint out of nature» and not «saint out of fear» (quoting Bertrand Russel) you should subtly teach about importance of thinking, that you should not judge a man only on a basis of her class, race and etc. And the most important – never to think, that «this filthy plebe» would never teach you anything.

In this aspect, «Green Book» is much better, than politicized ads. In the beginning, none of the heroes draw too much sympathy. Tony is a stereotypical blue collar American, who is more used to punch his way out of problems and to sweet-talk people. Don is a stereotypical smart ass, multiplied by his lower class achiever arrogance, who is pointing out his intellectual superiority and looks above to such plebes, as Tony.

Despite that, you cannot stay silent for two months and the heroes are forced to communicate. In this, the author made a right point – he shows how two different men are learning from each other. Tony learns from Don literacy and diplomacy; Don learns from Tony street wise skills and drops snobbery.

Yes, the film take place in the early 1960s US, the Southern States are still full with bigotry, and the heroes sometimes gets into trouble, but author doesn’t divert unnecessary attention on this. He shows, how two men drops internal stereotypes and learns to see the real sides of themselves and, finally, they become friends.

The right tolerance is that you shouldn’t automatically judge someone only on the basis of his class, race and etc. «Green Book» teaches us the right tolerance and it makes a rather pleasant watching experience. One minus – a little bit long, but it doesn’t kill the joy from watching the film.