Film Review: Green Book - Intersectionality, Society, and Early Years

This report provides a comprehensive film review of "Green Book," a biographical comedy-drama directed by Peter Farrelly. The review explores the film's plot, which centers on the unlikely friendship between Dr. Don Shirley, a Black pianist, and Tony Lip, his Italian-American driver, during a concert tour in the segregated Deep South of 1962. The analysis delves into the film's themes of racism, segregation, privilege, and the concept of "unity in diversity." The report specifically examines intersectionality, illustrating how characters experience privilege and oppression based on their race, class, gender, and sexuality. The review highlights how the film portrays social inequities and injustices within American society during the civil rights movement. The report also considers the relevance of these themes in early years settings, policy, and society, aligning with the assignment's focus on understanding how intersectionality contributes to social issues.

Running head: FILM REVIEW: GREEN BOOK
FILM REVIEW: GREEN BOOK
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Author Note

1FILM REVIEW: GREEN BOOK
The movie Green Book was released in the year 2018. The movie is a biographical
comedy dram film directed by Peter Farrelly. The film was written by Farrelly Currie and Nick
Vallelonga based on real life interviews, conversations and letters. The movie Green Book had
its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and it was theatrically released in the
United States in the month of November of 2018 and earned a gross of $322 million worldwide.
The movie attracted criticism and praise for its sharp depiction of issues such as racism,
segregation and privilege in American society.
The movie revolves around two men from different ethnic and social background, their
journey and personal development. Dr. Don Shirley, who happens to be a world class African-
American origin pianist, is about to venture into a concert tour in the Deep South in the year
1962. Dr. Shirley needed a driver and protection for himself so he recruited a serious minded
bouncer from an Italian- American neighborhood in the area of Bronx whose name was Tony
Lip. The two men, who were from different social, ethnic and socio- economic background, soon
develop an amazingly unexpected bond while confronting their own as well as the world’s
prejudices regarding racism and danger in the time of segregation and discrimination. The movie
is an excellent example of the concept “unity in diversity” and teaches the audience about the
virtues of accepting and acknowledging people from all corners and spheres of the world without
falling prey to any misconception of pre-conceived notion (Anshori, Gunawan & Thahara,
2019). Amidst rampant and blatant racism in America in the 1960s, when civil rights movements
were gaining prominence throughout the American political arena, the movie “Green Book” is a
flush of fresh air that restores faith in humanity and pin points the obnoxious custom of apartheid
and racial segregation.

2FILM REVIEW: GREEN BOOK
The inter-sectionality that is visible throughout the movie is that it has talked about
different dimensions of racism and segregation, beginning from privilege to denial of basic
human rights. The movie “Green Book” shows the overlapping layers of privilege and
disadvantages the ethnic diversity of America was subjected to that is visible and also changes
according to situations (Huffpost.com., 2018). For instance, the uneducated, uncouth and comic
bodyguard Tony Lip declared himself to be “more black” than Shirley despite being a white man
as he considered himself less cultured and less polished than the average blacks and other
population of America. Shirley, on the other hand, takes it as a compliment rather than a taunt
and introduces fine American music and beauty of fine arts to him in order to make him a better
and a witty young man. Dr. Shirley also rants about the humiliations and objections he faced
throughout his life, such as getting rejected from a white in professional areas, getting estranged
from the black society and how he was condemned for his sexuality to Tony. Paradoxically,
Tony is seen to be quite privileged because, for his skin color, he is allowed to go to “whites
only” restaurants and hotels in the South. He was also privileged for his gender, straight sexual
orientation and family ties he had. Tony was privileged apparently more than Shirley as he was a
conformist and Dr. Shirley was not, even though he was a renowned celebrity
(Theguardian.com., 2019). Shirley and Tony had different privileges and discriminations and it
intersected with each other primarily on the grounds of “race and sexual orientation”.
Homophobia and apartheid is not unknown to American society. When a black man discloses his
diversified sexuality to the world, the society starts judging him at a larger extent. Therefore,
Shirley, who was economically powerful but socially discriminated and deprived still manages to
form a friendly relation with his male, white and straight bodyguard and both of them develops a
completely unique bond between themselves. Mahershala Ali has aptly adopted the mood and

3FILM REVIEW: GREEN BOOK
psyche of Dr. Shirley who is shown to be having all the lofty desires fulfilled in his life, such as
fame, money and recognition but deep down in his mind, he still longs for getting belonged to
his own simple fellow men. Apart from that, he also dislikes the fact that he was also
discriminated in the star society for his skin color and race. Even though critics say that the
movie is manipulative and sugary in certain areas, the film is the best example of the idea
“humanity surpasses discrimination on any grounds”. In a historically stressful situation of
segregation and toxic ideologies such as scientific racism, two people develops a loving bond
between each other which shows that love and friendship defeats any practice which goes against
humanity (Independent.co.uk., 2019).
The film has deeply introspected about the issues of racism and homophobia that gives
rise to apartheid, social exclusion and economic disempowerment which the African American
population of America had faced throughout the history and is still facing. Even though Dr.
Shirley is shown in the movie as an elitist, he is well aware of the discrimination an average
Black faces in American society. However, the movie also gives a deep message about
accepting, acknowledging and encouraging diversity and harmony among ethnically different
communities which is possible. The white bodyguard and black artist develops an amazingly
collaborative and cooperative relationship between each other which is a lesson for the people
who have fallen prey to racial discrimination and stereotyped mentality (Matthews, 2019).

4FILM REVIEW: GREEN BOOK
References:
Anshori, S., Gunawan, F., & Thahara, Y. (2019). Directive Expressions of The Main Characters
in Green Book Movie.
Huffpost.com.,(2018). Available at: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-green-book-race-
segregation-oscars_n_5c17fd64e4b08db99056769b
Independent.co.uk.,(2019). Available at:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/green-book-review-
viggo-mortensen-mahershala-ali-oscars-civil-rights-a8754251.html
Matthews, J. (2019). Movie Review: Green Book.
Theguardian.com.,(2019). Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/30/green-
book-review-mahershala-ali-viggo-mortensen-peter-farrelly