The Facade Behind the Hatred of ‘Green Book’
It has been a couple of weeks since ‘Green Book’ won Best Picture and received the kind of backlash normally set aside for athletes who leave their team after 10 years or politicians who sign petitions legalizing the clubbing of baby seals. But there is a reality we must start warming up to. ‘Green Book’ is not a terrible movie and our hatred for it is somewhat fabricated. There, I said it.
Don’t take my word for it. Consider, according to Rotten Tomatoes, ‘Green Book’ has a 79% critic approval rating and a 93% audience approval rating. As well, ‘Green Book’ has made more money than all but two Best Picture winners in the 2010’s. And, it’s post-Oscar box office bump is the biggest we have seen in 8 years. All to say, healthy box office, strong critical scores and very strong audience scores do not a hated movie make. And yet, the backlash is palpable. But why?
According to nearly every “who will win/who should win” article written prior to the 2019 Oscar ceremony, the specific rationale behind why any of the nominated pictures should have won had very little to do with quality. Instead, there were three overarching reasons:
- Some of the other contenders were too controversial
2. It is time for the Academy to reward diversity and inclusion (‘Roma’, ‘Black Panther’, etc.)
3. It is time for the Academy to recognize the consistent greatness of…(Spike Lee for ‘BlacKkKlansman’, Marvel for ‘Black Panther’, etc.)
‘Green Book’ fits squarely into category one. Has that led to the backlash? Not exactly. After all, most of the controversy surfaced several months ago and ‘Green Book’ has been steadily performing and pleasing audiences since. And yet, it is the worst Best Picture winner in history. So was ‘Crash’. And ‘Shakespeare in Love’. And ‘Forrest Gump’. And ‘Driving Miss Daisy’.
‘Crash’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ have a particularly cruel Oscar history with critics and audiences alike. ‘Forrest Gump’s’ legacy is slightly less dogged. That said, all three are consistently lambasted for the same reason. They just happen to have beat three universally adored movies, two of which were game changers in ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’. 2019 introduced similar game changers in ‘Roma’ and ‘Black Panther’…
