It’s been hours and I’m still processing the fact that Green Book won Best Picture. I saw it in the theater, because I thought it would end up being a big Oscar contender. I was unhappy when it won the Golden Globe in January, and I thought that the conversations about the film’s white savior problems and patronizing portrayal of a jazz legend would ensure that Green Book wasn’t a contender. I thought that the fact that Peter Farrelly was snubbed for a Best Director nomination was a good sign. But then the night became a slow-motion trainwreck. The terrible script for Green Book won Original Screenplay. Then it won Best Picture and it felt like everyone in the room gasped. This is what happened right after:
Spike Lee was visibly angry when "Green Book" was announced as the winner of best picture at the Oscars, waving his arms in disgust and appearing to try to storm out of the Dolby Theatre before he was stopped at the doors. He returned to his seat when the speeches were over.
— Andrew Dalton (@andyjamesdalton) February 25, 2019
Spike has seen it before, and it’s happened before, when Driving Miss Daisy won best Picture and Do the Right Thing wasn’t even nominated. Decades later, and we’re still here. The Academy is still made up of old white people who are comforted by white savior films. They reward films in which white people conveniently and consistently “solve” racial issues. Here’s some of what Spike had to say backstage:
Spike Lee on 'Green Book': 'Ref made a bad call' pic.twitter.com/JEuIxj80jM
— NEWSDAY ATLANTA (@AtlantaNewsday) February 25, 2019
Oscars Still So White. Oscars Still Problematic. Oscars Still Love White Saviors. And good for Spike for being angry about it. Apparently, Chadwick Boseman was DONE about it too.
Update: I was going to cover this separately but he makes me so tired. Donald Trump weighed in on Spike Lee. He really thinks Spike is being RACIST to HIM.
Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He’s right. And I’m glad he’s not afraid to say what many are thinking.
Yes, I’m glad he said it out loud. I did a double take when I saw that Green Book had won. I thought I must have read it wrong.
It is perfect movie for an academy film. It is politically correct and on point without being complicated, not offensive, safe humor with a message. The type of film that won’t give their fancies up and your family will love it!!! The academy are a bunch of cowardly wusses.
Nothing like seeing five white men with Oscars for a movie about racism.
yeah I was annoyed, I said I was hoping it was another envelope mix-up.
He didn’t just voice his thoughts- he was so angry he actually tried to storm out of the room, and would have if security hadn’t stopped him at the doors!! He still refused to go back to his seat until they were done speaking, apparently.
It feels a bit like people don’t realise how much Octavia Spencer had to do with this film. As a woman of colour I don’t feel like letting her forget it . Bad taste transcends race, y’all.
I haven’t heard a whisper . A “proud” producer. Just another reason to be ashamed to be born and raised in Louisiana
Good for Spike Lee. It’s outrageous that movies like Green Book continue to win Best Picture Oscars. It’s especially outrageous in a year when movies like Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman were nominated.
Truly.
Black Panther in no way deserve best picture win. It deserved noms for other reasons but it isn’t best picture material.
Yes but… the Oscars have a long track record of ignoring “deserving” films in favor of films that appeal for some other reason. Titanic was a gigantic epic film – by winning it paved the way for MORE gigantic epic films, with huge budgets and lots of jobs. It was monumental for Hollywood. Julia Roberts won because everyone just really wanted to see her get up on stage and gosh and giggle and be charming. No, BP didn’t “deserve” it in the sense that it was some sort of grand film, but it was an excellent film that rose above its (much maligned) genre and spoke to many many people. It wasn’t deserving, but it was important, and considering they picked a dumb movie that was neither deserving nor important, but just made a bunch of white people feel good about themselves, I think I can readjust my definitions of who deserves what.
@TQB I TOTALLLY agree. To me, a term like “best picture” is vague enough that you can define it based on a variety of terms–is the movie challenging in some way? Did it change minds or attitudes? Did it do something entirely new? Was it culturally significant? Was it universally beloved? I don’t know that ‘Black Panther’ succeeds on all of those questions (although I would certainly argue it succeeded on a lot of them), but I can’t believe that the Academy instead chose to reward @*&#^& ‘Green Book’. which somehow managed to be both bland AND problematic on, like, fifty different fronts.
Did Black Panther really rise above its genre though? I think that it was a by-the-numbers comic book movie in every sense, it just had huge cultural impact.
I was so hoping even thought I knew there was no chance BP would win.
I honestly don’t understand how the Academy just “moved” past the fact that Peter Farrelly apparently used to be a serial flasher and Nic Vallongelo or whatever his name is is a Trump supporting nut. At the very least, much of Singer’s work was redone by Fletcher so while I still have -issues-, especially with Rami winning and the portrayal of the band and Jim, I can at least see how in that case they can separate the art from the artist. But Green Book!
Anyway, good for Spike for calling it out.
Yes, the Bohemian Rhapsody stuff was a trainwreck too!
Saw a tweet saying Peter Farrelly should have won for There’s Something About Mary because it was a better movie than Green Book. HA!
I’m glad people are speaking up about the Best Picture winners now. Sometimes the Academy makes mistakes and just gets it wrong.
I also feel like BP winner just isnt the same thing it was before, years ago, probably because of that. I feel like so many people just kind of shrug at whoever wins Best Picture and dont think of it again. I feel like it used to mean something? But maybe thats just my perspective on it.
@Becks ITA. I feel like it used to be a much bigger deal and mean a lot more. Now, I can’t even remember most of the movies that won over the past couple of decades and it doesn’t seem to matter. (Which is good because the Academy keeps picking terrible films.)
Moonlight is the only one that stands out, in part because of the faux pas, but also because it was an unexpected win that meant so much to so many people. One of the few times the awards were given to a deserving film with a relevant social message.
It’s so odd that Mahershala Ali is in both Green Book and Moonlight. I am really shocked he chose to do GB.
@ChillyWilly
I read that he chose to do it because he does not get offered a lot of roles, and not a lot of starring or major supporting roles. He took it before Moonlight was released so his name didn’t have cachet yet.
He was just a working actor looking to make money for him and his family. Now, he may be able to be more selective? But at the time, he couldn’t.
Academy is buttoned up and they always reward “nice”. Beyond the race thing they have a non=relaity thing of where only nice, with a message, politically correct films win. It is a very convective culture.
For me, I trace it to the year that Forrest Gump won over The Shawshank Redemption. Up to that year, I watched every best picture nominee before award’s night and anxiously awaited the awards – I’d host a party and we’d have a contest to predict the winners. After that, I realized the divergence of views as to what constituted a great film was too great to overcome and the chasm has only increased over time.
I love Mashallah Ali but I will NEVER watch Greenbook.
Ugh – Mahershala – should have proofread.
But Forrest Gump was amazing. I love that movie.
I love both of those movies and they have both held up well. Crash vs. Brokeback Mountain would be a better example…
BP became a joke when they went for 8-10 nominees instead of the usual 4 or 5. When every movie becomes nominated, it reduces the appeal of the prize
I’m normally not here for sore losers, but he is 100% right. Sick of this fing white saviour narrative being rewarded. Again, and again. And again.
Peter Farrelly said that the movie “started with Viggo” and not, apparently, Victor Hugo Green, the African American gentleman who actually wrote The Green Book.
Sigh…
This movie had nothing to do with the actual Green Book. It really should have been called something different. I don’t understand why people are surprised; it’s like someone telling you over and over they really goo and then being shocked when they pick goo. I’ve known since award season started that Black Panther was an appease the black people nominee, BlackKlansman was a deserved overdue nomination for Spike (and I wanted him to win) but it’s been plain as day that the top three contenders have always been two relatively mediocre movies: GB and BH; and Roma.
Side note, I’m now more convinced then ever that Trump will get re-elected unless he dies, or goes to prison.
All day this. So tiresome.
I’m here for him being a sore loser. He’s totally right. I woke up to feed my baby at midnight and checked to see who won and had a literally “WTAF” moment when I saw Green Book had won. I was legit surprised. I thought for sure it would be Roma or whatever.
two black actors got the oscars, spike won too. how many would be enough to drop that ‘oscars so white’ thing?
Yes, you’re right…we should be just be thankful we got some awards…… 🙄🙄🙄
I was expecting this comment. what you should do is stop counting the awards black people get vs. white people get. people get awards for their individual work, not races. for you it’s only about the amount…but no amount would be enough, obviously. for me it’s about the people and if one year many black people win and they deserve it, I will applaud, if more white people win and they deserve it, I will applaud.
@horseandhound. I don’t see how anyone can say Green Book deserved to win more than BlacKKKlansman or Roma. At this point it’s a matter of numbers-the majority of voters are white men. Some posters say get rid of the old white men and problem solved, but there are plenty of young white men who are dicks, too. More POCs, more women are needed. Meanwhile, Green Book is a forgettable film that will only be remembered in a negative way.
TL;DR version of horseandhound’s comment: “I don’t see color.”
Black KKKlansman was an incredible film.
Brittany Packnett said it best when she said that Green Book wasn’t a movie for black people, it was a movie to make white people feel good about doing nothing to stop racism beyond the interpersonal.
There are people like @horseandhound all over Twitter today, feigning ignorance about the glaring racism that undergirds everything in Hollywood. If I’m this tired then I can only imagine how people of color feel.
Fitting end to a disastrous Black History month. I’d ask for a do-over but honestly, we don’t deserve it.
@horseandhound: Oh, I see. You’re one of those people who “don’t see race.”
How privileged you are there in your little white bubble.
It’s so depressing to know that so many people, like yourself, still have such a limited understanding of racism and bias issues. And explaining why your statement is so problematic would take an entire weekend, because you just don’t have the foundational knowledge to “get it.”
@Ader agreed but it’s a waste of time.’this person doesn’t want to get it and is clearly a troll.
Too true, BlueSky. Their reply to you, above, has my blood boiling. It’s freighted with implicit bias; this person will just never get it. So frustrating.
They baited, were expecting a certain comment (a rational one), ready to say what we all “should” do and what is “obvious” (which is not and what they are assuming cuz they make an a$$ out of themselves)….it’s laughable if it wasn’t so depressing.
I agree that this person won’t get it cuz they don’t want to. Their agenda is not to find a solution, learn or work with people- their agenda is to come here & push their narrative. And that narrative has not changed since the dawn of time for these old, stale breadcrumbs- they don’t want racism to be acknowledged or discussed. They are fighting to keep their dying status quo for their own status. But, it’s dying, just like they are.
It’s not about non-white pictures winning but the types of stories that are told, and what views are privileged. Green Book like Driving Miss Daisy is a movie about race that centers a white protagonist(someone who will never get or experience racism) and is a story that glibly plays with the idea that racism is easily solvable and let’s white audiences off the hook by sanitizing racism through a white gaze.
The performances were very good and the movie is feel good but what this movie says about racism and society’s understanding of it is wrong and totally gross. There were much better movies about other things this year and better films nominated, such as The Favorite or Roma. And if the Academy wanted to reckon with a movie about race in 2018, there were tougher, more challenging discussions of it through the film this year.
This is a good take on it if you are actually interested in learning about why people are angry.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-oscars-green-book-worst-best-picture-winner-20190224-story.html
you know, there’s the difference between my view and yours… I don’t think everything is about political issues. I watched green book and it was a beautiful, warm, touching movie. and a movie that touches people and provokes emotion makes much more difference in how people perceive stuff than some complex stories. this movie promotes friendship and understanding between different people.
Racism and bias understanding is not about “politics.” It’s about treating people equally and rooting up and weeding out the implicit bias embedded in our cultural socialization. All Green Book did was cement the “White Savior” trope, which is ultimately damaging to people of color. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_savior_narrative_in_film
I just watched Green Book you, and while it wasn’t horrible, for the life of me, I don’t understand why the stereotypical Italian American tough guy was the lead, while the brilliant black pianist was a secondary character.
SandyStrange, the white driver/bouncer character was centered because screenplay’s author was the real-life son of the man the character was based on. Don Shirley’s family was NOT happy with the movie; in their view, it elevated the story of a racist white guy’s personal-improvement journey, by using the fame and extraordinary life story of a black man who never received the full recognition he deserved because of his race. The screenwriter son is also a big Trump supporter who used his Twitter account to promote Trump’s old racist lies about Muslims cheering on 9/11. The whole thing is grotesque.
Adding insult to injury is using the title “Green Book.” The Green Book was an essential tool that black people used IN ORDER TO AVOID TERRORIST ATTACKS BY WHITE SUPREMACISTS when traveling away from home. Its existence was both an act of resistance and resilience, and a monument to the pervasive deadly poison of racism throughout the United States. *NONE* of that is properly dealt with or acknowledged in the film, and the white guys who got up to accept the Best Picture award didn’t even have the decency to mention Victor Hugo Green — instead we got “it all started with Viggo.” F*CK those culture-appropriating m*therf*ckers.
horseandhound I recommend reading articles, essays, and books by black people to gain a better perspective on why so many people find the message in this movie so problematic. Ta-Nehisi Coastes’ Between the World and Me is a great starting point.
this is not about oscars so white anymore. and i’m saying this as a white female film maker. i don’t want to get in the arguments with anyone but it pains me to see Spike Lee, whose film is talking about our age and time even though it’s in the past lose to a film that promotes the values that should have been left in the past times it’s set. On the artistic side as well. Cuaron said the film makers should tell the stories others don’t, Lee said that story in an original matter and it echoed. While Green book…. it just said what white folks in the states wanted to hear. So, there’s that. That’s the minimum I can say about how I feel about this award.
this exactly. glad you said it
Um you were the one that was counting… but oh yes please continue whitesplaining everything to me……
Black greatness is occasionally rewarded while white mediocrity is routinely rewarded. There shouldn’t be two separate bars but time and again there seems to be.
not just white mediocrity. i feel that the mediocrity itself is valued and promoted. cause any ambition scares the people who lack it and there are far more people like that than those with a vision. i’m sorry i’m just so mad now.
@horseandhoud Thank you for your reply and sharing why you enjoy the movie. However, If they wanted to make a touching movie about friendship and understanding then don’t call your movie Green Book and then fail to reckon in a thoughtful way with what the actual Green Book was about and born out of, racism. It is a misnomer at the very least.
“How many would be enough” – How can you even say such an ignorant thing?! Going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re an old (ignorant) white lady having a hard time with the world becoming more equal?
Not that it’s anywhere close yet! Those two awards are the first non-acting awards that black women have won since 1984. THIRTY-FIVE years!!
Maybe you can find your gossip from Fox news, I’m sure they loved green book too…
YES to everything Spike said!
So that’s how it works for you? Some black actors got awards so the rest of us should sit down and shut up?
did any black person not win, but they should? please, name that person. I would like to know the real, concrete complaint behind this.
Mazzie- yes, that is exactly how it works for them. Don’t waste your time responding, they don’t want to actually know. Enjoy your day & I hope you forget tired trolls with dying troupes….it’s their gasping as they are muffled out.
Your problem, Horseandhound, is that you don’t understand what we’re saying and you’re not trying. You’re focusing on the least important part — number of awards — while ignoring the points people are making and the greater cultural impact and root of the issue. As for this most recent question: Green Book should NOT have won.
To put it another way, HorseandHound, you think we’re upset over a lack of black winners. But we’re critical that movies with problematic messages continue to win. Big difference.
Horseandhound is a troll. There is just no point in explaining anything to this commentor. You are wasting all of your amazing points and thoughtful responses.
On a whole other note, this WOC is so very tired today and co-signs everything Spike has said.
It really has nothing to do with how many win. In this case and the directors case it just seems like race plays a part. First the directors portion must have something against directors who change the industry, and they have issues with women and black men. Only 5 women have ever been nominated and one win, and 6 black men have been nominated and no wins, including Steve McQueen for 12 years of a slave, John Singleton for Boys n the Hood, and Spike for everything come on! Spike is one of the most influential directors of all time, and he directed a really great film, and he can’t win either best director or film. I mean Farrelly wasn’t even nominated for director, but Greenbook won. Cuaron has won a directors nod before. Now I kind of liked Greenbook, but I don’t think it was best picture material cause it does have that white savior problem, although I didn’t see it as much as some on here. The picture nod is where I think math just comes in to play. Blackklansman and Black Panther probably just cancelled each other out with the more progressive wing of the academy, and add a little for Bohemian Rapsody, which probably would have won if Singer wasn’t involved with it, and you kind of have the Donald Trump problem. Too many similar films and the crazy one wins by default, but if you didn’t have too many crazy racist the math wouldn’t work this way.
Let’s not play around…let’s call a spade a spade @horseandhound comments are dripping with White Fragility and racism. Why can’t you Black people be happy with the few crumbs you are thrown. Get out of here with that ‘ish.
you’ve completely misunderstood me. and to call me a racist when you don’t know me and all you know about me is that I don’t agree that oscars are just white and that I liked the green book movie…I just have a different opinion than you and that made all of you people insult me and then I am the villain…I thought people are allowed to politely argue here, but I was wrong. my bad. I will leave all of you to enjoy the fact that you all agree with each other and think the same.
@horsehound 👋🏽 Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Those were one of the worst Oscars in years. the whole train wreck with the host was just a top of the iceberg. The key problem was with the films from the very start of the awards season. Rami took an award for a film that was so undeserving and had a criminal at the centre of it. Even if I would somehow forget about Brian Singer horror, I can not forgive Queen and all the producers who made what seems to be a very mediocre film into legacy about one of biggest rock stars that ever lived…and BR never belonged in best movie category. Mixed with all the false hype about the Star is Born leading up to awards and the bar was set low for that should be looked at as the best of the year. The only positive thing really is that Spike Lee had a chance to get on stage, as well as people who did Roma. That is all.
While I agree with your assessment the movies that ended up winning are the ones the general public loved, so I’m not surprised. This schism between critic/movie enthusiast and general watcher seem to be growing, and I think bad calls like this will continue to be made to appease the viewership rather than take the effort to go outside the box.
@SM ITA that it was one of the worst shows in years— I thought it was incredibly boring. But I actually thought the fact that there was no host made it seem to run a lot quicker and smoother than usual — they just moved from award to award without so much filler.
I am not here for Bohemian Rhapsody and rewarding that movie’s production team for riding Mercury’s coattails while simultaneously casting him as the bisexual problem child corralled by the rest of the band into greatness. Y’all can go on all you want about Rami deserving the win, but keep in mind that the film’s insistence on pushing Freddie’s sexuality and struggle with AIDS into the corner meant that he was given the kids gloves version of that man’s life to portray. That film could have been a rallying cry for the rights and legacies of LGBT+, but instead, it’s a mediocre nod to Brain May’s massive ego.
And the audacity – THE ABSOLUTE AUDACITY – to use his life and suffering to justify that movie’s involvement with Singer. Unbelievable.
Why do you think using Mercury’s life as a ” rallying cry for the rights and legacies of LGBT+” be a better choice than to focus on Mercury as one of the greatest performers and possibly the greatest rock singer of all time? That decision would be the director’s choice. Every story does not need to be told via the lens of one’s sexual orientation; that is one lens. There are others.
Why? Because it’s the year 2019 and LGBT+ rights are being threatened again by a conservative backlash. Because it’s the year 2019, and America has done everything it possible can to scrub from its history books the evils of the HIV epidemic and how it devastated the LGBT+ community – of whom, Freddie Mercury played a major part. I was fortunate to grow up during the tail end of that shit, but I remember it. I remember HIV being a death sentence and a massive social stigma.
You can’t erase Freddie Mercury’s sexual orientation from his life or shove it into a corner. It defined a huge part of who he was, of the struggles in his own life and marriage, of the horror of his tragic and profound demise because society wouldn’t let it be otherwise. Freddie Mercury was a brilliant performer – and all of that talent and beauty and promise was taken away, the same way it was taken away from millions of LGBT+ people, because the government threw HIV people under the boss as the “gay disease” and did jack shit to address it until it actually starting affecting straights.
The idea that “sexuality is only one lens” is a privileged outlook. Straight people have never actually had to fight for their rights, have never had to view their love as a form of otherness, have never had to listen to stories of people being fired/ostracized/murdered for their partnerships. Those of who are LGBT+ don’t get that privilege – and bisexuals possibly get some of the worst of it because they deal with ostracism from BOTH the LGBT+ community and general society. LGBT+ sexuality has to be stated, owned, earned to be validated. We don’t get to exist by human defaults the way straight people do. We don’t get to move through our days without having to consider whether revealing too much has consequences. Don’t kid yourself – everything Freddie was, all of the flamboyance he showed on stage, that was a risk. He had to fight to be what he was. The rights that people have today were a fight, are a continuous fight. Part of why he is a legend is because of that boldness of person and identity.
I mean, really, 50 people get shot up in a gay club in this decade, and you’re asking me why it’s insulting for Freddie Mercury’s sexuality to not be a key aspect of his story? LGBT+ representation across the board being in the single or barely brushing the double digits, and you’re telling me it’s not the “only lens available?” What, is there a quota where LGBT+ only gets it once a decade or something? There’s a difference between reducing a bisexual man to caricature versus excising a significant aspect of his life and career. Unbelievable.
Veronica S., thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. I’m Gen X and remember the AIDS panic, the demonization of gay men as plague carriers, and how so, so many of them died horribly, impoverished and ostracized by their own families. Minimization is unacceptable.
Thanks Veronica. My father was bi and died of AIDS. I was a kid, but I remember not being allowed, for years, to tell people what he died of from fear I’d be rejected by teachers and classmates like my mum was shunned by her colleagues, even if she was (and still is) HIV-. For the longest time, my dad didn’t even want to tell us what he had because he was afraid we’d be scared of hugging/kissing him: it’s heartbreaking to think that on top of everything else, he was afraid his kids would stop loving him. I remember his frustration towards MDs and hospitals that didn’t really know how to deal with those young (mostly) men dying like flies; they were often put in the same palliative units as people 50+ years their senior and it was a humiliating, terrifying and extremely lonely way to die.
Freddy Mercury waited until the last minute before disclosing that he had AIDS, it was announced the day before he died and there were very good reasons to wait so long. Isaac Asimov’s family announced that he had died of AIDS 10 years after his death, even if he had contracted the “good” AIDS via blood transfusions, because of the attached stigma.
So no, Mercury’s homosexuality and HIV status should never be minimized since society definitely did not give a break to anyone who was gay or HIV+ during that time (and still doesn’t).
@Veronica, What a beautiful, thoughtful and 100% accurate comment!
100% this, i still dont understand why BR got all the nominations in the first place.
Yes. And beyond the LGBTQ statements above (which are spot on), it was very hypocritical for Brian May and Roger Taylor to suggest that Freddie was going off the rails and they weren’t partying right alongside him. Because they were. And Freddie was actually much more in control than he appeared to be in the movie. Sure, the band was very protective of him, but they weren’t always the “wife and kids” family men the movie portrayed them to be.
I agree. this is why I keep commenting under posts about BR that it looks like not only bad decisions were made hiring that criminal Singer but also making this film all together. I did nit watch it nor do I ever plan to, but your comments about how the portrail of Mercury was subverted is consistent with that I keep hearing about this crap movie. The fact that it got so much attention that it is doubtful anyone will attempt to make another movie about Freddie. And it breaks my heart. He was my first love. He made me fall in love with music. And though all that the remaining members do it, they display lack of respect to him while they have to be thankful to him for everything in their lives. They would have never been Queen if it wasn’t for Freddie. They would have been something else.
And yes, it is equally plausible and great to have a film about the biggest rock star as Freddie was, about the success, etc but at the centre of it was a complicated man, an immigrant, a star, gay man, a ma with AIDS at the centre of very stigmatized epidemic and it looks like even his band members were not there to support him. And this legacy film has failed to address any of that.
I am discussed by them. I have nothing against Adam Lambert, I don’t know much about him but I have a hard time watching them reenact Queen at the Oscars as if Freddie was just that, a replaceable figure in the band imitating someone else.
Spike Lee’s film is the only I am watching out of this mess
100% agree. When it won I was just like “oh right! The voters are still a majority old white dudes. Makes sense.” Snapped right back to reality I did. Should have gone to black panther. That is a movie for the ages. Didn’t three billboards win last year? UGH!!!
No, Three Billboards didn’t win last year. It was The Shape of Water.
What did Chadwick say?
I would check the card to make sure Julia didn’t screw up. In fact, I demand a recount!
Her reaction was one of my favorite parts of the night. You could tell she was surprised and after they left the stage, she was just like “So good night!” it was funny in an awkward way.
Lol it seemed like she didn’t even want to announce it
And the Green Book winners did not mention Dr. Shirley or Victor Hugo Green (the creator of the actual green book) during their speeches. Made it all about Viggo. They are all garbage as was that movie. Worst Oscar win since crash.
Seriously. Seeing all those white, old men up there fawning over Viggo was embarrassing. But also totally predictable.
I argued here in favor of Green Book. Won’t bother again. But I was absolutely horrified that the film makers made zero mention of Dr Shirley or even Tony the Lip, the screenwriter’s Dad. This disgusts me with any film based on a true story. I just couldn’t watch Bohemian Rhapsody because of what seemed to me to be a caricature of Freddy.
PS Did you know there are organizations geared toward fighting the stereotyping of Italian Americans in film?
PPS A Dreamworks production, Spielberg’s fingerprints were all over Green Book. Am sure his power and political clout won the movie its Oscar.
Scal: You quoted Justin Chang without give him credit for that comparison. Are you Justin? Otherwise, you might mention that you read or heard what he said, “Worst Oscar win since crash.”
Good for Spike. He is totally right on this. Love Cher defending him on Twitter too.
I remember reading a tweet saying this movie would win because the old guard was feeling attacked.
45 has already made a comment on Twitter….
Oh really! He’s got time for everything doesn’t he. Nice to know his job isn’t too demanding.
He called Spike Lee’s acceptance speech “racist”. The hypocritical orange apocalypse strikes again….
Oh course he did because we can’t have a black man exercising his constitutional right to free speech and all.
We all are supposed to shuck and jive and be thankful for all the Orange menace has done for us.
Blackkklansman was the best film I saw last year. I didn’t see Green Book, just like I never ever saw The Blind Side or The Help and I never ever will.
Spike Lee in my view is a legend and his film should have won.
The Blind Side is a trip lol much worse than The Help at least for me but yeah very white saviour vibes from those movies
Although, The Help is obnoxious because the book purposefully undercuts the “White Savior Complex” by examining the prejudice of the main characters. It’s making a point about the selective nature of white tolerance as to what level of sympathy is acceptable versus what discriminatory practices continue to benefit them. The screenplay adaptation removed all of that moral nuance.
Veronica, the white college girl writing the book and it being published is the point of the movie.
Yes? That wasn’t what my comment was about. My point was that the book was morally complex because the main character was openly racist and against miscegenation – she just happened to be against more extreme forms of prejudice. In other words, the movie took a questionable premise and made it more problematic by erasing the moral nuance the novel had going for it and literally whitewashing it to be more palatable to the public. As a novel, “The Help” examines the many different layers of racism that exists. The movie is more egregious because the adaptation either cuts out those layers or smooths them out.
What I would say you are missing by not seeing the Help is it brings the story of the black maids to life with amazing performances by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. Just like Mahershala Ali makes Greenbook. Seriously, if you are a black actor who makes it to this level, you have honed your craft, unlike white specifically male actors which litter films with their mediocrity. Yes the films have the problems you are saying, but they also have some of the most amazing performances you will see. It was funny when Spike Lee mentioned Driving Miss Daisy, I remembered Morgan Freeman’s amazing performance in that movie too. It took me a while to remember Jessica Tandy who was amazing, but Morgan made that film. Now it doesn’t mean Do the Right Thing and in this case Blackklansman or Black Panther didn’t get robbed though. Spike Lee is double cursed. One, the directors portion of the academy have a problem with successful directors they haven’t ordained first. Second they obviously have a problem with black men and women. Apparently hispanic men seemed to have broken through a bit, but I think it’s cause the hispanic directors who have won produced more classically “artsy” films.
The Blind Side is still one of the worst movies to be nominated for Best Picture IMHO in the last decade. I thought there were better made and acted Lifetime movies than that movie. It’s become more problematic since its release, as Hugh Freeze, Michael Oher’s high school coach was forced to resign from Ole Miss in the summer of 2017 for repeated recruiting violations and getting caught calling escort services on his personal cell phone.
The Help loses quite a bit in translation from book to film as mentioned above.
I loved Blackklansman and Roma and would have been happy if either won. I never saw Greenbook and cant believe it won. I feel ripped off. I imagine Spike Lee does also.
I loathe Spike Lee. His movies are problematic with women characters.
And I get why people hate Green Book. But it is the one movie on the list that was a feel good movie. The rest were a superhero movie or depressing movies. So I see why Green Book won.
@Bluthfan..feel good for who exactly?
First off, congrats to all the female, African-American and non American receipts of Academy Awards this year. All worthy winners. My only concern about this years Oscars is that having acknowledged the excellent contribution made by these recipients, the Academy will tick all their boxes and go back to business as usual next year.
Checking their boxes on poorly made films. People believing a film should win just because it is diverse is as insulting as any white savior film. Blackkklansman was the better of the films but that movie is “too black”. I’m shaking my head at the positive comments on the diversity of last nigh cause that within itself has an undertone of throwing it in. Hollywood playing all of us suckers.
I feel at this point award shows are using the same outrage model that these racist fashion houses are using to get clicks and views. The selections and wins for these big noms are too arbitrary and the criteria is always changing smh. This year best picture doesn’t go to the general public’s obvious choice (BoRhap), but also doesn’t go to a critic fave (BlackkK) guaranteeing thinkpieces from the journalists and twitter tweets.
They should probably stop televising these shows all together tbh. They’re all so industry specific that the public won’t be able to/doesn’t care about the real talent (like how are you gonna give the award for Best CINEMATOGRAPHY off camera???) yet to keep the show going they have to pander to the people and the people are fickle. What a mess 😪
Wait, wasnt the best cinematography one shown? I remember Alfonso going up a couple of times.
On another note, they should keep the no host thing, realized the hosts are the ones dragging the show with their unnecessary skits.
@Lola yes they ended up keeping it in the show, but the original plan was to give the award during a commercial break and then mention it later (along with three other categories) to “save time.” But there was an outcry of criticism so they ended up changing it back to the usual format. The Academy was really a mess this year.
I feel sorry for ASIB. It made a ton of money, people loved it, and outside of Roma and The Favorite was the most well received by critics and it won only Best Song. Who did they piss off. Was the Oscar campaign for it that bad?
Right? I truly loved it and was not expecting to at all. It was a very well done film—much better than GB or BR. I am not a Bradley fangirl and have not liked Gaga for a long time, but the film was legit very very very good and still fresh despite being the like 4th version.
I think Christian Bale or Bradley Cooper should have got the best acting nod over Rami (not that he did a bad job at all!)
And while I love Colman, I truly think her performance was the weakest of the three (lead) actresses in The Favourite. I think Glenn Close should have (finally) won.
I am still shocked that Green Book won best original screenplay. Seriously? And BR winning technical awards…it was such a mixed bag last night. Thrilled for Regina and Cuaron. Also thrilled for Ali but hated GB.
oops delete
Whatever, call him a sore loser, America, but sometimes enough is enough. Nobody who watched last night thought the right call was made.
I guess I still kind of enjoyed ‘Green Book’ despite its issues. I thought it had some funny moments with the family dialogue and the script did feel like an 80s-90s dramedy. The fried chicken scene made me cringe as did others. Then Doc Shirley’s family spoke out against it so no, on that fact alone, it should not have won. I don’t think as a whole though, it was quite the sh*tshow everyone says it is. Problematic yes, but an obscenely racist dumpster fire, I’m not sure if that’s true…
Me too.
I teared up thinking about the “Love” and “Hate” rings he’s wearing…and remembering that the magnificent Bill Nunn is gone…
Way Too Soon….
RIP Radio Raheem….
WORD.
Spike Lee is right. GB was not the best movie for many reasons. I think new (better) award shows are going to come out of this debaucle. So glad I just followed the live tweet and didn’t watch. I’m so old by now that I remember how infuriating it was when The Color Purple was snubbed. Sick of this!
Listen, Trump needs to not come for Spike unless Spike sends for him. Racist, bloated, orange POS.
I think it really speaks volumes that a bunch of middle aged white guys went up on stage to accept the awards for Green Book. Like, you really couldnt hire 1 black writer or producer to work on your film? Someone that may be able to shed some light on the black experience? No….ok?
Octavia Spencer was a producer
She didnt get an Oscar. So maybe she invested, but she must have not had much say in the film.
I think we can say Green Book was Hollywood’s version of MAGA (problematic with liberal lipstick on) AND that this was the most diverse Oscars in recent memory. BOTH CAN BE TRUE.
I was thrilled that Blackkklansman, Black Panther, Roma, Period, Bao, and The Favourite were all recognized/ awarded. I was thrilled that 3/4 of the acting trophies went to POC (and the 4th went to someone not American/ a first timer).
I can be disappointed that Green Book won but also not want the drama to steal the thunder from all of the VERY worthy awards given out last night to Regina King, Ruth Carter, Spike Lee, Cuaron and the all -female crew of Period. As they said on NPR Pop Culture, Green Book’s expiration date has passed. No one watch it, no one buy it. Spend your $$ on the worthy films and actors because Hollywood will stop making movies like GB if they don’t make any money.
You are missing the point about the Oscars, basically none of the movies make money. It’s honestly rare you have a hit out of these movies, so I doubt it will change.
Well said, sassafras.
What was with the shrieking,”Viggo, Viggo, Viggo?” Was it because he didn’t get the award that should’ve gone to Christian Bale or Willem Dafoe?
So instead of an actual civil war, there’s a cultural civil war still being waged in America. The biggest problem is the people who think they’re free when they’re actually enslaved to their construct of privilege, and they are in this as much as everyone else is. Rewarding films like Green Book reinforces that paradigm. No one’s free until we’re all free.
Trump used the situation to milk his rabid base rate than him being personally offended. Instead of being overtly racist he goes to Twitter pretending he is personally offended. It is all about using any situation to rally his racisit base ad he knows how to do it effectively.
I remember last year everyone was in a tizzy about the prospect of Three Billboards winning. And then when Shape of Water won a lot of people were upset about that. Hate watching something can be fun, but why even bother at this point? I just don’t see how anyone was surprised by any of the winners, except for Olivia Colman. The writings been on the wall for months. I’m just scratching my head because I legit don’t understand how anyone believed for one second Oscar Voters would break woh their traditional history and pick Black Panther or BlacKKKlansman as Best Picture. As Maya Angelou said, “the first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.” The reactions to Green Book winning a relatively meaningless award ironically enough also illustrates why someone like Donald Trump is so successful with his base.
The left continues to get sucked into these culture wars and they may win the battles but the other side is winning the war. It’s maddening. We pull out the pitchforks over movies meanwhile, the right has cemented a conservative majority for the next thirty years on the Supreme Court. Our only hope on most issues is John Roberts. John Roberts!
Now I know the headlines are already making the most of the ‘angry black man’ trope, but I thought this interview was pretty restrained. He was funny and biting, but he didn’t really go off, he knew exactly what he was doing and saying up there.
When I saw Blakkklansman, I saw The Real Past and a response to it… when I saw Greenbook I saw a response to the FANTASY of what the usa was like when it ‘was great’… I’m both not surprised and disgusted that it won.
It’s a travesty that Green Book won. What the…??
Also, they stopped him at the door and would not let him leave?? That strikes no one else as odd…like he was a prisoner or something? How do they tell anyone they cannot leave when they want to?!
I love Spike Lee, and his response is beyond perfect. Nothing left to say.
Would he have been as offended if The Favourite had won? Or just “uhh ok whatever”
Is it the general consensus that he feels Green Book was picked on purpose to win over Blackklansman as a statement?
Don’t members of the Academy vote through private ballot? How could something be “picked on purpose” then?
“The Academy is still made up of old white people who are comforted by white savior films. They reward films in which white people conveniently and consistently “solve” racial issues. “
Maybe I didn’t get Green Book or something. Considering the subject of the Green Book, maybe they should have made a different movie. Maybe it should have truly captured the horrors of segregation. This to me was a biopic about two specific people and their relationship. It wasn’t trying to dismantle racism or say that anyone was redeemed or saved at the end I didn’t think. It was just a story about the two men in question. Racism was part of that story. Idk. I don’t know why everyone thinks it’s Blind Spot honestly. It wasn’t. It is not ok that it won despite factual inaccuracies the family of Mr. Shirley later brought up and it had its cringe-y moments but I think people are saying it failed at being a film it never was and was never meant to be.
Trump, you ignorant slut.
Haven’t seen it yet – but I was shocked Green Book won. And then I was PI$$ED off when Farrelly turned the attention to Viggo Mortensen and gave him all the credit…then said something like “oh yeah, and Mahershala Ali and Linda Cardellini..” I used to love Viggo before all this $hit. I still think he’s a great actor, but I have a bad taste in my mouth. And then Farrelly up there white mansplaining racism…. what will the dick-waving director’s next project be? Something about the #MeToo movement?
Oh, off topic a bit, but I was SO HAPPY that Period. End of Sentence. won the Oscar. You know…the one that a mystery male Academy member wouldn’t vote for because men think menstruation is icky.
PS Spike Lee is hilarious
For those interested, there is a documentary about the real Green Book, with vintage footage on the smithsonian channel tonight. Today’s Fresh Air is an interview with the filmmaker.
Just wondering why Spike Lee was prevented from leaving the theater. Are all those poor locked in there for the duration? I’m here to tell you if I wanted out and someone was telling me I couldn’t leave the theater, there would be a scene and maybe an Oscar worthy performance as I made my way out. WTF?
this mess awards show needs to stop already. ive never felt it more than this year