And not only that, Shirley\u2019s family has argued that the movie is full of inaccuracies, going as far as calling it a \u201csymphony of lies.\u201d In fact, in their acceptance speech, the filmmakers never even thanked Dr. Shirley.<\/p>\n
Yet I think it\u2019s fair to say that some people still don\u2019t understand why this movie riles so many people. But one man, Peter Birkenhead, has found the perfect analogy to explain the controversy to those who still don\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n
Imagine, he wrote on Facebook in a post that\u2019s now been shared 1.4K times and counting, if a new movie came out about Anne Frank, but that it was focused on the experience and the bravery of one of her saviors, Miep Geis. That instead of the horror Anne and her family went through, the movie focused on \u201cGeis\u2019s dawning realization that, since Anne is so well mannered and refined and cultured, perhaps not every Jew is a sniveling, greedy, termite secretly planning to destroy civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feels wrong, right?<\/p>\n
Or imagine, Birkenhead urges, that the movie was filled with inaccuracies and poorly researched. What if the people making this hypothetical Anne Frank movie \u201cnever get in touch with any of Anne Frank\u2019s descendants, or even the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam. They don\u2019t do much research at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Birkenhead\u2019s post (which really should be read in full) also reminds us that the reason \u201cGreen Book\u201d is drawing so much anger is that it\u2019s not an outlier, but yet another film in a continuum of films, like \u201cDriving Miss Daisy,\u201d which depict the same dynamics and celebrate white saviors, created from the perspective of white people.<\/p>\n
Speaking of \u201cDriving Miss Daisy,\u201d if you still need more clarity on that pop culture legacy, consider listening to this episode of the incredible New York Times podcast \u201cThe Daily\u201d (hosted by a super talented member of the tribe, Michael Barbaro) that explores the problematic movie.
\nYou might think that Birkenhead\u2019s comparison and examples are a little exaggerated; they are not. Racism is a scourge that would\u2019ve been overcome if it were simply about white people just meeting people of color and getting along with them. A narrative that applauds a white person for overcoming his personal racism, and that skims and ignores what it means to live with racism every day, is crafted to make white people feel good and comfortable instead of thinking how they may or may not contribute to racism.<\/p>\n
You know the saying \u201csome of my best friends are black\/Jewish\/gay\u201d from someone who then goes ahead and expresses a racist or bigoted belief? It\u2019s entirely possible for white people to work for, or have people of color, work for them, or even have them as friends, and yet still benefit from systemic racism and hold racist beliefs.<\/p>\n
One can enjoy \u201cGreen Book\u201d \u2014 see it as a well-crafted movie with a talented cast. But it\u2019s important to think twice about the good feeling it leaves you with, especially if you are a white person watching the movie. Maybe compliment it afterward with some Spike Lee movies.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on Alma.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Share](\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\")