The movie Green Book is a film based on a true story. Dr. Donald Shirley is a world-class African-American pianist, who is going to hold a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. At that time racial discrimination was very serious in the south, in need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Tony Lip, a tough-talking bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx. Despite their character and racial differences, those two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and injustices in an era of segregation.
When we are watching the film, we will find a lot of familiar things that we have learned in this class. We can find how intersectionality shape Dr.Shirley. He is a black man but not like other black people, he was brought up in an affluent environment so that when he was sitting in front of other black people in the hotel, he was so out of place since his education made it impossible for him to blend in with other black people. And then he was a well-known pianist, however, white people in the south show their respect to him only because of his talent. Except for playing time, Dr. Shirley was treated like other black people that he was facing lots of injustices and discrimination like he was not allowed to use the washroom and try clothes. Even though people gathered together for him, he was not permitted to have lunch there. There was a sentence in the film that touched me deeply when Dr. Shirley was having an argument with Tony, “Rich people pay me to play piano because it makes them feel cultural………I was not accepted by my own people since I am not like them either”. He was also treated as “Others” by all the people since black people can not understand that why would a white man serve a black man in a time of racism and white people in the South hate black people so that no one wants to accept him. I think that is the reason why he is always alone.
I think the author was trying to express that when people are facing discrimination or injustices, they should maintain their self-respect and rally against their inequality. Sometimes, a moment’s peace is achieved by forbearance. However, if people want to get out of unfair treatment, they should learn how to live with dignity and fight for their freedom. Like Dr. Shirley, in the beginning, when he was facing injustices, he just gave up his inherent rights and did not want to have a conflict with other people. By spending time with Tony, he learned how to deal with injustices and stand up to unfair treatment. Man is born great because they have been against fate.
Work cited:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/green-book-2018