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So If I'm Not Black Enough And If I'm Not White Enough, Then Tell Me, Tony, What Am I!?




The following is an opinion piece on Green Book, Academy award winner for best picture.


Green Book is the story of Tony "The Lip”, a NY bouncer who is hired by piano prodigy Don Shirley, to be his chauffeur/bodyguard, as Shirley tours the deep south giving a concert tour. The movie follows both men as they get to know each other and their struggles, as well as revealing truths about themselves and their character.  

The story is told from Tony's “The Lip” perspective. He's an Italian-American from the Bronx with an insatiable appetite and a devastating left hook. He loves his wife and his kids, lives day to day, is fond of cigarettes and gambling, and is just enough of a good guy to avoid working for the mob. 

Viggo Mortensen bring Tony to life, with an outlandish accent and a potbelly to go along with it. He is a tough guy with a heart of gold personality. All of this is well and good, but watching the film, I couldn't help but think someone made a huge mistake. Because Tony is not the most interesting character in the movie.

Not by a long shot. 


That honor belongs to Don Shirley, the articulate and thoughtful Musician. As soon as he appears in the screen, we get the sense Don is in a class of his own. In intelligence, class, style, and culture. He interviews Tony in his loft above Carnegie Hall, appears wearing a tunic of fine silk and sits in a veritable throne. As the journey takes way, we begin to see a man who is haunted by his inability to fit in: 
His skin color will forever make him an outcast in society, yet he is too refined for fellow blacks to accept him. 


There is a much better film waiting to happen, one with more drama and more life and more emotional impact. Tony may very well be a piece in this puzzle , yet the focus of the film should have been on Dr. Don Shirley's life, culminating in his tour of the southern states. This is the true film within the film, the story that had to be told, the story that we as fans didn't get. 



P.S. I can't help but think what a man like Shirley would do in 2019. Would he be a superstar, a music and fashion icon, an activist, widely recognized by the masses? Would he be proud of his country? 

Grade: 4:3. But Mahershala Ali’s performance is Widescreen, a well deserved Oscar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6yMItXePG8

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