Although it has been a long time since "Green Book" was released, I still want to talk to you about this road movie about racial discrimination in a relaxed and humorous tone. The
story took place in the United States in 1962. At night, Tony, the bar bodyguard, violently solved the troubled guests. This is his job. Then he used the trick of hiding the guest’s hat and returning it back, earning a tip and a relationship for himself.
Tony looks like a mess, but in fact, the whole family depends on him, and recently the bar where he works has to be closed for renovation for two months. To support his family, he had to find part-time jobs, which included eating hot dogs for a $50 contest. However, he was lucky and received an errand to drive the black pianist Don Sherry to the Midwestern United States for a tour. Don Shirley is an accomplished piano artist. He is respected in the Delta area and is known as a PhD.
Tony doesn't think Tang is a black man. He has serious racism and throws cups that black people have drunk into the trash. Don thinks Tony is vulgar, and is not willing to take charge of his daily life. Although they both disliked each other, in order to get what they needed, the two of them got together on the road.
Before leaving, the record company gave Tony a copy of "Green Book", and the main idea of the movie appeared in this casual way. This book lists the southern hotels where blacks can stay, as Tony said, it's like a custom trip for blacks.
Because of the completely different personality classes, the collision between the two along the way can be described as easy and funny. The doctor was dissatisfied with Tony smoking while driving, Tony dismissed him for pretending to be noble, and even ate the sandwich that his wife had prepared for the doctor. Along the way, the two talked like a chicken and a duck. Tang likes to be quiet, but Tony is just talking. But the doctor will teach Tony to return the merchandise stone he picked up, and Tony also worked with people to maintain the Steinway piano that Tang must perform during the performance. After the doctor refused to eat fried chicken, to learn Tony threw the chicken bones out of the car window, the two finally laughed.
Tony is a good husband who loves his wife. He often writes to his wife during business trips. But his letters are often like a running account, and there are many typos and grammatical errors. Finally Tang couldn't stand it anymore, he began to teach Tony to write letters. His elegant and affectionate style made his wife cry when he saw the letter.
The phenomenon of racial discrimination becomes more serious as it goes south. Tang will be inexplicably bullied by other whites when drinking in a bar; he received applause from the white people when he played, but was forbidden to use the locker room, toilet and restaurant after the end; When buying a new suit, he was forbidden to try it on. But when the car broke down, Tang, dressed in exquisite clothing, looked at the black farmers working in the fields. They had the same skin color, but Tang seemed incompatible with them. He doesn't even know black people as Tony, he doesn't understand what black people eat, how to talk, how to live, nor does he understand little Richard's black music.
This kind of contradiction finally broke out on the rainy night when they were arrested. Tang yelled at Tony: "I am not black enough, I am not white enough, and not man enough, then tell me, Tony, who am I." This is the only time in the whole movie. The conflict was manifested hysterically, and when the brisk atmosphere had formed, a sudden heavy blow to alert people. During the last performance of
, Tang refused the restaurant where he was not allowed to eat. The two went to a black bar, where Tang played Chopin and a black band to play jazz. Tony shouted for him, the black people applauded him, he laughed, this is Tang's happiest performance. Christmas was approaching, and the two encountered a blizzard on their way home, and Tony was too tired to open his eyes. In order to let Tony rush back to spend Christmas Eve with his family, Tang replaced Tony's car. Fortunately, they caught up in time. The film finally ended when Tang took his first step and went to Tony's house for Christmas. He was no longer alone.
This is the movie "Green Book" released in 2019, based on a real story. The background of the story is the United States in the 1960s. Before the affirmative movement of blacks, they were deeply discriminated against and were forbidden to enter and exit in various places. The "Green Book" came into being. To put it bluntly, the "Green Book" is a travel guide for blacks to help them find a place to live and eat during their travels.
And I think the success of this movie is that it takes the originally suppressed and serious topic of racial discrimination, tells it in a warm and relaxed way, using rough Tony andThe interesting collision between the elegant Tangs resolves the inherent contradictions. In this journey that was originally full of loneliness and discrimination, Tony used his kindness to slowly remove the spikes on Tang, letting him put down his excessive guard, and began to face himself and find his true self. And Tang also taught Tony many virtues and how to express love, and he also let Tony let go of his prejudice against blacks. The
film never directly presents a certain point of view to the audience. It uses the piano to express his dissatisfaction when Tang is discriminated against; it expresses inequality and pain when Tang meets black farmers; and when Tang plays jazz in a black bar Call for freedom. It not only allows us to see the discrimination against blacks by whites, but also arranges for us to see the discrimination that Tony suffers as a foreigner; it also does not kill all whites with a stick, and being helped by the white police during a snowstorm is a manifestation of human love. .
In a peaceful country and age, it is difficult to imagine what happened to the black people. But in the United States nowadays, people or things marked by racial discrimination will have no good fruits. The black people have their own confidence. But this kind of confidence is the result of many black people like Tang in their years of resistance. The black people saved themselves. As the movie said: "It takes a lot of courage to change people's minds." It is with great pioneers like Tang walking in the front and doing things that people don't want to do that makes the world a better place.
