Green Book-A review

Yes, I’m late to the party.. but my husband and I just watched this movie and it is an absolute gem.

Green Book tells the true story of Dr. Shirley, a brilliant, African American concert pianist, and his Italian American chauffeur who drive through the south on a concert tour during the Jim Crow era using the Green Book as their guide.

In 1936, a black postal worker named Victor Hugo Green published the first edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book. This guide was meant to direct black New York City residents to businesses they could frequent without facing the overt discrimination. Demand soon grew for a more geographically expansive document, and the following year Green compiled and distributed the first national issue. (The Atlantic) 

I had no idea that Green Book was mired in controversy and was sorry (but sadly not surprised) to hear about it. Seems any movie that touches on racism is automatically required to satisfy a long list of requirements in order to be considered “legitimate.”

Honestly, this wonderful film is about so much more than race.  It is a thoughtful treatise on loyalty and friendship; differences in class, cultures and education. It’s about breaking down barriers built on hardened, zero-sum thinking.. not just in society but on a personal level as well.

Obviously, this movie’s fixated detractors missed that message.

I highly recommend this film.