We've made it to the 2020 edition of the Against the Crowd Blogathon!
This is the event where you get to say ow you really feel about certain movies even though your opinion doesn't match the popular one. I'm going to start things off this year by getting something off my chest. It's bugging the crap out of me. So, with no further adieu, let's get into it. The beloved movie I can't stand took home the Oscar for Best Picture. Sigh.
Green Book
I like Mahershala Ali, but no. No.
NO!
I felt that way from the time I saw the trailer. There he was, sitting in the back of a car driven by a white man and claiming to have never eaten fried chicken before, being shown how to do so by this guy, and asking him what to do with the bones.
Really.
Against my better judgement, I watched it anyway. It was exactly as I thought it was going to be: a full blown White Savior movie. The White guy had to save Ali's character repeatedly throughout the film. He saved him from being not black enough for Black people. He saved him from being too black for White people. He saved him from being too gay for everybody. Of course, the Black man did some saving, too. Well, teaching to be more precise. He taught the White guy how to not be racist homophobe. Sorta. He taught the White guy how to not be a slob. All of it is extremely trite, and off putting.
Things surrounding the film didn't help endear it to me, either. The White guy in this scenario, Viggo Mortensen, made some problematic remarks when the film was being promoted. It came out that the writers of this film, and the book it was based on, play fast and loose with the facts, as if the whole chicken thing wasn't a dead giveaway. Of course, the main writer is a relative of the White character.
The Academy made matters worse. In a year filled with better, more progressive, and original American films about race relations, they not only nominate Driving Mr. Daisy for Best Picture, but like I said, they give it the win! I would say it was a tone deaf decision, but it felt purposeful. It felt it was being rewarded for being the movie about the hot subject that White people were most comfortable with.
I still like Mahershala Ali, but no. No.
NO!
I can always say yes to a dead teenager movie, though. So let's talk about that hated film I love.
Dr. Giggles
This movie doesn't pretend to have any depth whatsoever. It's just a slasher flick that came along during the sub-genre's heyday in the 1980s. If I stop right there I've already given you enough information to justify why I like this movie better than Green Book. While Dr. Giggles says nothing, Green Book says a lot, and none of it is as enlightening as it thinks it is.
You know what I get from Dr. Giggles? Over the top murder. Gloriously bad medical jokes. Larry Drake chewing scenery with reckless abandon while committing over the top murder and delivering gloriously bad medical jokes. If you've never seen it, you have no idea how gratifying it is to hear him say, "It's time to take your medicine," just before he kills someone.
And then there's the morgue scene.
I mean...
Whew!
You have to see it to believe it. When you do, you'll understand (if you're an enlightened homo-sapien) that this one scene is worth all 130 minutes of Green Book. Twice.
You know what would be a better scene than that? A scene of Dr. Giggles grabbing a scalpel and feverishly slicing up the screenplay for Green Book before it has a chance to be filmed.
I feel better now.
You'll feel better after you own up to your unpopular opinions. Therefore, I look forward to all of your entries in this year's Against the Crowd Blogathon.
I've never even heard of Dr. Giggles.
ReplyDeleteMy entry is up, too.
That's the case for lots of people.
DeleteHeading over to your post now.
How are we here already?! August went by fast. I haven't seen Dr. Giggles but I 100% agree on Green Book. It's even more glaring after watching that first episode of Lovecraft Country where they did more justice to the green book and its needs then this whole ass movie named after it did.
ReplyDeleteCool. I need to watch that show. I've been hearing so much about it.
DeleteI haven't seen Dr. Giggles. I probably should.
ReplyDeleteI share your disdain for Green Book. The obvious parallel is Driving Miss Daisy--it's a "safe" racism movie where everybody learns an Important Lesson(tm) by the end and there's no more racism any more ever when the credits roll. And once again, there's a far better, far more dangerous movie about racism directed by Spike Lee eligible in the same year. Evidently, BlacKkKlansman getting a nomination (unlike Do the Right Thing) is progress of a sort. And with that and If Beale Street Could Talk (unnominated) and Sorry to Bother You (ignored completely by Oscar) also around, this seems like the worst of token gestures. Freaks was very much a movie about racism without being overtly about racism. Roma was about classism, and Capernaum was about gross inequality. And we get Green Book, which is evidently a pat on the head.
Green Book is lazy. We're outraged when Doc Shirley gets attacked for being Black or gay because that's how morally normal people react to such things. This movie asks the same lazy questions Driving Miss Daisy did with the same lack of nuance and looking for the same obvious answers.
And yeah, you can say BlacKkKlansman doesn't really ask hard questions, but it's not asking questions at all. BlacKkKlansman isn't so much about the righteous anger of racism (although it's clearly there) but about just how unbelievably absurd so much of this really is.
Eh, I went on a rant, but you well know "Oscar so racist" is a soapbox I'm happy to stand on.
Rant on, friend. In addition to the movies you mentioned, 2018 also saw the release of Widows, The Hate U Give, Blindspotting, Fast Color and even Black Panther. All dealt with racism in better ways than Green Book. As quiet as its kept, Crazy Rich Asians had stronger social commentary. Within its rom-com exterior it dealt heavily with classism. There were just so many other places the Academy could've went.
DeleteI like Dr. Giggles. That film was hilarious. I was 12 years old when I saw it and thought it was fun. I still like it! Plus, Larry Drake is just fucking awesome. Glad to see someone liked this.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't seen Green Book and I don't think I want to. I love Mahershala Ali and I love Viggo Mortensen but... no. I ain't watching no white savior movie either. Especially from half of a directing duo who hadn't made a watchable film since Me, Myself, & Irene.
Here is my entry for this year as I too take down a Best Picture winner in favor of a film that a lot of critics and snobs hate but I love it as does Batman.
Yay, more love for Dr. Giggles! Heading over to your post now! Thanks!
DeleteDon't hate me but, yes, I do like Greenbook and didn't think of it in the terms you mention and, yes, I am a whiter shade of pale. From what I understand it is based on a true story and I respect both actors whom I don't think would have taken these roles if they thought it would be so negative as slant. That being said, I also believe BlacKKKlansmen is a far superior film and one that I love because, not only is this also a true story but it is just a better film. The best way I think I can relate, If I may be so bold and yet trying to be humble, is how most people think that my mom and her family were nazis because they grew up before and during Hitler's reign. Not all Germans were anti-semitic nazis but the average person just lumps everyone in like that because no one likes to learn more about history. Gosh I hope i am not being an ass and i am sorry if it sounds like that.
ReplyDeleteNo hate, at all. I get what you're saying. We do have a tendency to think of all Germans who existed during that era as card-carrying members of the Nazi party, which isn't true.
DeleteI'm in the 'I love Green Book' camp but oh man, it must suck so hard to have a movie you really dislike go on to win an the Oscar!
ReplyDelete