91st Academy Awards - Discussion thread - RACISM IS OVER, THANKS GREEN BOOK

[Wrath]

4 minutes ago, DAJK said:

Completely agree with this. Green Book is definitely the antithesis film to Klansman. I actually kind of like how 'yin and yang' they are. Honestly, I kind of want to watch them together back to back. Because we cannot ignore how far we've come, but we also cannot ignore how far we need to go. 

On the one hand I see what you're saying and I definitely agree.

 

On the other hand, its interesting to note that the two movies were set about 10 years apart (and, since they were both true stories, actually happened around 10 years apart. Roughly 1962 for Green Book and roughly 1973 or 1974 for BlacKKKlansman). So, thematically I agree with your point but its worth recalling that the events of Klansman happened 45 years ago.

[The Wild Eric]

5 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

Nice way to put words in my mouth. I said BKKK is all about contention between two races, because it is. That has nothing to with saying the KKK shouldn't be a contentious subject, obviously it is. The point is, one movie chooses to focus entirely on the negative history between two races, even going so far as to suggest nothing has changed at the end, while the other choose to focus on love and acceptance. It's just like Christian's weird obsession with focusing on Jesus's torture and death all the time. Why the hell do you want to put so much energy into focusing on something negative? Learn from the past and go forward with positivity. Otherwise, you're perpetuating the problem. 

Because going forward with positivity hasn't gone anywhere for society. We've had plenty of movies about "look at how far we've come," but there's still police brutality, hate crimes, and even our own politicians citing racism. Spike Lee made a harsh reminder that we still have a long way to go, and that racism and white supremacy and the actions of the KKK is still a factor in society and American culture. And yes, a movie isn't going to change the world overnight, but considering we just had a Neo-Nazi rally in 2017, I feel like reminding the public how trash the world is is far more beneficial than "look at this wacky white guy learning to love black people".

 

And no, I don't give a shit if the GA likes it, or it has good legs. Good on other people if they enjoy it, but that doesn't mean I can't criticize something, or prefer a "less popular" alternative.

[Mulder]

Just now, Wrath said:

On the one hand I see what you're saying and I definitely agree.

 

On the other hand, its interesting to note that the two movies were set about 10 years apart (and, since they were both true stories, actually happened around 10 years apart. Roughly 1962 for Green Book and roughly 1973 or 1974 for BlacKKKlansman). So, thematically I agree with your point but its worth recalling that the events of Klansman happened 45 years ago.

The point of BlackKklansman is that white supremacy is still a huge issue that's why it ended with Charlottesville

[MovieMan89]

13 minutes ago, CoolioD1 said:

The fact of the matter is that green book is a “look how far we’ve come” movie and blackkklansman is a “look how far we need to go” movie. Unfortunately I’d say the latter feels more honest than the former.

Maybe so, but I still think any movie so unabashedly promoting love and acceptance deserves to be celebrated. And the backlash against it is gross. 

[Lordmandeep]

Pretty much based on this thread, I learned progressives are racist too. 

 

Movie does not show all white people as evil = bad

Edited February 25, 2019 by Lordmandeep

[The Wild Eric]

Hell, I don't even hate Green Book. It's a perfectly fine dramedy with decent performances and a couple of funny gags. I just don't think it's as good as the other nominees, and I prefer Spike Lee's messaging than Peter Farrelly's, especially considering Lee is a racial minority.

[Mulder]

Just now, Lordmandeep said:

Pretty much based on this thread, I learned progressives are racist too. 

 

Movie does not show all white people as evil = bad

That's literally not the issue with Green Book at all, nor is anyone saying that lmao. Spike Lee himself said he'd never say all police are evil or hate minorities.

[MovieMan89]

1 minute ago, CoolEric258 said:

Because going forward with positivity hasn't gone anywhere for society. We've had plenty of movies about "look at how far we've come," but there's still police brutality, hate crimes, and even our own politicians citing racism. Spike Lee made a harsh reminder that we still have a long way to go, and that racism and white supremacy and the actions of the KKK is still a factor in society and American culture. And yes, a movie isn't going to change the world overnight, but considering we just had a Neo-Nazi rally in 2017, I feel like reminding the public how trash the world is is far more beneficial than "look at this wacky white guy learning to love black people".

 

And no, I don't give a shit if the GA likes it, or it has good legs. Good on other people if they enjoy it, but that doesn't mean I can't criticize something, or prefer a "less popular" alternative.

Except the majority of people aren't neo-nazis and don't believe that crap. So when you focus entirely on the idiots that are, you make it seem like you think that's the way most people are because that's all you want to focus on. There are always going to be bad people in the world, and nothing is ever going to change that. Putting the emphasis on love is always going to make good people who may be a little ignorant come around than putting the focus on hate is going to. 

[Wrath]

4 minutes ago, filmlover said:

Pretty much this. I liked Green Book just fine and highly enjoyed the performances from Mortensen and Ali (and Cardellini too whenever she was on screen) but there's nothing really about that rises above the standards for the genre. Hidden Figures was a better movie within the "feel good movies about racism" genre just two years ago and that was both a much bigger hit and didn't win anything. That said, there are clearly plenty of people who love it both among the public and the Academy and the backlash likely only strengthened their resolve. And good for them. I can't get worked up either way. I'm just happy that we can finally put this season behind us and look to next year.

I agree with pretty much all of this. I think if Hidden Figures was a 2018 movie (honestly, a relatively weak year for best pic nominees) it probably would have won. It just had the bad fortune to be in 2016 and against Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, and even La La Land any of which, imo, would have been the front-runner against this year's crop.

[Mulder]

Just now, MovieMan89 said:

Except the majority of people aren't neo-nazis and don't believe that crap. So when you focus entirely on the idiots that are, you make it seem like you think that's the way most people are because that's all you want to focus on. There are always going to be bad people in the world, and nothing is ever going to change that. Putting the emphasis on love is always going to make good people who may be a little ignorant come around than putting the focus on hate is going to. 

You do realize who's president yeah?

[filmlover]

4 minutes ago, Lordmandeep said:

Pretty much based on this thread, I learned progressives are racist too. 

 

Movie does not show all white people as evil = bad

You do you, as usual. Did you even watch any movies this year besides the top 5 hits?

[MovieMan89]

Just now, Mulder said:

You do realize who's president yeah?

You do realize the election system is rigged and he lost the popular vote yeah? 

[aabattery]

Take it to the politics thread, guys.

[Mulder]

Just now, MovieMan89 said:

You do realize the election system is rigged and he lost the popular vote yeah? 

If it wasn't at least 40/60 he wouldn't have won. You can't close your eyes to the problem and act like it doesn't exist.

 

EDIT: Posted at the same time as aabattery

Edited February 25, 2019 by Mulder

[LouisianaArkansasGeorgia]

7 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

Maybe so, but I still think any movie so unabashedly promoting love and acceptance deserves to be celebrated. And the backlash against it is gross. 

The backlash against GB is because it does what Hollywood always does: takes the story of a black person and makes it all about a white person. It centers and props up a white character to tell a tale that should center Shirley, not the white dude. It's The Help and LaLaLand all over again.

Edited February 25, 2019 by LouisianaArkansasGeorgia

[Jake Gittes]

Well the way this thread has gone is certainly worthy of the movie that won. We're in the "racism against white people!" territory now.

[Lordmandeep]

5 minutes ago, Mulder said:

That's literally not the issue with Green Book at all, nor is anyone saying that lmao. Spike Lee himself said he'd never say all police are evil or hate minorities.

 

 

There are a lot of progressives who think like that though.

 

I dont think they are a large number, just a very local stupid minority that devalue progressive ideals. 

[titanic2187]

Suddenly people forgot Moonlight won

[TalismanRing]

53 minutes ago, Spagspiria said:

Ranking the 2010s BP winners:

 

1. The Shape of Water

2. Moonlight

3. The Artist (fight me)

4. 12 Years a Slave

5. Spotlight

6. Birdman

7. The King’s Speech

8. Argo

9. Green Book

Pretty much my list but I'd have The Artist (no need to fight) over Moonlight

 

Green Book managed to be worse than that dud Argo.  Yay!

 

 

[filmlover]

To take things back around a bit, I certainly agree that going without a host ended up being for the best. If the Kevin Hart gig that wasn't to be ended up happening, we'd probably still be several categories away from Best Picture right now and it's 12:41.