Green Book Movie

 In the movie Green Book, there was a heavy emotional setting throughout the movie. It is extremely intense and has you thinking throughout the whole movie “this is what happened everyday in real life. The way that the movie demonstrates the deep south and the racism in the deep south. 

What is interesting with the main character Don Shirley is that he takes the deep south on as a challenge. The people in his group saying that “he only wants to go to expensive white only places” he does this because he knows that he is the best there is, as well as to combat that sort of racism and let the white people see that blacks are just as talented and just as amazing as the “white people”. 

In the famous line in the movie that Don Shirley says, “if im not black enough, if im not white enough, if I'm not normal enough, then what am I?” This is the first time in the movie that he breaks down and shows emotion outside of his very formal persona. I believe that within that fake persona this is the only saying that he truly says what he feels with burning rage, sadness, desperation, and hopelessness that he feels day in and day out of his life. 

The sidekick, driver, and soon the best friend to Dr. Shirley, Tony Lip; He is a character that portrayed what the regular white man at the time felt there was no extreme racism but there was an underlying generational disapproval in his blood. This was only at first before he met Dr. Shirley. 

The first time that the two met was in an interview where Dr. Shirley was looking for a white driver to take him through the deep south on tour. When Tony walked into the mansion he didn't know what to think when he saw Dr. Shirley; he was shocked for one, and Ali knew this and started to press him with his very emotionless calm tone telling Tony that he needed to shine his shoes, clean his clothes, and drive him wherever and whenever.

This was a key moment in the movie showing the complex  power change from switching the whites power over to the blacks. The results of this were beautiful; Tony ended up pushing back saying good luck finding someone resembling the same push back the blacks have had for hundreds of years. 

The evolution of Tony throughout the movie was extraordinary he learned that it doesn't matter who is the front or the back of the car but rather the INDIVIDUAL in the front or back seat, who they are, what they've been through, the way they think, NOT the color of their skin, NOT the way one looks, NOT taking the ideas and hatred from others and turning that into your own ideas and hatred. 

This is all accumulated at the very end of the movie when Shirley is done with his tour. Tony is driving back to his house just in time for Christmas. Everyone was waiting because they were hearing stories after stories in the letters. Tony arrives at the house and invites Dr. Shirley inside to spend the Christmas with him; this is the biggest final turning point destroying the previous deeply ridden disgusting values. 

Tony gets out of the car with the offer still standing but, Dr. Shirley refused saying that he must get home. Tony, all right with this, goes inside where he is greeted lovingly by his family, and then there's a knock at the door from Dr Shirley. He came in and was welcomed with open arms finally finding his place and realizing that someone does not have to be white enough or black enough or normal enough you just have to be who YOU are and break the generational curses that have been put into people's minds.

If people like Dr. Shirley wasn't around creating music and the racist deep south took over. We would be so significantly behind in the world and the “great” country that we are would be looking significantly worse with being behind on medicines, technology and social advancements. We as PEOPLE would be behind.