Racism accusations against Green Book

Green Book is the surprise big winner. The tragicomedy about the friendship between an African-American pianist and his white chauffeur during the times of segregation in the US has won the Oscar for best film. But the road movie is controversial. A look at the opinion columns shows why.

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The Guardian (GB) /

Hollywood blind to subtleties of racism

The Guardian is annoyed by Green Book's Oscar:

“The movie, set in the early 1960s, much of it in the racially segregated southern states, fits almost perfectly into the Hollywood template. That is, black movies should be set a long time in the past, when things were really bad for black folk, so the audience can leave with a nice warm feeling: 'Haven't we come a long way? Aren't we doing so well today?' Their enduring message is that racism is all about bigots who beat up black people and shout 'nigger'. Everyone who doesn't do that is some kind of woke hero. There's never any lesson for modern audiences on how they may be perpetuating racism, or be blind to its subtleties.”

Habertürk (TR) /

Full of stereotypes, shallow and dated

Habertürk is also not convinced by the Oscar-winning film:

“Green Book is not just an embarrassment and a disgrace for the Academy, it also demonstrates that in 2019 white ignorance is still widespread and dominant. ... Audiences in a distant country like Turkey may not understand the political distortion the film represents and the ignorant and superficial approach to the racism problems. But even they will grasp that Green Book, as a product of a film language that is old-fashioned and full of stereotypes and clichés, should have been ignored. Above all now that the cinema world is moving in a very different direction and new directors are finding a far more creative language.”