English 2.9 – Wide Reading

Text style: Visual  Director: Peter Farrelly

Background info/ brief on the movie

The Green Book is a movie set in 1960s America. It is based on a true story of an African American pianist and a Italian-American taxi driver/bouncer who toured through the Southern States of America. The Italian-American, Frank ‘Tony Lip’ Vallelonga, was a working class citizen who had previously been fired from his job as a bouncer. He was looking for work and an income to feed his two children and wife when he got anonymously recommended for a job that would change his life. Don Shirley was an African American virtuoso pianist looking for a driver and bodyguard to work for him on his tour of deep south. 

Their two paths strangely intertwine when Tony shows up to an interview for a job as Shirley’s driver. Tony gets the job and the pair begin the journey of touring the southern States of America. Set in 1962, the pair experience many difficulties as they travelled through the deep South of America to do with race because as mentioned pianist, Don Shirley, was African American. Shirley was an undeniably talented musician and was asked to perform at many spectacular venues. Although his talent received him many applause it did not however gift him with the right to be treated with equal respect as white people were. He had to stay at hotels that were specific to black people, he was often not allowed to use the nice ‘white persons’ bathroom at the venues he was performing and in an extreme case at the end of the film he was not permitted to have dinner with the rest of his band. 

Originally Tony, just like majority of people at that time, had a prejudiced attitude towards black people but throughout their journey he began to lose sight of that prejudice. Don and Tony begin to understand each other better and create a friendship and loyalty between each other. Tony defended and protected Don countless times throughout their tour at many different venues, originally it was because it was his job but after a while of touring he grew a fondness for Don and genuinely cared about him. During the film Don was also, although he had wanted to keep it a secret, exposed as a homosexual and because it was illegal at the time was also threatened to be arrested. Once again Tony saves him from the situation and not only that he also comforts him and tries to minimise Don’s embarrassment reinforcing that Tony does genuinely care about him. The movie finishes with Don refusing to play at a venue that refuses to let him eat in their restaurant. They alternatively go to a bar where Don plays and leaves a crowd full of black people astounded with his talent. The pair then travel back to their homes in New York for Christmas Eve where Tony offers Don to join him and his family for dinner. Don initially declined but eventually turned up for the dinner for a heartwarming finish to the movie. 

Personal response

My original attraction to this film was when I heard it was a story of an African American pianist, being interested in music myself and having studied classical piano for the majority of my life I was intrigued. I was recommended to watch the film from a friend as they also thought I would be captivated by this film and the way it represents prejudice. The title “The Green Book” is a reference to the “Negro Motorist Green Book” which was a guide published from 1936 – 1967 promising African Americans “vacation without aggravation”. This guide is an important part of the journey of Don Shirley and Tony Vallelonga in this film as they travel through the Southern states of America forcing Don to seek refuge at these locations from the Green Book.

The major form of prejudice present in this film is quite obviously racism in the 1960s. It heavily accentuated the level of racism, from the segregation rules that were still present in Southern America, to the racial labelling of things such as music genres. All components of the film created a very emotional response from me with a huge amount of frustration and anger as well as sadness. 

From watching this movie I was exposed to racism through music, a part of prejudice that I don’t believe should exist. The idea of racism within music to me isn’t something I can’t comprehend; music is supposed to be freeing and to play what you want to play should be a human right. Music is what unites people and the fact that it was being used for the opposite effect is painful for me to understand.  There was a part in the film where Don was talking to Tony about how he was physically and verbally abused and beaten by a group of Southern men after performing pieces by Chopin which is deemed as “white people music”. This frustrated and upset me as they hadn’t even considered his obvious talent and had denied him the right to explore his gift and pursue his dreams of being an incredible musician. When I was younger I was told “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God”. Although I’m not religious this quote massively reflected my views, it’s not what you are given it’s what you do with it. In this film Don Shirley is attempting to do something with his gift but due to the unforgiving prejudice of the 1960s he is constantly being held back. 

He has to try to balance the blackness of his skin with the whiteness of his gift. 

“So if I’m not black enough and if I’m not white enough, then tell me, Tony, what am I!?” 

This quote demonstrates the internal and external battle that Don Shirley is forced to face. If this racist perception of music had never existed neither would the struggles that Don had to face. This is also something I see occurring in the current world today, people being restricted from fulfilling their gift or dreams purely because of the stereotypes that are placed on them. This aspect of the film has made me realise that sometimes we are made to think that you have to pass a checklist before even attempting success whereas that is not the case. Success is available to you no matter who you are or what stereotype you are expected to conform to. From disabled people becoming athletes, to dyslexic people becoming businessmen, there are many people that completely defy their stereotypes. Although Don struggles with the controversy of defying his stereotype his persistence with it created a very beautiful moral throughout the film and an inspired emotional response from me. It helped me reflect on the idea that stereotypes are created from other people’s opinions and aren’t an accurate representation of who you could potentially be. I think this message is one of the most, if not the most important messages to take away from the film. It seems people from my generation are overly aware of racial stereotypes as they are referenced so often. We have managed to create labels for so many things (hip hop is for black people, pop music is for white girls, basketball is for black people, avocado is for white people) and although sometimes they may fall to be true it doesn’t mean they should represent race or restrict people from what they can and can’t do. Don Shirley, in this film, acts as a role model for me personally and for my generation 

A part of the film that  stood out to me and gave me an utmost respect for Don Shirly was the way he never retaliated. He was constantly bombarded with prejudice and hate, he provided the people that were disrespecting him with entertainment. Despite the never-ending animosity he received he maintained his dignity. 

“You never win with violence. You only win when you maintain your dignity.”

Don Shirley was an intelligent man with strong values. He understood that his character opposed the stereotypical perception of black people therefore he continued to behave the way he did. He was a gentleman. A stereotypical black man would resort to violence so he recoursed to peace, a stereotypical black man wouldn’t wear a suit so he did, a stereotypical black man would use slang so he studied literature,  a stereotypical black man wouldn’t play classical piano so he became a virtuoso. He always remained respectful and a controlled himself from reacting emotionally never conforming to a lesser version of himself which is how people expected him to be. I found Don’s character to be very admirable and felt that the way behaved in the film made me reconsider the way other people act, when people are judging other people off negative preconceived judgement are they just mirroring the hate that they receive. 

As mentioned Don had many honourable traits and never reciprocated the hate he was given, this was admirable as it displayed a significant strength of character but it also made me question my white privilege. This is reflected in the way Don responds and Tony reacts to unfair situations regarding prejudice. 

“Tony: I didn’t like the way he was treatin’ you.

 Don: I’ve had to endure that my entire life. You should be able to take it for at least one night.” This was said after a scene where Tony shouts angrily and threatens to  hurt a white man who was disrespecting Don. Due to Tonys white privilege he’s never had to endure the struggles of being black. Never had to face the pain that Don had been feeling his whole life. Just like many other scenes in the film this moment created space to reflect on my white privilege and how it has impacted my life. Like Tony I also have never had to endure the struggles of being of colour. My privilege has allowed me to move through life without receiving hate for the colour of my skin or being characterized based off negative preconceived judgement. Through my privilege I have avoided hate therefore I have never had to decide how to respond to the hate. African Americans are often put into situations, when experiencing racism, where it’s difficult for them to respond. They can retaliate the hate they are being given, they can suppress their feelings and emotions or they can attempt to reason with the person they are receiving the hate from. I have never been put in a situation where I have to respond to racism for myself and this aspect of the film has made me contemplate how I would respond if I wasn’t sheltered by my privilege. Giving back the hate you are being given would result in more unfair judgement being thrown your way. Suppressing your feelings and emotions may not cause immediate conflict but it is an unhealthy way to deal with anything and would ultimately result in internal conflict. Attempting to reason with someone who is being racist is like trying to reason with a brick wall, from what I’ve observed from this film set many years ago aswell what I’ve seen in day to day life obtaining racist views is quite a close-minded trait therefore making those people difficult to reason with. Prior to watching this film I have never had to consider these outcomes, doing so has allowed me to realize that my white privilege isn’t just avoiding hate it’s also avoiding what comes after it.

One of my favourite parts of the film was the pub scene. At a fancy venue in one of the Southern States Don is denied the right to go sit at a table at the restaurant and have dinner due to the longstanding traditions of the venue. “I’m eating in this room or I’m not playing.” is how Don responded. The Maitre D suggested Don could eat at the bar down the road resulting in the pair leaving and refusing to play at the venue. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.’ states Tony as he escorts Don out of the crowded ballroom with the Maitre D chasing them in a panic. This reaffirmed the relationship between Tony and Don as well as creating a sense of power for Don. He may be black and perceived as lesser but as he was followed out of the venue by a desperate Maitre D (white man) who needed him. “There are 400 guests who expect to be entertained” he shouted as they left. This made me contemplate the way people treat other people and take them for granted. People treated Don in a certain way due to prejudice and they took his talent and service as a musician completely for granted. This applies in the real world situations where people perceive others as inferior based off a prejudice and fail to see them for what they really are. Just because Don was black does not mean he isn’t a very significant factor of the night that the venue was attempting to host. I can see this in the current world, people are taken for granted and treated as inferior when people actually rely on them heavily. Inferiority due to racism isn’t something I see in my small (predominantly white) town but something I do see commonly is treating younger people as if they are inferior. I have been offered miniscule amounts of money to perform where older musicians (who do you music as a side job and perform at a level similar to me) have been offered 3 – 4 times more than me. In this situation I am inferior because I am young and the preconceived judgement of young is “less experienced”. The term “student” also acts as something that can be taken advantage of and taken for granted. Exploring this component of the film has allowed me to recognise where in my life I have been perceived as inferior and taken advantage of.

Another important part of the film to note is the ending. The film finishes with Don Shirley attending a Vallelonga family dinner on Christmas Eve. Don sits at the dinner table juxtaposing the already set scene of Tony’s family. This scene states a powerful point as at the beginning of the film in that same house Tony had been incredibly racist (throwing out water glasses that the African American people working on his house had used). It shows that the racial prejudice that people of that time had was just a perception and not accurately based judgement. This ending scene ultimately creates a happy response from me. Despite the terrible things that have occurred during the film it shows that people can change their perception. Skin colour is really just a colour and doesn’t have to create a divide between people. The shorts at the end of the film go on to say that Don and Tony remained friends for the rest of their life and died a month apart. From their journey together and onwards they continued to have strong and very close relationship despite the colours of their skin confronting the idea of racism at the time.