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I was much younger when I recall learning, from my mother, that her beloved grandparents were big fans of Al Jolson of "Mammy" fame. She loved them very much and told me many stories of what they taught her and how they loved her. So one day, I asked her why were 1/?
these grandparents fans of someone who performed in blackface? Didn't they see that he was someone who got rich off of parodying black folks? She shook her head and said no. "They were so happy to have some type of representation, to see what they thought of as a blackface in 2/?
the movies that they were fans." So I find myself thinking about my great-grandparents today, about 100 years later, wondering what they might think of that representation now that we've had a Black president, mayors, senators, entertainment figures, etc. I wonder if they 3/?
would still be fans of Jolsons? I find myself thinking of Dr. Maya Angelou who said, "When you know better you do better." And here, on the morning after the #Oscars I know that the reason that the producers were so defiant about their win was bc they knew that Green Book 4/?
was not a step forward in the right direction. They knew that this movie, with the way that Don Shirley was portrayed, fell short of what it might have been if they bothered to have Shirley's character as a co-lead instead of sitting firmly in the back seat. That's why Peter 5/?
Farrelly wore that "F*%k you" face when he picked up both of his Oscars. They knew there was more to the story--a story that they purposefully shaped to attract a particular audience. I say all of this as a scholar of biopics and of historical fiction. Yes, I know it's 6/?
only a two-hour movie, but it's not what it could have been. I have hopes that Don Shirley's story can still be told, due to this preliminary exposure. I wonder what that movie would look like with his chauffeur having a small part. 7/?
To me, the movie of Green Book reads as a movie where Black people should be grateful for the representation of Don Shirley that they got. Peter Farrelly's defiance and face told me, reminded me that I'm still in the time of my great-grandparents and that I, as a Black woman, 8/?
should be grateful for the representation that I got. Sorry. I'm not. I'm not willing to settle. Yes, it's the Trump years, but as Maya said I've known better. So Hollywood needs to do better. Especially because, I don't want some future young descendant or cousin of mine 9/?
asking where my head was when Green Book won best picture & was I happy that it won. I'm not. So, I'm speaking, writing, and asking right now. For the sake of #ownvoices, we can & hopefully will do better to ask the really hard questions about race. Instead of settling. Fin.
@threadreaderapp please unroll.
