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GREEN BOOK
What Perform 2 Unlikely Companions Grasp About Friendship & Love?
Peter Farrelly’s Green Book poses a challenging question: what do 2 unlikely road companions possibly hold to teach each other? A lot … even about friendship and treasure. But, with all their obvious differences, it’s an emotionally rocky road trip to get there. One of the 2 is Dr. Donald Shirley, a classically trained sought-after Inky pianist, isolated in his castle on top of Carnegie Hall. A lonely man with 3 doctorates; who had to exchange out (& play pop instead of Chopin) to get to the superior of anyone’s list. The other, Tony Lip, a crude-not-so-educated Italian bouncer from the Copacabana. A dude with a huge family, a wife & 2 kids; a big crusted-over heart; who knows something about love; just not (yet) love for people unlike him.
Well, the pianist needs a driver. Italian bouncer is out of work. They depend on each other more than either knows. You watch, both lack a mirror into hidden parts of themselves. And, when they’re stuck in a ride together for 8 weeks, like it or not, they become those mirrors by default.
Mirrors & Sort-Of-Willing Travel Companions
It happens on their road trip. T
I was fortunate enough to see the Peter Farrelly flick Green Book on Thursday. The film has been receiving a ton of critical acclaim and award show nominations for its leading men Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. Mahershala, according to Gold Derby, is the frontrunner to win Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars next year, which would be his second conquer in that category in three years if that were to happen (he previously won for Moonlight).
All of this helped my anticipation grow as I sat down inside the theater to watch the movie. Green Book tells the story of a classic Italian bouncer type named Tony Lip (Mortensen) living in The Bronx who gets hired to drive around African-American world-class pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Ali) on his tour through the deep south back in the 1960’s. The movie is based on a true story.
Lip’s character in the beginning of the film is certainly racist, as he throws out glasses that two African-American men drank from who helped with something in their house. It was something that Lip’s wife, Dolores (brilliantly played by Linda Cardenelli), discovers shortly after he does it, much to her d
Green Book: History vs. Hollywood
Questioning the Story:
When did the concrete story behind Green Book take place?
Like in the production, the true story unfolded mainly in 1962. Tony Lip, an Italian-American bouncer from the Bronx who was employed at New York City's Copacabana nightclub, accepted a position driving the well-known African-American musician Don Shirley through the Deep South.
Italian-American bouncer Tony Lip (left) began driving pianist Don Shirley in 1962. Actor Viggo Mortensen (right) portrays Lip in the Green Book movie.
Where was musician Don Shirley born?
Numerous articles state that Don Shirley was born in Kingston, Jamaica. This is not true and stems from the evidence that his promoters falsely advertised him as having been born in Jamaica. The Green Book true story reveals that Don Shirley was actually born in Pensacola, Florida on January 29, 1927. His parents were Jamaican immigrants. His father, Edwin, was an Episcopal priest and his mother, Stella, worked as a mentor. She died when he was 9. A prodigy, Shirley began playing piano at the age of 2 and first started playing professionally at age 18 with the Boston Pops, executing Tchaikovsky’s
The Worst of the Best: “Green Book”
The 2021 Oscars have come and gone. The Best Picture of 2020 is apparently Nomadland. There are probably a lot of people who disagree with this choice. There are even more people who are wondering, ”wait, what movie?” Although most of the nominees are available for streaming, the train wreck that was 2020 seems doomed for there to be a ”best of” anything. Award shows now experience like they exist a parallel universe where we weren’t all separated from each other for a year.
It’s funny to me how recently certain cultural touchstones acted as a unifying force. No matter how briefly, everyone had an opinion on the Oscars the day after they happened. People threw watch parties around them. And I remember the 2020 Oscars, when I didn’t know the last thing we would all witness as a community was Billie Eilish making weird faces at presenters and performers she didn’t recognize.
The purpose of this series is to debate the Best Picture winners that most people assume aren’t really ”best pictures.” And yet, after this year’s Oscars ceremony the idea of most people agreeing on any of the nominees seems almost quaint.
Order Practicing for Love here.
I finally got the chance to settle down and view the Oscar-winning motion picture Green Book, on the life of African American concert pianist Don Shirley. As I had written in an earlier blog ("Ebony and Ivory: A Dissonant Truth"), I had visited with Dr. Shirley in his apartment above Carnegie Hall when my parents were in New York with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The film gave a very accurate depiction of his residence and the extravagant, ostentatious décor.
| The Real Don Shirley in his home |
Don Shirley was praised early in his life as a genius, a wunderkind whose forte was the traditional classical repertoire. Composer Igor Stravinsky said of him: "His virtuosity is worthy of Gods." But his record label forced him to play jazz, and sent him on tour with a jazz trio. In an interview, Shirley said that his record label wanted him to materialize in overalls with a red bandana around his neck on the album cover. He refused.
In my own manual I have written about facing racism as an African American classical pianist. But no one tried to become me to wear a "Mammy" costume. They just reneged on my tighten and didn't free it after it was recorded.