McIntosh’s Ideas
In her essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh discusses the concept of white privilege. As a white person herself, she mentions that racism is not solely about the disadvantages that black people suffer from; it is about the advantages that it gives to white people (McIntosh 1). She argues that the majority of the white population does not realize how advantageous their position is and how much they benefit from being white (McIntosh 1). Unpacking all these advantages is necessary to overcome racial discrimination and achieve a more equitable society.
Crenshaw’s Ideas
In her talk, Crenshaw discusses intersectionality and the many layers that racism and discrimination are based on. She mentions the story of a woman who was not hired for a job, and she believes that the reason for that is her being a black woman (“Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw Defines Intersectionality”). Indeed, that company often hired black men and white women, but black women were a minority. This story demonstrates that black women face double discrimination, which is racism exacerbated by sexism. And, according to Crenshaw, in addition to sexism, there are many layers of discrimination, such as ableism or transphobia, that make the experiences of each marginalized person unique.
Lorde’s Ideas
In her essay “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppression,” Audre Lorde discusses the importance of not prioritizing one type of oppression over the other. She believes that all forms of oppression, be it racism, sexism, or homophobia, are equally damaging and deserve to be fought against in the same way (Lorde). She claims that as a black lesbian, she faces oppression as a woman, as a black person, and as a lesbian, and all these struggles are valid, as oppression should not be put into a hierarchy.
Hall’s Ideas
Stuart Hall proposes a theory explaining how the audience perceives media messages. He states that the meanings of the messages that the producers base their works on are not interpreted by the spectators similarly (Hall 94). Instead, understanding the message will depend on various factors, including one’s cultural background, unique social contexts, race, gender, ideology, and others. This can create misinterpretations and misunderstandings, with one audience segment finding the meanings the others did not notice. This also explains why the original meaning often gets lost in the additional interpretations.
Hooks’ Ideas
Bell Hooks’ “Making Movie Magic” talks about the power of movies and the power of representation. She argues that one of the most crucial roles that movies play is an educational role, and many people watch them not just for entertainment but to learn something (Hooks 2). Therefore, the way the issues of race, sex, and class are presented in the movies affects the audience as well (Hooks 3). Hooks is concerned with representation and the struggles of non-white people, particularly black women, in the movie industry. She argues that currently, the industry still perpetuates a harmful image of the African American community and all marginalized communities. She also mentions that the directors should be aware of their own biases when including representation of minorities in their works.
McIntosh’s Ideas and Green Book
The story depicted in Green Book is a bright example of what white privilege looks like. The second protagonist of the movie is a white driver who accompanies the pianist, dr. Don Shirley, in his trips in the South (Green Book). The difference in how the two of them were treated is apparent. Tony Lip, the white driver, could do everything Dr. Don Shirley could not, such as staying in any hotel, entering any place, and not having to think about general obstacles related to his race. He navigates the world designed for people like him and faces no difficulties. At the same time, the pianist faces numerous obstacles caused by racism throughout the movie.
Crenshaw’s Ideas and Green Book
In Green Book, the protagonist is a black man who manages to travel through the South of America, playing the piano for white audiences. Considering Crenshaw’s ideas, it would be significantly more challenging for her to do what he was doing if the protagonist was a black woman instead of a male pianist. Firstly, it would be more dangerous for a black woman to travel to the South similarly. Secondly, black women’s talent was more underestimated than that of black men. It can be speculated that the protagonist’s identity as a man helped him to do what a black woman could never do.
Lorde’s Ideas and Green Book
Farrelly’s movie primarily focuses on one type of oppression: racial oppression. It does not discuss other layers of oppression affecting the protagonist or other characters. It cannot be said that the director intentionally put racial discrimination at the top of the oppression pyramid; however, it is still evident that his main intention was to address racism only. The issues of classism could also have been discussed in the movie. However, the director preferred not to do it.
Hall’s Ideas and Green Book
Hall’s ideas can explain why the audiences interpreted the Green Book in different ways. On the one hand, the director’s intended original message was to demonstrate how wrong and inhumane racial segregation was (Green Book). Some viewers, however, decoded the movie differently and paid attention to other meanings. One decoded meaning was depicting the second protagonist as the white savior. Thus, many believed that the movie perpetuated the idea that black people need white people to help them and save them from oppression. On the other hand, a broad segment of the audience focused more on the importance of friendship and the idea that racial differences cannot prevent people from creating genuine connections.
Hooks’ Ideas and Green Book
The movie Green Book can be compared to Hooks’ ideas regarding movie representation from different angles. On the one hand, the initial goal of the movie was to provide a representation of talented African Americans from the 20th century and depict the unfair treatment they received. Thus, the director’s objective was benevolent and was meant to bring more diversity into cinema. On the other hand, it could be argued that the director was still influenced by some of the biases when making the movie. In particular, the pianist’s driver, a white man, plays a role almost as important as that of the musician. He is portrayed as the white savior, which is one of the typical tropes in similar movies.
Works Cited
Green Book. Directed by Peter Farrelly, Universal Pictures, 2018.
Hall, Stuart. “Encoding, Decoding.” The Cultural Studies Reader, edited by Simon During, Routledge, 2007, 90-103.
Hooks, Bell. “Introduction: Making Movie Magic.” Reel to Real, Routledge, 2008, 1-9.
Lorde, Audre. There Is No Hierarchy of Oppression. Council on Interracial Books for Children, 1983.
McIntosh, Peggy. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Wellesley College, 1989.
“Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw Defines Intersectionality.” YouTube, uploaded by Rich Russo. 2018. Web.