Is “Green Book" the Worst Best Picture Winner Since “Crash"? Of Course Not.

I called it. “Green Book” won the Oscar and then all hell broke loose on social media.

The Los Angeles Times published a story by critic Justin Chang with the the headline: “‘Green Book’ is the worst best picture winner since ‘Crash.’” Chang wrote that “Green Book” was “insultingly glib and hucksterish, a self-satisfied crock masquerading as an olive branch.” Calling it “an embarrassment,” he added, “It reduces the long, barbaric and ongoing history of American racism to a problem, a formula, a dramatic equation that can be balanced and solved.”

Fine, but the backlash further continued with The New York Times’ Manhola Dargis tweeting “Remember that this is the same organization that gave its top honor to ‘Crash’ – so not surprising but still, f— it.” Manhola clearly took this win to heart.

“No one is happier than [‘Crash’ director] Paul Haggis right now,” RogerEbert.com editor Brian Tallerico wrote on Twitter. Whereas IndieWire’s David Ehrlich snarkily tweeted a scene from “First Reformed” with the tag “Will God Forgive Us?"

Of course, this is all part of the outrage culture we live in. People overreacting, virtue signaling, calling attention to themselves in ways that seem disingenuous. This is no knock on Tallerico, Dargis or Chang - three very fine film critics and people - but more a knock at the culture of social media and the way people seemed to be programmed to follow a herd-like mentality. We are, after all, genetically tribal-driven and that has proven true more so, than ever before, this decade with factions of groups splitting into micro groups, to the point where, for example, the democratic party is now going through a totally ignored inner civil war.

if “Green Book” has been deemed as the Donald Trump of cinema by Twitter, which, to me at least, is a perfect example of its current reputation, then anyone that likes the film must be a racist. I’m not even kidding. Try to go and tweet out how much you loved “Green Book” and have fun with the response that you get.

However, what you won’t hear from these same talking heads is that Peter Farrelly’s film was absolutely adored at the Toronto International Film Festival this past September, where it won the much coveted People’s Choice Award, beating out Oscar contenders such as “A Star is Born,” and “Roma,” it can’t be that bad now, can it? It was loved by a crowd that was into it from first reel to last; I can vouch, I was there at its world premiere at the Roy Thompson Hall and hadn’t felt that kind of engaged and delighted crowd response in years. This was before the film would garner controversy online by being attacked as a “white savior” and “magical negro” movie. The crowd at Roy Thompson Hall that night was allowed to enjoy the film for what it was, not for what it would eventually get molded into and become.

The film has clearly struck a chord with Joe and Jane popcorn. Practically every day I get asked the same question: “what movie should I watch?” It’s become such a mundane query, given that you have to figure out what kind of movie tastes the person asking might have; Do they like drama? Arthouse? Token Hollywood-ist conventionality? It’s very hard to just blurt out “Roma!” to every single person that asks because, truth be told, “Roma” is not as easily accessible a movie as, say, “Green Book.” However, I’ve been just saying “Green Book” to everybody since November, not out of sheer laziness but because I truly believed it was the most universally loved movie. It’s such an easy recommendation. A sure-fire crowd-pleaser that has an A+ CinemaScore and an impressive 8.3 rating on IMDB. You’d be hard pressed to find a mainstream moviegoer that doesn’t like Peter Farrelly’s Oscar-nominated film. I sure as hell haven’t. Everybody I’ve recommended it to came back to me raving about it.

And so, I feel like I need to answer the question that’s being asked by almost every film site; Is “Green Book” the worst best picture winner since Paul Haggis’ “Crash,” a film that spoke down to its audience and tried to splatter a morally-awkward lesson in racial discrimination 101? Of course not. In fact, “Green Book” is not nearly in the same average league as 2011 winner “The King’s Speech,” 2011’s “The Artist” or 2012’s “Argo,” three films that have aged terribly despite being released less than a decade ago.

No, what the future holds for Farrelly’s film is a rather comfy stay on basic cable television, where it will likely be aired numerous times to, no doubt, positive recommendations and repeat customer viewings, and will be well-received by both male and female audiences, much like it has in theaters, given its 8.3 IMdB user rating and A+ CinemaScore.

Despite what the experts might be telling you, a positive fate awaits “Green Book,” it won’t go away in a dust of oblivious forgetfulness, it won’t become a shameful moment in Oscar history and it won’t be treated the same way it is being treated right now because, as the saying goes, a good movie is a good movie is a good movie. You can’t erase the quality of a well-made crowd-pleaser because, at the end of the day, it’s all-but-impossible to erase a movie which has been this well-liked by the mainstream.