The many controversies of ‘Green Book’

By Ella Torres, Jami Ganz and Nancy Dillon, New York Daily News

After three Oscars, three Golden Globes and various other top honors, “Green Book” has garnered nearly as many wins as it has controversies.

The film depicts black piano prodigy Don Shirley’s evolving friendship with Italian driver Tony “Lip” Vallelonga during a 1962 tour of the Jim Crow-era deep south.

When it won the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards Sunday night, many were quick to recall the criticism and scandals that have dogged the project since its holiday release.

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Here’s a guide to the major controversies surrounding “Green Book”:

VIGGO MORTENSEN SAYS THE N-WORD DURING A PANEL ABOUT THE MOVIE

In November, while doing press for the film, star and Best Actor nominee Viggo Mortensen (Tony “Lip” Vallelonga) uttered the N-word. Mortensen later said he was trying to make a point about how casually the word was used during the time in which the film takes place. The actor later apologized for using the word and his costar, Mahershala Ali, issued a statement in which he stipulated that though he accepted Mortensen’s apology, “The use of the word by those who aren’t black is not up for debate. The history of discrimination, slavery, pain, oppression and violence that the word has come to symbolize only causes harm to members of the black community and therefore needs to be left in the past.”

DIRECTOR PETER FARRELLY ADMITS TO FLASHING HIS GENITALS AT COLLEAGUES

After a 1998 Newsweek article that discussed Farrelly’s “prank” of flashing himself to co-workers resurfaced, the director apologized for his behavior.

“I was an idiot. I did this decades ago and I thought I was being funny and the truth is I’m embarrassed and it makes me cringe now,” he said in a statement. “I’m deeply sorry.”

Cameron Diaz, then 25, is said to be one of the people who was subjected to the offensive gag.

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THE SHIRLEY FAMILY WAS NEVER CONTACTED DURING WRITING OR FILMING AND SUBSEQUENTLY DENOUNCED THE FINISHED PRODUCT

Dr. Don Shirley’s relatives, including his last surviving brother, were not contacted until after filming was complete. Producers at some point contacted the estate regarding music rights and invited family members to an early screening. They were not fans.

Speaking to the Daily News last month, brother Maurice Shirley, 82, called the film a “symphony of lies,” repeating a criticism he first made to ShadowAndAct.com. He said he was upset a movie about such a brilliant and pioneering musician was reduced to an interracial buddy comedy with a white man in the lead.

“The movie was not about Don Shirley. It was about Tony Lip,” Maurice told The News.

In a follow-up interview Monday, Maurice said he didn’t watch the Oscars telecast. “I still feel the same,” he said.

His wife Patricia did catch the show and believed “Black Panther,” “Roma” and “BlacKkKlansman” were more deserving of the top honor, she said.

She said Don Shirley’s mom died when he was a child, so Maurice played a major role in raising him. She said the brothers were never estranged in the way depicted in the film and that the world-famous musician deserved better than “a feeble attempt at embracing his story.”

“It was a fantasy. The movie was written and conceived from Tony Vallelonga’s perspective. Perhaps he did find himself to be a help-mate to Donald and felt he was, in a certain sense, a savior for Donald. But Donald never shared with the family those kinds of experiences. We believe they are grossly misrepresented,” she said. “Donald certainly encountered racism during those travels, but he grew up in the south. It was not novel to him.”

Both Maurice and Patricia said the family greatly appreciated the apologetic phone calls that Ali placed to various family members last year.

“I think it took a gentleman to do that,” Patricia said Monday. “We’re pleased for Mr. Ali that he has been honored in his craft,” she said of his Best Supporting Actor win.

SCREENWRITER NICK VALLELONGA’S ANTI-MUSLIM TWEET

Back in 2015, Nick Vallelonga, writer of “Green Book” and son of the main character’s real life alter-ego, echoed one of Donald Trump’s most infamous Islamaphobic statements, tweeting, “@realDonaldTrump 100 percent correct. Muslims in Jersey City cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on local CBS news.”

Not only is the statement a notably false one, but Ali, Vallelonga’s star, is Muslim. Vallelonga apologized to Ali and “everyone associated with ‘Green Book’” in a statement through his representative, while Universal did not comment.

PETER FARRELLY DIDN’T THANK SHIRLEY OR HIS FAMILY IN HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

When Peter Farrelly took home the Best Picture award at the 91st Oscars, he sprinkled thank-yous around, especially to Mortensen. But he didn’t mention Shirley or the musician’s family.

“Absolutely we noticed it,” Patricia Shirley told The News on Monday.

“I was a bit taken aback when the only person who mentioned Donald during that ceremony was Mahershala,” she said. “I was taken aback, but I wasn’t offended. As I said, our greatest offense was at some of the gross misrepresentations in the film.”

HOW CLOSE WERE VALLELONGA AND DR. SHIRLEY REALLY?

The existence of the friendship between Vallelonga and Shirley, the backbone of “Green Book,” has been questioned as well. “It was an employer-employee relationship,” Patricia previously said.

CRITICS ARE SPLIT

While it wasn’t the lowest-rated Best Picture nominee of 2019 on Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes — an honor reserved specially for “Bohemian Rhapsody” — “Green Book” scored a mere 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 69 percent on Metacritic. Blockbuster hits such as “A Star Is Born” and “Black Panther” scored 90 percent and 97 percent, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes.

HuffPost reviewed “Green Book” as “disappointing” and “tone-deaf on race,” while Variety dismissed it as “‘Driving Miss Daisy’ in reverse.” Even those who enjoyed it were conflicted, with Vulture saying, “On paper it sounds cringeworthy, but much of it is great fun.”

THE TITLE IS A MISNOMER

Going in, it’s hard to decipher the title’s reference. Shortly into the film, it’s revealed that the green book is in fact a nod to “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” written by Victor Hugo Green, which informed drivers which establishments were welcoming to African-Americans.

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