Let’s review:
Best film Oscar for the director of Kingpin and Dumb and Dumber? 1
Best film Oscar for the director of Do the Right Thing: 0
1990: Do the Right Thing: No Oscar; Driving Miss Daisy: Oscar.
2019: We have two strong films up for best picture by black directors about what it means to be black, Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman–one director a promising newcomer who even made a deep-into-the-Rocky-franchise film memorable, the other one of the most original and gifted directors of our time. And who beats them? A white Farrelly brother, who once directed Kingpin (a film so stupefyingly gross even a dumb-humor fan like me was appalled). And what was this winning film about? Being black in America, a film starring, of course, a white man.
Yeah, I’m going to bed now.
You think a superhero movie about a mythical country in Africa that has cut itself off from the rest of the world and lives off some magical element in a meteorite has more to say about what it means to be black than a movie based on two actual people and set in the south in 1962? Don’t think I’m buying that.
I definitely see your point. But in terms of metaphor, I disagree. The conflict between the hero and villain, about how to handle racism and the suffering of others, was definitely more nuanced and interesting than what Green Book was offering. But even if we disagree on that film, I suspect you too probably appreciate Coogler’s earlier efforts (Fruitvale Station) more than Farrelly’s (Kingpin), and understand why I’m surprised at the win.