Green Book-an analyse with behavioural assessment scale

Last Edited, 2022

Wrote in 2021, essay from intercultural communication class

Nowadays, as the awareness of racism increased, the treatment of the black community was bought to the spotlight. The winner of two academy award and one golden globe award, Green Book, take place in 60s, the period of a distressing history, where Inhumanly treating black was considered as ‘normal’. Directed by Peter Farrelly, based on the true story of Tong Lip, played by Viggo Mortensen and Dr. Don Shirley, played by Mahershala Ali, present a movie about racism and the impact of masculinity cultures.

Stereotyping, overly simplifying other’s cultures, and forming a wrong assumption of one’s actions, may lead to disrespecting others. In the movie, after Tony bought a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken, he expected Don would love the fried chicken. Quoting from the scene, Tony says, ‘You people love the fried chicken, the grits, the colored greens.’ and ‘The negro cooks used to make it all time when I was in the army.’ However, Don was not acting as he thoughts, and Tony coped with this by focusing on Don to taste the chicken. According to the behavioral assessment scale for intercultural competence, he lacked tolerance for ambiguity, which indicates the reaction to a situation that is a bit discomfort. Even though Don did as Tony said in the end, yet, it happens because Tony did not give any choices to Don. Because of that, instead of being impatient one acting differently than expected, he should accept the difference between Don and other people of the same ethnicity and give choices to Don.

Another intercultural communication issue shown in the movie is racism at an institutional level. Racism means a cultural group, or a race being suppressed or treated unequally. In the movie, there is a part, in which Dr. Don was heading to the bathroom. However, he is stopped by a white male waiter. Rather than letting him go, the waiter pointed him to a dilapidated toilet placed in the forest. This scene performed a classic inequality rule in history, where there is a distinction in the use of bathrooms between different races. The waiter failed to meet the requirement of empathy in the behavioural assessment scale, ignoring the differences and equality of one’s, making the relationship between Don and others embarrassing. Due to the views of blacks back in 1960, without realizing this is a false concept, the waiter simply could not improve his communication competence.

Despite the inequality treatment, the mescaline culture also made an impact in the 60s. In masculine culture, most would judge one’s success by their achievements. Considering ostentatious manliness as a proper act. Because of that, not fulfilling the requirement of the musical society, one would be left out, leading to isolation according to Stages of Psychosocial Development (1950, E. Erikson), making one not be able to create intimate relationships and feel lonely. Quoting Don in the pouring rain scene, saying ‘...as soon as I step off that stage, I go right back to being just another nigger to them.’. Pointing to the fact that his accomplishments were what makes him a difference on stage. Not only that, at the beginning of the movie, Tony had a basis for Black people. He would throw away glasses touched by maintainers, who are black. However, when Tony realized the achievement and talents of Dr. Don, he begins to change his attitude. As he wrote in the letter, saying how impressed he is by Don, reinforcing one’s achievement is crucial. Later in the same part, Don says that ‘...if I’m not man enough, then tell me, Tony, what am I?’ This indicated ‘men’s identity is constructed by presenting the quality of what is stereotypically considered manly. Nevertheless, Don did not fit the expectation of the manly act since he is gay, losing his identity of being a man.After all, this movie shows us a glimpse of how blacks are being treated in history. Even though different ethnical is now more equal, still, with a fixed concept of others’ culture could be led to the failure of cultural communication. Considering this, we all should be embracing the difference of others like Tony at the end of the movie.

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