Oscars 2019: Green Book’s Best Picture win sends shock waves, Samuel L Jackson and Spike Lee can’t hide disappointment

Director Spike Lee and actor Samuel L Jackson weren’t the only ones upset after the dramedy Green Book was announced the Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards, held in Hollywood on Monday morning. Several fans took to Twitter to express their displeasure at the Academy’s decision to honour the controversial picture with its top prize. The film also won the Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor awards.

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According to Deadline, Lee, who had moments earlier won his first Oscar for BlackKklansman and had delivered a passionate speech, got up and walked to the back of the auditorium, ‘clearly furious’. “He turned around and appeared to get into an intense conversation with Jordan Peele, who was behind him. He was pacing the aisle and stormed to the back of the auditorium. When he came back, he turned his back to the stage during the speech,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Jackson, a close friend and collaborator of Lee’s and presenter of the Best Original Screenplay award, did not hide his feelings while handing co-writer Nick Vallelonga his Oscar. Vallelonga had previously tweeted in support of US president Donald Trump and allegedly made racist statements on Twitter, according to Uproxx.

Green Book has been involved in a series of controversies lately. Besides its use of the much derided ‘white saviour’ trope, the film was condemned by members of Don Shirley’s family. The character is played by Mahershala Ali in the film, about a black musician and his white driver as they tour a pre-Civil Rights American south. “My brother never considered Tony to be his ‘friend’; he was an employee, his chauffeur (who resented wearing a uniform and cap). This is why context and nuance are so important. The fact that a successful, well-to-do Black artist would employ domestics that did NOT look like him, should not be lost in translation,” Shirley’s brother had said.

It had also been reported that director Peter Farrelly, known for broad comedies such as Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary, had a tendency of flashing his genitals on set, according to a 1998 Newsweek article.

Here are some more reactions to Green Book’s win:

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