Green Book's Oscar Odds Increase Following Producers Guild Awards, But The Film Has Proven To Be Controversial

Green Book has been a bit of a dark horse contender since the beginning of awards season, but after winning top feature film of 2018 at the Producers Guild Awards, its Oscar chances are climbing.

On the surface, Green Book makes perfect sense as an Oscar contender. The film stars Academy Award-winning Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) as musician Dr. Don Shirley and Viggo Mortensen (The Road) as his driver in a drama about race relations in the '60s.

However, the film has proven to be more divisive and controversial than anticipated. For instance, some have alleged that Green Book is inaccurate to the real-life people it's based on and glosses over important details, which caused some family members of Dr. Don Shirley to call the film "very hurtful" and a "symphony of lies."

Others have argued that in this day and age a story about race relations should not be told from the white characters perspective as it plays into the dated white savior narrative. Yet another controversy that has plagued Green Book is Viggo Mortensen's use of the N-word in full when he said "no one says n-- anymore" during a Q&A.

These controversies comes at a time when the Academy is trying to address its lack of diversity and representation, which has resulted in multiple years of #OscarsSoWhite trending online.

Only time will tell if Green Book will receive a best picture Oscar, but since the Producers Guild Awards has predicted the winner 20 out of the past 29 years, it is looking much more likely.

The Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow and the ceremony will be held next month.