“Every time somebody’s driving somebody, I lose. But they…changed the seating arrangement,” said Spike Lee after this year’s Academy Awards at which his film BlackkKlansman lost Best Picture to Green Book. Of course, in his clever soundbite, Spike is referencing his 1989 movie Do the Right Thing and the fact that the Academy chose not to nominate it for BP–while the same year saw another racially focused film, Driving Miss Daisy (1989; Zanuck Company Productions, Warner Bros.) take home the industry’s highest honor. Final score at the 1990 Oscars: Driving Miss Daisy 4; Spike 0. Poor, poor Spike. Driving Miss Daisy won Makeup, Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium), Actress in a Leading Role for Jessica Tandy as Miss Daisy Werthan, and Best Picture (it failed to take home Oscars for Art Direction, Costume Design, Film Editing, Actor in a Supporting Role for Dan Aykroyd as Boolie Werthan, and Actor in a Leading Role for Morgan Freeman as Hoke Colburn).

In the months leading up to the 2019 Oscar ceremony, a lot of people remarked upon the similarities of Driving Miss Daisy and Green Book and also noted a correlation between Do the Right Thing and BlackkKlansman. Although all four films deal with racial tensions and stereotypes, Driving Miss Daisy and Green Book are both tamer than their respective Spike Lee counterparts; and the most obvious similarity between the two BP winners is that large portions of both Driving Miss Daisy and Green Book take place in cars–except an African-American man drives a white woman in 1989’s BP, and a white man drives a black man in 2018’s winner. Hence, Spike’s comment about the change in seating arrangement.

The commonalities between Do the Right Thing and BlackkKlansman stem more from how they present and address racial tensions and violence, opposed to any similarities in their storylines. Spike’s films generally are pretty raw and in-one’s-face. He likes to shock his audience into thinking about an issue (usually a racial one). Do the Right Thing and BlackkKlansman bring up the question of if/when violence is an appropriate response to racism, and both films end with that question not having been completely (and satisfactorily) resolved.

What I find especially interesting about all four of these films is that the years prior to and of their releases saw significant amounts of racial unrest. Like the 2010s, the 1980s featured several high-profile incidences of police violence against minorities (such as the death of New York graffiti artist Michael Stewart while in police custody and the police shooting of Eleanor Bumpurs, a mentally ill senior citizen facing eviction), which only served to fuel the racial tensions that were already simmering. Spike’s films feed off of the hatred and fear inherent in these real-life events without really offering a hopeful solution to bias and bigotry. Green Book and Driving Miss Daisy, despite what some critics insist about their still having toned-down racist agendas, both attempt to offer meaning and positivity with regard to a hot-button issue that is so enwrapped in emotion and history that it’s often difficult to talk through practical solutions. Personally, I’ll opt for the films that offer some kind of hope that we can one day work through past/present racial issues and learn to love everyone regardless of skin color. Not sorry, Spike.

For more thoughts on Driving Miss Daisy, please check out this weekend’s post!