it's Green.

I’d like to believe that I’ll keep writing this blog once this class ends, but we all know that’s not the case. For this final blog post, I wanted to do something to top all of my other posts. 

Every Media and design student’s first lesson is about the use of colors. (I took three classes last semester that began the class with the exact same infographic of colors and brand logos). We discuss cultural differences between color interpretation, the importance of recognizable compositions, and most importantly, what we associate with each color. Of all the colors, I think green has the most diverse meanings. 

We get envy, money, wealth, and inheritance. We get new beginnings, growth, simplicity, and trustworthiness. We get “go” and “all clear.” We get inexperience, naivety. We get abundance and security. 

Here’s my analysis of the color green. 

in FILM 

I was inspired to write this post by Kiera Knightly’s Green Dress in Atonement. I just watched this film (as part of my quest to watch every Kiera Knightly movie).  The dress is iconic, and it stands out in the dark rooms of the house and amongst the subdued scandals.

Although green is not a color typically associated with taboos, this film demonstrates its variability. The green dress sticks to our memories as we break down the convoluted web of sins that this movie takes us through. It’s a complex color for a complex web of emotions. 

I want to compare Green to Red. Because it’s Christmas time, we see this arguably awful color combination plastered everywhere in ranging degrees of vibrancy. In Star Wars, green is good and red is bad. In Harry Potter it’s the opposite. 

We often see green dresses on red-haired characters. Redheads are associated with negative traits: argumentative, promiscuous women have red hair. Perhaps, the green dress serves to “humanize” or “soften” these red-haired women. 

Or maybe the color contrast is just cool, and we shouldn’t read into it so much. 

One of my favorite underrated redheads in green is Mia in La La Land. Mia wears a variety of colors, and the film itself is packed full of every color of the rainbow. While watching this film, I couldn’t get over the green that is the backdrop for so many emotionally-charged scenes. Mia’s audition at the end of the film, the scenes at the dinner tables, the city streets. 

There is undoubtedly envy in this film- along with ambition, money, and fame. But we don’t see green when Sebastion and Mia are successful on their own. We see green when the couple is together: when mia rushes to their date, at the piano singing City of Stars, and in the planetarium. The directors could have chosen warm red or happy yellow to distinguish these romantic scenes. But green also shows up when they debate their dreams at the midpoint of the film, and when Sebastion shows up outside Mia’s house and blares his car horn. This complex color shows up to remind us that this relationship is not a Hollywood romance, but something real and complex. 

in LITERATURE 

Gatsby 

I’m reminded of when a (lovingly) psychopathic English teacher assigned a color to each of her students and had us read The Great Gatsby and keep track of each page that a color was mentioned on. Green is practically synonymous with Gatsby. I couldn’t write this post without mentioning it. But I’m not going to waste any more of your time with it. 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 

One of the most talked about books of the past 5 years, this book has an iconic green dress on the cover (one that hasn’t needed to be redesigned, despite the book's outstanding success). Color is incredibly significant to this novel (It would lend itself so well to film, I'm sure we’ll get a brilliantly colored version of it soon). Evelyn uses color to disguise the fact that she is mixed-race. Especially in the world of black-and-white Hollywood, this iconic green dress (and the other green looks that Evelyn sports throughout the book) really stand out even on the page.  

Evelyn is another complex character. She doesn’t always make the most moral calls. She’s ambitious and cunning. But she’s human, and readers of this book walk away loving her. Green is once again a complex color on a complex woman. 

STAGE 

(Listening to: Todrick Hall’s Green from his Wizard of Oz-themed autobiography.) 

Wicked 

I could have talked about the color green in any of the Oz adaptations, but I needed a third section (and a reason to use my theatre minor). So I want to talk about Green in Wicked (the best Oz adaptation, and I do not take criticism on that opinion). An actress has been painted green every single day since the show opened on Broadway in 2003. It’s important.

It is glaringly obvious that the discrimination Elphaba faces throughout the movie is an allegory for racism or xenophobia.  The show has received criticism for using green to white-wash these issues. 

Elphaba travels to the Emerald City, believing that this is the one place in the world where she can fit in — if everything is green and everyone wears green-colored glasses, no one would bat an eye at her. However, she realizes that this city is full of all the things she hates: corruption, hatred, and deception. The green city was supposed to be home for her, but it turned into her personal hell. 

Hamilton 

Two characters wear green in Hamilton: Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza. Eliza wears the color the whole show; Hamilton dons it in the second act. 

In the context of her 3 sisters, Eliza’s green makes her trustworthy, serene, and elegant compared to her sisters. However, when her husband dons the color, it screams arrogance and new money. The color is supposed to align them in their relationship, but it’s interpreted very differently even within the same show. In a show with mostly neutrals in its costumes and set design, this green shines, reflecting Hamilton’s controversial nature. 

MUSIC 

I don't have time to go on a music deep-dive, it is finals week after all. Here is a playlist with a few good artists on it that claims to give off "Green" energy.

There are a thousand other examples of green in culture. I intentionally stayed away from uses of green where green=good or green=plants in favor of analyzing the more complex uses. I'm sure I missed some excellent examples. What’s your favorite use of green?