McConaughey’s “Greenlights” Review: “It’s all for everything.”
I’ve never been a Matthew McConaughey fan. That’s not to say I had anything against him, in particular. I liked him in the movies I saw him in, but wouldn’t go out of my way to see him. That being the case, I was ambivalent when I first heard about his brand new memoir “Greenlights”.
But when I kept catching him on all my favorite podcasts, eventually I decided to interpret it as a sign, especially as I’d just finished my previous read.
“Greenlights” was, for me, a 2 day read, and might’ve even been a one-sitting read, had I been less busy. Although this phrase is often thrown around the writing world, bearing little meaning, “Greenlights” actually did have me hooked from page one.
I knew almost immediately that I was in the presence of a true storyteller, and that’s the impression I’m left with now, having finished the book. McConaughey comes across as a man who enjoys the sound of his own voice but in all the right ways. He has a unique manner of crafting a sentence that constantly has you doing double-takes. Just to savor that writing.
He’s not just telling you a story. You can tell he’s actually having fun with the words.
I’ve never been a fan of celebrity memoirs and autobiography, suffering from a deeply-rooted allergy to obnoxious name-dropping. Yet having read McCounaghey’s autobiography, I can not remember a single name being dropped, which made it that much more pleasurable. Herein, you’ll find no steamy accounts of celebrity one-nighters, and no outlandish tales of hard partying with so-and-so.
In fact, the only mention of his fame comes about convolutedly through the focus on his career as an actor. You’re privy to a deeply personal journey that transcends the artist and exposes the man.
Persist, pivot, or concede. It’s up to us, our choice every time.
From childhood to the present day, McCounaghey takes you through an intensely emotional ride that somehow manages to speak to you. Introvert or extrovert. Obsessed with gossip or couldn’t care less about it. Man or woman. Happy or sad. There’s something for everyone in here, as we get to watch this one man struggle to catch the greenlights in his own life.
And individuals aren’t the only ones who’ll learn something from here.
They are not trying to win arguments of right or wrong. They are trying to understand each other. That’s different. (Hey, America, we could learn something from this.)
As could the rest of the world. In an age where we’re more devided than ever, and all our actions serve no other purpose than to bring a fellow human being down, “Greenlights” serves as an exercise in humanity. And humility.
Relatively recently, McCounaghey attracted some unwanted attention by urging Hollywood elites and the radical left and right movements across the U.S. (by which I mean the large majority of either side, since extreme seems to be the only option either understands) to meet in the middle.
And I can’t say that in this book, he expands on that. Thankfully, “Greenlights” isn’t a political book, just like it isn’t a Christian one, something else the actor is under fire for.
Instead of preaching, “Greenlights” teaches by example. McConaughey doesn’t bother to sit you down and start pointing out everything you’re doing wrong. He just lets you know, by the tone of his voice, and the way that he phrases things that you can do and be better.
I remember him mentioning that he hoped this book would serve not as an “if he can do it, I can do it, too”, but as an “I’m not alone, after all”. As someone who’s desperately holding on to an ever-precarious halfway point, it spoke to me. It showed me that I am not alone, in a moment when I needed to hear it.
To me, “Greenlights” constitutes some essential 2021 reading. Even if you don’t like McConaughey. Even if you’re not a Christian. Even if you think it might be best to let the world burn. Or perhaps because of it.
Obviously, all quotes are taken from “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey.
