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-year-old Matthew McConaughey has indeed gone through what is called McConaissance, a term that plays on the word renaissance. It came into being as the actor – best known for average movies – made a dramatic shift in acting roles.
Sure, the beginning of Matthew McConaughey’s career in Hollywood was strong with the now iconic Dazed and Confused. However, what followed were a string of films including several below average romantic comedies. All that changed with the McConaissance that began with 2011’s The Lincoln Lawyer and propelled the actor to unbelievable heights including Christopher Nolan sci-fi global hit, Interstellar. Other performances in films such as Dallas Buyers Club landed Matthew an Oscar for a leading role. Productions such as True Detective and Mud solidified his position as a fierce actor.
Going from average to dynamic films, the actor has now written (and recorded) a book called Greenlights.
On the surface, Greenlights is like an autobiographical account of Matthew McConaughey’s life from his childhood and upbringing like a Texan, the relationship he had with his parents and the rite of passage from boy to man (according to his father), a detailed account of his life and experiences so far. Within the book though there are sticky notes that serve as Matthew’s interpretations and life lessons over time.
It also has dedicated pages and these are the most important – apart from the prose – where Matthew shares life lessons that offer more than mere reflections but ideas that could impact others. While the page-turning book is written in first person, throughout there are separate pages featuring lessons that could’ve easily come out of a sharp self-help book. In fact, even the title ‘Greenlights’ means how to take a situation and turn it into something positive, ergo red from green like traffic signals. As Matthew points outs, “Consequences can go both ways.”
Even as we learn about the actor’s relationship with his father or his time in Australia after finishing high school and what that taught him, it’s the self-help notes that could apply to any person which makes this more than an actor’s personal story.
In the introduction, states one note:
“The arrival is inevitable: Death A unanimous and unified destination A noun without regard. Our eulogy. Written. Lived.
The approach is relative: Life A singular procession, our personal journey.
A verb with regard. Our resume. Write it. Live it.”
While the sticky notes reflect Matthew’s reflections over the years, the notes further reiterate universal lessons. In one titled conservative early, liberal late, Matthew states in articulate form the latter (below)…
“We need discipline, guidelines, context, and responsibility early in any new endeavor. It’s the time to sacrifice. To learn, to observe, to take heed.”
In the same passage, he further notes, “Individuality needs resistance.”
As the narrative of Matthew’s life continues, the ideals continue to flow.
Writes Matthew under the subhead the monster:
“The future is the monster not the boogeyman under the bed.
The past is just something we’re trying to outrun tomorrow.
The monster is the future The unknown.
The boundaries not yet crossed.
The challenge not yet met.
The potential not yet realized.
The dragon not yet tamed.
On a one-way collision course with no turning back,
The future, the monster,
Is always waiting for us and Always sees us a-comin.
So we should lift our heads,
Look it in the eyes and
Watch it heed.”
The novel draws from Matthew’s own life where he reiterates why lying is worse than many other things and eventually also tells you how the Texan went to Hollywood.
Some sound like verse, even as the prose continues, while other notes may well be in a self-help or lifestyle book. None of this should take away from Greenlights, which isn’t a judgment on others but taking stock of life and why everything is an inside job.
It may sound flaky at first but when read with concentration, there is a larger dynamic to this book that works as a thrilling narration on one of the most interesting actors of the time while also operating as a curious self-help guide – for those willing to give it a chance.
To add to the segues that appear and disappear as Matthew talks about his life, it must be added that he is a surprisingly good writer and reveals parts of his life we never knew prior to this book.