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36 pages 1 hour read

Matthew McConaughey

Greenlights

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2020

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Symbols & Motifs

Greenlights

Greenlights, the title concept of McConaughey’s book, punctuate the narrative. Borrowing the idea of greenlights from the green traffic signal, McConaughey defines them as “an affirmation of our way” and being as easy and effortless as “a shoeless summer” (Location 171; Location 173). McConaughey, a man who is fortunate enough to have looks and talents recognized by his society, has received numerous greenlights in his life. However, the most satisfying of these were initially “disguised as yellow and red lights,” as McConaughey had to overcome some struggle to get what he wanted (Location 177). For example, McConaughey long wanted to earn his father’s respect and come of age as a man in his eyes. When McConaughey’s father shows him the red light after a failed attempt, it is a signal to McConaughey that he has not yet attained the level of courage or integrity required to impress his father. When he eventually gets there, “the primitive initiation into my father’s regard” is a hard-earned greenlight, and a signal that he is growing up in the right way (Location 1048).

Indeed, a recurring theme in the memoir is that too many greenlights, especially the ones that come too easily, can be counterproductive to creating great art or an adventurous life. When McConaughey finds himself getting too many of the wrong greenlights—landing too many romantic comedy leads—he knows it’s time to set himself a challenge, even if it means risking the possibility of a red or an amber light.

“Getting Relative with the Inevitable”

A frequently used phrase in the memoir is that of getting “relative with the inevitable” (Location 86). The inevitable in McConaughey’s definition, is the facts and outcomes in our lives that we cannot change. It might also be a promise that we resolved not to break; for example, staying in Australia for the whole year. In McConaughey’s view, to live with integrity is to not violate or protest the inevitable. Instead, our energy is far better directed towards shaping the relative circumstances we can control. McConaughey learns to master the relative early on in life from his parents, who taught him the moral values of “resilience, consequences, responsibility, and how to work hard” in addition to the happy-go-lucky ones of “how to hustle, sell, charm, turn a tide, make a downfall my upfall, and spin a yarn” (Location 163). While the first set of values enables McConaughey to persist on the right road, even if when it is the more difficult one, the second set gifts him a variety of tactics for persuading others. Towards the end of the book, McConaughey applies his getting “relative with the inevitable” maxim to the “red-light drama” of COVID-19. He writes that “its disruption in our lives became inevitable” owing to social-distancing and quarantining regulations and lives and jobs lost (Location 3077). However, with the uncertainty of how long the disruption would go for, “we had to get relative” and find a way of using the pause as an opportunity to change our lives and those of others for the better (Location 3078).

Outlaw Logic

Outlaw logic is the title of McConaughey’s first chapter, which describes his childhood with his parents. He describes such logic as “a carnation of malaprops, full of fictitious physics, because if it wasn’t true, it ought to be” (Location 159). Here, McConaughey gives the impression that outlaw logic is not conventional wisdom and is made up as you go along to suit the given situation. This is evident in McConaughey’s word choices for his definition, which are spontaneous and not strictly logical, conveying and essence rather than an explicit meaning. Malaprops, (or malapropisms), are words used mistakenly in place of the correct, similar-sounding word; for example: carnation instead of combination. Such outlaw logic is apparent in Kay’s telling McConaughey that understanding a poem means that you have enough skill to pass it off as your own and enter a competition with it.

The outlaw logic descends from the McConaughey family’s Irish roots, being outsiders on the fringes of society for generations: “there is no royalty in our past. There is, however, a lot of cattle thieving, riverboat gambling, and an Al Capone bodyguard” (Location 245). Hence, breaking the rules and getting away with it is a family honor, as long as you do not lie or get caught. Even as McConaughey ascended to wealth and fame in Hollywood, his preference for outlaw logic and the characters who display it predominates. He feels far more at home playing rebels who question the status quo than the romantic comedy heroes designed to appeal to mass audiences. He has used outlaw logic to score his desired roles by hustling and persisting and even by staging a 20-month disappearance from Hollywood to effect a McConaissance and dispel his romantic comedy reputation.

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