Within the Nineteen Seventies, a white South African named Mahree Bok (Lindsey Haun) lady goes to America to stick with a Black household as a part of an change program and is shocked to study that apartheid doesn’t exist there. You possibly can’t assist however cringe on the premise of The Coloration of Friendship, particularly on condition that it’s a DCOM that was launched in 2000. That’s what you’d be shocked by how Black director Kevin Hooks and Black author Paris Quallers are keen to go all the best way there by refusing to tug any punches in its efficient depiction of race relations on this film that’s based mostly on a real story.
When Mahree arrives in America, she awkwardly refuses to shake palms along with her homestay mother Roscoe Dellums (Penny Johnson Jerald), and laughs in uncomfortable hysterics when she meets her Congressman homestay father Ron Dellums (Carl Lumbly), shocked that somebody in energy might be Black. By way of a collection of occasions, which features a younger Black lady named Piper Dellums (Shadia Simmons) providing a self-sequestered Mahree meals, the veil of Mahree’s ignorance slowly lifts, and the 2 notice they’ve rather a lot in frequent. One of many extra impactful scenes options Mahree educating Piper the assorted classifications for black individuals in South Africa. In it, the N-word is talked about twice in a TV-G rated DCOM!
Shit will get actually actual when Steve Biko, an precise South African anti-apartheid activist, is killed by the police. Mahree responds: “Who cares? Just a few loopy terrorist who killed himself.” Piper flips out, rightfully so, and Congressman Dellums teaches her concerning the vicious cycle of apartheid. It’s then that Mahree understands how the system oppresses Black individuals and what the Black liberation motion in South Africa is combating for.
Not your common Disney film, huh?
Simply take a look at Keep in mind The Titans: One other Disney film about desegregation in Nineteen Seventies America that got here out in 2000 and relies on a real story. Not like The Coloration of Friendship, Keep in mind The Titans stars one of many biggest actors ever (Denzel Washington), and is extensively thought of a traditional. Nevertheless, it’s unimaginable to disregard how Gary Bertier and Julius Campbell merely “remedy” racism at a late evening follow once they yell “left facet, sturdy facet” to one another. From there, racial tensions dissipate.
The Coloration of Friendship ends with Mahree heading house to her racist dad and mom in South Africa, revealing to the famly’s Black maid Florathat she secretly embroidered the Black liberation flag in her jacket. Racism isn’t solved. In truth, it’s very a lot nonetheless current and Mahree could discover herself in peril if she expresses her new viewpoints.
The Coloration of Friendship is probably the most un-Disney Disney film on this checklist, which was maybe made doable by being hidden away on the smaller display screen. Whereas the movie does indicate racism is a factor of the previous in America, the best way it demonstrates how ignorance is developed, educates younger viewers on apartheid, and showcases the commonalities between all individuals (whatever the shade of their pores and skin) makes The Coloration of Friendship a captivating re-watch.
