The Color of Friendship

This movie was touching and contained answers to a lot of questions. It had a lot to do with racism and what blacks had to go through, and how your parents have a strong impact on you and your decisions. Mahree Bok was kinda like a foreign exchange student except Piper the one who's home Mahree was going to be living in was not going to go to Mahree's home town. When Piper and her parents saw that she was white they were a bit shocked but they still accepted her. But Mahree on the other hand wasn't as acceptive as Piper and her family was of her because of the impact her parents had on her and how they never mixed her with blacks except with their maid. So she was kinda feeling out of place. But later on in the movie Mahree and Piper became good friends and Mahree started to feel more comfortable with Piper and her family. Until, back in South Africa Mahree's parents found out her cultural exchange family was black and they had a fit. Mahree didn't quite understand why her parents weren't understanding of her staying with a black family. And that is what I mean about Parents having an impact on you and your life. It is the way they raise you and what they teach you. Mahree didn't really understand why whites didn't like blacks and the reason for that is because they didn't teach her about things like that. She had to learn from her maid who was black. At the end of the movie when Mahree got home, she ran straight to her maid's room to tell her about her experience staying with blacks, and she was telling her about what happened with the blacks and whites not getting along, and her maid was explaining to her (with birds as an example) that she didn't understand why all people of all races couldn't come together like the birds in that cage. And in the very ending Mahree set all of the birds free, all the birds of all colors.

I thought that this was a really good movie that teaches a lot about what went on back then. I am reading a book called Cry, The Beloved Country in school right now and this is exactly what it is dealing with. All the law and acts that were passed in South Africa. This movie I think takes a pretty realistic look at all the problems South Africa had. And to have a white girl from South Africa was a good idea. It shows that not ALL white people were the same. She was pretty open minded and I think that this movie should be shown to anyone is studying/learning about the trials in South Africa. (Apartheid)

Ok I don't normally watch Disney channel movies, but lately some of them have not been that bad. The Color of Friendship was one of these. It showed real problems in an atmosphere that was understandable to younger audiences and yet not wholly uninteresting to adults. The two teenage girls provided a great dichotomy, and though some of their arguments were unrealistic, for the most part the issues were clearly and logically presented. Even as an educated young adult, the movie still was delightfully surprising to me in that it opened my eyes and made me see more than a history book lesson, but instead real people with real feelings. It is noted in the movie, and important to remember in life, that it is not the people of the oppressive country that are inherently bad, but rather the system of beliefs that has been imposed upon them, often for generations.

Enjoyable and educational, I give it an 8 out of 10.

I loved this movie. I think that it is great for people to watch, especially younger kids. The message is clear and should be recognized by everyone. I love the fact that it takes place during the time of the apartheid in South Africa, and so the kids in America are all dressing "groovy"...Haha! That adds to the factor for kids to enjoy the movie. Anyway, this was wonderfully acted and the two girls, Piper and Mahree, did an excellent job. See this movie on the Disney Channel.

When I was watching The Color Of Friendship the only question I had was how a film like this was made at the Disney Studio. The answer is that it wasn't though it was distributed and exhibited by the folks at the Magic Kingdom. It's a film of rare insight and social significance, unlike the usual stuff you get from Disney.

In 1977 Congressman Ron Dellums through an incredible bit of bureaucratic snafuing got to host an African child as part of an exchange program. But our color blind applications don't take into account that he could and did wind up with a young girl from the apartheid Union Of South Africa. Her arrival proves to be a learning experience all around except sadly for her South African peers.

The Color Of Friendship works as well as it does because of the casting and chemistry of Shadia Simmons as Pieper Dellums and Lindsey Haun as Mahree Bok. What I liked most about The Color Of Friendship is that these two young ladies acted like real kids instead of Hollywood kids you see on so many shows.

The other thing about The Color Of Friendship is the hope it shows. We older folks live with so many built in prejudices and feelings and the hope of the world is that the younger generations as they come see past more and more of them. In another film about South Africa, a black character says to Donald Sutherland that it's all going to work out in the end because your son will not believe their lies. As we see here, young Ms. Haun does question the racist assumptions that the apartheid South Africa was built on.

Carl Lumbly, best known for playing Detective Petrie on Cagney&Lacey, plays Ron Dellums who is now Mayor of Oakland, California. Lumbly is fine in the part although if you look at pictures of Ron Dellums, he could be Morgan Freeman's twin brother. But I guess the producers could not afford Morgan Freeman. Penny Johnson plays Roscoe Dellums who sadly in real life got divorced from Ron Dellums many years after 1977 when this film is set. Her character is from the Phylicia Rashad school of mothers, that's not a put down.

Filmed in 2000 The Color Of Friendship turned out happily to be be a harbinger of things to come in South Africa. Don't miss this film if the Disney Channel ever broadcasts it again.