Same Kind of Different as Me Has a Timely Message

There’s a great flick out there that’s especially relevant now. We highly recommend it to people of all races. This is a message on the road to understanding and equal rights for all regardless of race. Check out Same Kind of Different as Me (available on Netflix).

This true story deals with prejudice and redemption through love and understanding. It’s the story of three people. Two are well to do white parents in a failing marriage and the other is a black homeless man. One of the parents, Deborah Hall, is a woman who has devoted herself to helping the homeless in a mission by providing food, clothing, and training. Her husband, Ron Hall, is a successful art dealer who was raised with all the privileges money can buy, plus a dysfunctional father.

The third person is Denver Moore. Growing up in the deep South on a cotton plantation as a modern day “slave,” he was totally cut off from the outside. During that time, he was harassed by the KKK and finally escaped to discover a world of segregation and harassment. He finally snaps and spirals downhill but frequents the mission where Deborah provides him with food. Due to his past, he has his own axe to grind.

Meanwhile, Ron puts a nail in the coffin of his relationship with Deborah with an affair. Ron realizes his mistake, but she won’t take him back until he learns a few lessons of life, often scarce in his circle of friends. She puts him to work in the mission. There he confronts his programming and begins to become concerned with the plight of the many homeless, one of which, Denver, who displays his anger through violence. He’s acting out because of his history and personal pain.

As Ron and Denver begin to open up to each other, a profound transformation takes place that changes both men forever. In fact, they work together for the rest of their lives to duplicate the success of the mission in other communities.  But it’s the transformation and how it unfolds that is the real message of this story.

Once they start sharing, they begin to identify with each other’s differing challenges and preconceived notions. They begin to gain respect for each other and discover what they both have in common. They are “the same kind of different.”  Denver’s advice to look for the good in everyone, helps Ron save his marriage, and his relationship with his bigoted and alcoholic father. Ron’s sincere interest in Denver’s welfare diffuses his anger and puts both men on a positive and constructive path to help others. Ron writes a book about this transformation and it becomes the foundation for not only the movie, but a movement.

This story has the kind of positive, healing, and unifying message we all need right now. It shows us all the way forward is to discover what we all have in common, even with all our apparent differences. We give it two big toes way up! M&B say, “Check it out!”