I think the message of this movie is lost in the left/right side-taking that many viewers will feel the need to take. Above it all is Darby's simple aspirations to help people and do the right thing, which is transcendent to any side and is the side everyone should take.
Unfortunately this makes him a complex character in a world that likes to take sides and trumpet ideals to the detriment of undeserving and unawares people. He did the right thing for Robert King Wilkerson by going back and fighting for his survival, and tried to help people by creating the Common Ground foundation and rebuilding a divided community. His activism was fueled by anger from the neglect of the Federal government's lack of response to the Katrina disaster, and his flair for radical protest was egged on by an ambitious ego that wanted to do more than the average man.
He may have stoked a fire that caused a couple of kids to try to do something violent to make a message, but he did the right thing by trying to stop it. I can't think of one liberal that would be willing to put themselves in one of those cars that could have caught fire and maimed or killed them. While it may be frustrating to try to pin down a guy that seems to be playing both sides, he's really taking the higher road by refusing to be a part of a violent protest and disrupt it.
As negligent and profiteering as the right-wing power is today, harming innocent people and destroying collateral property is not the answer and only strengthen's the power's resolve to suppress it. Brandon was right to fight against the powers-that-be that contributed to the mess in Katrina and other suppressive powers, but he was more right to stand in the way of violent protesters who felt innocent people getting harmed or their property damaged justified the means to the end.
While I feel he hasn't gotten deep enough into the right-wing to see their corruption and the misguided souls (much like the left) of many of their followers, I do believe him when he says his ultimate motivation is to help people and do the right thing, which is evidenced when he left the FBI due to their negligence, and he just may leave his own party when he realizes they can't live up to his two simple ideals of doing the right thing and helping people, which is something we all should be living up to. That's what our common ground should be.
Unfortunately this makes him a complex character in a world that likes to take sides and trumpet ideals to the detriment of undeserving and unawares people. He did the right thing for Robert King Wilkerson by going back and fighting for his survival, and tried to help people by creating the Common Ground foundation and rebuilding a divided community. His activism was fueled by anger from the neglect of the Federal government's lack of response to the Katrina disaster, and his flair for radical protest was egged on by an ambitious ego that wanted to do more than the average man.
He may have stoked a fire that caused a couple of kids to try to do something violent to make a message, but he did the right thing by trying to stop it. I can't think of one liberal that would be willing to put themselves in one of those cars that could have caught fire and maimed or killed them. While it may be frustrating to try to pin down a guy that seems to be playing both sides, he's really taking the higher road by refusing to be a part of a violent protest and disrupt it.
As negligent and profiteering as the right-wing power is today, harming innocent people and destroying collateral property is not the answer and only strengthen's the power's resolve to suppress it. Brandon was right to fight against the powers-that-be that contributed to the mess in Katrina and other suppressive powers, but he was more right to stand in the way of violent protesters who felt innocent people getting harmed or their property damaged justified the means to the end.
While I feel he hasn't gotten deep enough into the right-wing to see their corruption and the misguided souls (much like the left) of many of their followers, I do believe him when he says his ultimate motivation is to help people and do the right thing, which is evidenced when he left the FBI due to their negligence, and he just may leave his own party when he realizes they can't live up to his two simple ideals of doing the right thing and helping people, which is something we all should be living up to. That's what our common ground should be.