The film True colors features Tim and Peter as best friends. The two meet in law school, where their relationship grows into a serious friendship. However, Tim and Peter are two people from very different backgrounds. Tim is born in decent home where he gets a good education and a good life. Peter, on the other end, is born in a poor home and brought up lonely. He moves into law school and looks forward to having an outstanding political career. On the other end, Tim loves to solve cases and bring justice; he, therefore, chooses to be an attorney general. The two characters display the Afrocentric and Eurocentric psychology, which results in the different paths each one follows.
Eurocentrism is a world view where individuals have a world vies or belief that they are superior to other people. A Eurocentric person perceives that it is normal for individuals to rule over others. Eurocentric positions Europe's values and cultures to be superior to those of any other people (Schiele, 2000). Peter portrays Eurocentric ideology, where he believes in his political career to achieve greatness and rule over people. He portrays the manipulation character to all that surround him as he uses each individual to achieve a particular thing. On the other end, Tim is Afrocentric because he upholds values of justice and genuine friendship. He is loyal to his friend, supportive, and believes in communalism. Afrocentric individuals look forward to contributing positively to society (Stewart 2004). The Afrocentric perspective views the world as equal to all people. An Afrocentric psychologist explores practices and methodologies that explore the values of African Americans' characteristics. It entails a world view of economic, political, and social justice. It entails the need to eradicate unfairness and uphold equality.
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The two best friends have a good friend in college, but their character differs. Peter hides his identity from his friend. This is because he does not want to be viewed as a lower class (Rosse 1991). In reality, he is lonely and angry about his kind of life. He hides his real names from Tim, who is very surprised by his actions. Tim, who portrays true friendship, does not allow race or class differences to come between their relationships. Instead, he supports him and is logical in all his arguments. Pete, on the other hand, uses a manipulative approach to have Tim show compassion to him. He makes his decision not on reason or logic but to achieve something at the end.
Peter's exploitative nature is also depicted after realizing Tim's girlfriend is the daughter of the senator. He goes ahead to make her his girlfriend and eventually marries her. In this context, he hopes as a brother in law to the senator, and he has a better chance in the political field; to his surprise, the senator does not agree to his request (Hoskins 1992). The real personality of Peter starts to unfold when he blackmails his father in law openly. This is a very unacceptable character in a family setting because he disrespects his father-in-law and wife.
On the other end, Tim pursues his career and completes law school to be an attorney general. He is successful at his job until Peter set him up by forming an alliance e with a man known for corruption. At this point, he is suspended from work to allow investigations to be done. He later realizes that his best friend manipulated him and caused him a career. He felt so angered, and because his main goal is to bring justice to society, he decides to find evidence that his best friend alliance with was of no good ending (Rosse 1991). He knows that tackling the case would ruin his friendship with Peter, but after thinking logically, Peter's behavior in society is why he joined law school. His main achievement in life is to put away those that are unjust and greedy. Tim shows much loyalty to his career and does not compromise on the basics of friendship.
The differences between the two individuals are explicitly clear in the movie. At first, they get along very well, and their friendship is based on true love for a brother. However, the personality of Peter is that of a mentally disturbed individual. His quest for power leads him to make a series of unwise decisions. In a Eurocentric approach, Peter believes in being in control. In his conversations with Tim, he seems to be the most talkative with so many funny stories. This is evident in the scene where he escorts Tim to board the train, and he is talking to him till the very last minute. When they moved to Washington during their meal with more friends, he talks the most and makes his colleagues laugh. They all think that he is just a funny guy, but this is a strategy for him to find supporters and followers to become a political leader.
The two individuals differ in critical thinking and decision making. Tim thinks critically in every decision he makes. When he joins law school, his main dream is to achieve a career as an attorney general. Therefore he sticks to his plan till the end. He follows systematic methods and plans his activities very logically. This is the main reason why His girlfriend chose to end the relationship. She felt that it was bad to have a man who always follows some rules and regulations. He felt like he was becoming like his father, who used stubbornness and force to rule their home. However, in the end, his strategic plans and critical thoughts led him to achieve his dreams. HE refuses to get involved in the political issues associated with his best friend because he loved his job. He told his friend he would play his part from his job.
Peter, however, incorporates his eurocentric ideology in making his decision. He pierces a senator's car wheel for them to get to know each other. He thinks it is a great idea to make connections other than following the right protocol. Due to his stubborn nature, he decides not to go back and finish his law school but continue working in the political field. He does not think of the consequences of his behavior and even tells his best friend that he would sacrifice a few people to get to many people. This clearly shows how he does not value and friendship or union. His wife is the most devastated as she realizes that her husband is an entirely different person from who she had perceived. She realizes that she made a wrong decision when she married a man he thought would be like her father.
Diana also depicts some form of eurocentrism. This s because she chooses to be married to a political leader as she enjoys the glamorous life of traveling from place to place. She openly tells Tim that his job was boring and that it was not good for them. However, she does not know that Tim planned to propose to her that same day. She portrays a society of individualism, where people only think about themselves. Individualism is a character of Eurocentric psychology. Individualistic people only focus on what matters to them without t considering anyone around their circle. Peter possesses an individualistic character as he does every single thing for the sake of his achievement.
Even though Eurocentric psychology and Afrocentric psychology differ, the people involved are similar in some ways. They both know the value of friendship, and they believe in each other. This is why even after the fight, there is still some love for both. An example is a moment Peter realized that he was going to betray his friend. He immediately refused. He said he could not do that to his best friend. However, his greed for power made him fail to bail out from the deal he had been offered.
Moreover, Tim almost sheds tears after he finishes his task of investigation. He hopes that his name would be printed on the back page because he was Peter's best friend. This shows that despite the use of manipulation by Peter, they both valued their friendship. In the end, Peter brings a box of drinks as he keeps his promise to his friend Tim. However, he knows that his friend may testify against him; critics may say that this was just another way to manipulate time.
Tim is proof that radical Afrocentrism still exists despite critics like Arthur Jr dismiss that it is a superficial and shallow ideology. Afrocentrism avoids violation or confrontation of people but attempts to make things right or put the records right (Aldridge 2000). It is evident in the text that both egocentrism and Afrocentrism result in achievement. However, those that are successful through illegal methods are more prone to failure. Those that uphold the Afrocentric values uphold positive values that help them navigate life choices the right way. Tim is successful in the long run as he is systematic in pursuing his career. Peter's greed for power makes him fail to finish law school and makes many other mistakes to get to the top.
The characters' importance in True colors shows how different personalities and choices affect people's lives. Those governed by the desire to be superior to others are likely to fail as they do not uphold the values of friendship and respect. Equality and justice are vital in society globally; therefore, eurocentrism is no form of progression in the world. Like Peter, the success of people who are manipulative and driven by desire is short-lived. Most importantly, such people's efficiency is very poor since they get to power to satisfy their own financial and psychological needs (Schiele, 2000). Communalism is a trait in Afrocentric psychology where people believe in the farewell of all people. Tim is an excellent example as he does not compromise his values to be useful to his society.
In conclusion, eurocentrism is based on western civilization. It is a biased approach that maintains superiority over others. Afrocentric approach, on the other end, instills the values of justice and equality among all people. It aims to solve social and personal problems. It also encourages the optimal functioning of an Individual. The Fil true colors explore in-depth the effects of eurocentrism and those of Afrocentrism. The film's best friends depict a modern society divided by genuine people in finding justice and equality. But there exist those who believe in their power and see others as subjects who should follow them and obey their commands.
References
Aldridge, D. P. (2000). On race and culture: Beyond Afrocentrism, Eurocentrism to cultural democracy. Sociological Focus, 33(1), 95-107.
Hoskins, L. A. (1992). Eurocentrism vs. Afrocentrism. A Geopolitical linkage analysis. Journal of Black Studies, 23(2), 247-257.
Rosse, (1991) Laurence Mark &Herbert Loss, True Colors; Motion pictures.''
Schiele, J. H. (2000). Human services and the Afrocentric paradigm. Psychology Press.
Stewart, P. E. (2004). Afrocentric approaches to working with African American families. Families in Society, 85(2), 221-228.
