"The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety." -- Felix Mendelssohn
Though we may appear to be different from the outside, there is almost always more than meets the eye. This is the message of a recently released video produced by Danish state television TV 2, titled "All That We Share."
The video, which was posted earlier this week couldn't have come at a better time. With talks on immigration bans, walls, division and rising hatred, it calls on people of different backgrounds to search for common grounds.
It serves as a brilliant reminder about the ability to grow and respect others no matter what. And, it's definitely a message for our time.
It starts with people separated in different boxes
Our inherited social conventions teach us to put people in different boxes. There's the "us" and then there's the "them":
Those with high wages, those we trust, those we try to avoid, those who live in the countryside and those who are religious... and then, there are the immigrants.
In a clear reference to the current state affairs especially in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's Muslim targeted ban, the video shows just how much in common people have with one another and with immigrants to be specific.
Searching for common ground
"Who in this room was the class clown?" a man at the center asks, to which many respond by walking towards the center of the room.
Question after question, people start to form clusters based on common points rather than ethnicity, skin color, or religion.
We as an entity, and not Us vs. Them
Questions tackle sexuality, parenting, family values and career choices.
"There's us who feel lonely ... Us who are madly in love ..."
"And then there's us, we who believe in life after death, we who have seen U.F.Os, and all of us, who love to dance."
"Then there's all of us, who just love Denmark," the video ends.
Denmark's message to the world
It's very clear what this ad represents. It's a message of inclusion, love, solidarity and unity in the face of rising fear and racism.
Could this be a departure from Denmark's immigration law, dubbed the "jewelry law", which allows Danish authorities to seize the assets of asylum seekers to help pay for their stay in the country while their applications are processed? Perhaps so, especially since the country's Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen has openly criticized Trump’s immigration ban.