The Fresh Prince was a show that was important to millennials and families across the country. Its subject matter penetrates the monotony of cable television. Bel-Air uses that mentality and updates it for a more mature audience.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a show that captivated audiences since its initial release in 1990. The show pioneered a vision often never thought of in black households. It showed the Banks family, a black family that lived in affluence in Bel Air. Fresh Prince walked a tight rope of satire that was relatable to black families. The dynamics of Uncle Phil, Aunt Viv, Carlton, Ashley, Hilary, and Will were not that much different than the everyday Black American. However, this show found success by inserting those dynamics in a space that was not Black. That is where Fresh Prince found comedic gold and where actor Will Smith got to really become comfortable in his role. The show would always pull the laughter out of whatever situation Will found himself in these White spaces. However, The Fresh Prince always found a way to highlight the issues that affect the black community even in lieu of the satire itself. One point that the Fresh Prince handled very well and has now since been imprinted on the hearts and minds of many was that Will’s dad was never in his life. This moment illuminated a crack in the show’s comedic armor and allowed the viewer to think intrinsically about their relationship with absent parents. This moment may not have been what it was if it weren’t for Will and Uncle Phil’s emotional performance and their ability to tap into the emotion of abandonment. I guess we can say Fresh Prince is a comedy show with darker, emotional undertones.
How Has Hilary Been Updated for the Present?
Bel Air is a darker show that utilizes emotional drama with comedic undertones. It takes the original Fresh Prince formula and flips it backward. Bel Air benefits from its more hardline continuity than its predecessor and allows us to see the originality that forms for each character. Characters like Hilary and Carlton are almost opposite of their original roles in Fresh Prince; however, the essence of those original characters remains. Instead of Hilary being a self-loathing socialite intent on coasting by with her parents’ fortune, she is an ambitious socialite, intent on building a name of fame for herself without the help of her parents. Bel Air takes the original essence of her being a city socialite and opts to send her down a path that favors growth. All while dealing with more contemporary issues such as being an influencer, brand endorsements, content creators, and the hyper-sexualization of female celebrities.
How Has Carlton Been Updated For the Present?
Carlton follows along the same path as he contains his original essence from Fresh Prince but now has a different direction. His original need to fit in is still there in Fresh Prince, but instead of starting his way from the bottom of social hierarchy, we come in at his pinnacle. We get to slowly see him fall from grace as his sense of belonging and to be wanted becomes more severe as the season goes on. Instead of using comedy as an outlet like his original character would, he snorts Xanax and has severe social anxiety. Like Hilary, Carlton is also updated for a more contemporary audience as he is captain of the lacrosse team and listens to Bobby Smurda.
How Can We Start Thinking Critically?
We have seen many reboots over the past decade now that studios see how much they can profit from it. Sometimes the charm we used to get from shows that we watched in our childhood is stripped away as we get gritty drama-filled reboots. That give and take of light-heartedness and drama-infused heaviness is a difficult line to navigate for television writers. However, the writers of Bel-Air have seemed to find their knack for walking that same line the Fresh Prince was known for. As an audience, it allows us to think intrinsically about our situation and how as the Black community, we can start navigating in more complicated and ever-changing spaces. In addition, here are a few soft and hard reboot tv shows that do an excellent job of that same give and take formula as Bel-Air:
- ICarly
- Watchmen
- Dexter: New Blood
