In the after ghost of a Friday night party we sat down to watch some random late-night Netflix, and the viewing decision fell on “The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air”, a comedy of which I had never seen more than a few minutes of back in the '90s, but of which of course I knew by name.
I don’t know what I was expecting, comedy perhaps, but from the first episode we felt like a socio-political bombshell had exploded on us – it wasn’t the comedy that caught our attention, but the social and political subtext of the show. As such we powered through about five episodes before finally falling asleep.
The pilot episode open with an introduction to a wealthy black family in Bel-Air, who seemed to hold to an upper-class English lifestyle, in terms of their way of speaking and employment of a butler.
Enter Will Smith, a “down-with-it” youth from Philadelphia who plays contrast to his lawyer uncles’ wealthy Bel-Air family. Perhaps the best part of the opening episode is a revelling discourse as Uncle’s family help him prepare for a case by reciting in verse-like fashion the accolades to various civil-rights era lawyers, of whom he is a sill practicing veteran. Will criticises him by contrasting his own street-wise leftism to his uncle’s “two votes for Reagan.” The whole scene paints a portrait of hollow gesture making to a by-gone era of civil rights leaders and practitioners who enriched themselves of the back of the civil rights movement and have moved on in a practical way, taking their wealth and settling into the comfortable life.
This scene was done oh-so-perfectly; introducing us as it does to the lifestyle of that lesser known phenomenon, the black Republican. I think the political lessons many are now grappling with with regards to the validity of “identity politics” for the left was perfectly demonstrated by this scene produced back in the '90s, a real achievement.
I will continue to watch the first season of the show, hopefully the standard of writing and contrast will continue in a meaningful way.
I don’t know what I was expecting, comedy perhaps, but from the first episode we felt like a socio-political bombshell had exploded on us – it wasn’t the comedy that caught our attention, but the social and political subtext of the show. As such we powered through about five episodes before finally falling asleep.
The pilot episode open with an introduction to a wealthy black family in Bel-Air, who seemed to hold to an upper-class English lifestyle, in terms of their way of speaking and employment of a butler.
Enter Will Smith, a “down-with-it” youth from Philadelphia who plays contrast to his lawyer uncles’ wealthy Bel-Air family. Perhaps the best part of the opening episode is a revelling discourse as Uncle’s family help him prepare for a case by reciting in verse-like fashion the accolades to various civil-rights era lawyers, of whom he is a sill practicing veteran. Will criticises him by contrasting his own street-wise leftism to his uncle’s “two votes for Reagan.” The whole scene paints a portrait of hollow gesture making to a by-gone era of civil rights leaders and practitioners who enriched themselves of the back of the civil rights movement and have moved on in a practical way, taking their wealth and settling into the comfortable life.
This scene was done oh-so-perfectly; introducing us as it does to the lifestyle of that lesser known phenomenon, the black Republican. I think the political lessons many are now grappling with with regards to the validity of “identity politics” for the left was perfectly demonstrated by this scene produced back in the '90s, a real achievement.
I will continue to watch the first season of the show, hopefully the standard of writing and contrast will continue in a meaningful way.
