Lets Talk T.V.!

This week for my Mass Media and Society class I am going to analyze an episode or entire season of a television show and discuss how that show portrays a particular group of people and weather or not that view is good or bad in helping eliminate stereotypes. For this assignment I have chosen to analyze an episode of the early 90’s sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Before beginning my analysis I would like to say that this blog post is strictly my opinion and by no means is the only way to interpret this episode of the show.

The episode I have chosen to analyze is titled “Blood is Thicker Than Mud.” It is my opinion that this episode does a service, not only to the African American community, but to the community in general by discussing an important issue such as racism and in a way helps to eliminate the African American stereotype.

In this episode The main characters, Will (Will Smith) and his cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) attempt to join a fraternity. However, the head brother of the fraternity, which consists of all African Americans, feels that Carlton is not right for this fraternity. Carlton comes from a rich , well off family and does not fit the African American stereotype. When asked why he didn’t want Carlton the head of the fraternity responds by saying that Carlton is not what he feels a “brother” should be. When asked what he feels a “brother” should be says, “Its not Ralph Lauren shirts and wing tipped shoes in corporate America.” He is referring to the cloths that Carlton is wearing in that scene. He then precedes to call Carlton a “sell out.”

This episode does a service to the entire community by dealing with the issue of race. When people think of racism, it is normally thought as one race towards another race, but by showing an African American being racist towards another African American shows that racism is a double edged sward. By pointing out that racism not only exists between races but amongst people of the same race as well it draws attention to the problem and can lead to it being fixed. And it points out that it is a problem that we need to fix now. The father played by James Avery ends the show asking an important question, “When are we going to stop doing this to ourselves?”

This episode also does a service to the community by pointing out that it is okay to be different and to go against the stereotype that has been created for your particular group. This show does this by showing a wealthy African American man acting the complete opposite of what many would argue as the African American stereotype.

As stated earlier this is by no means the only way to interpret this episode. This is simply my interpretation of the episode and its characterization of African Americans. There are many ways in which this show can be interpreted, I simply offer one way to interpret it.

Shepard, Devon & Vinson, Chuck. (1994) Blood is Thicker Than Mud [atelevision series episode] United States: NBC Studios.