Why was “The Prince of Bel-Air”, and remains, an important series?

For the youngest, it is a soprano song or a PNL reference in its title Two brothers, for the oldest, an American sitcom which marked the spirits. The prince of Bel-Air, a series produced by Quincy Jones and created by Andy and Susan Borowitz, made the heyday in France of the show Giga, a program intended for adolescents broadcast on a public channel which was still called Antenne 2 from the spring of 1992. Remember, this family sitcom launched rapper Will Smith’s acting career as Will, an African-American teenager who moved in with his aunt and uncle, wealthy notables living in the upscale neighborhood of Bel. -Air in Los Angeles.

Some thirty years, six seasons and 148 episodes later, the cult series The prince of Bel-Air, available in full on
Amazon Prime Video, seems more relevant than ever. Across the Atlantic, the Peacock platform has already ordered two seasons of Bel-Air, a drama that revisits the sitcom of the 1990s, produced by Will Smith and created by Morgan Cooper, whose launch is expected in 2021.

Warner TV offers this Wednesday at 10:50 p.m. Prince of Bel-Air, the reunion, a reunion of the original Banks family cast hosted by Will Smith recorded in the United States in 2020 for HBO Max on the occasion of the show’s 30th anniversary. On the program, anecdotes, all the secrets of Carlton’s famous dance, a reconciliation, a moving tribute to James Avery, and above all a reflection on the impact of the Prince of Bel-Air in the history of American television. Why The prince of Bel-Air was, and remains, an important series in the era of Black Lives Matters?

A sitcom inspired by a true story

At the end of the 1980s, Quincy Jones wanted to adapt for the small screen the story of Benny Medina, a young prodigy producer of Motown who became a millionaire before his 30 years, brought up in the ghettos of Los Angeles before going into exile with a family. white and wealthy friend of her friend in the Beverly Hills neighborhood.

In 1989, Benny Medina came across his future alter ego, at Late Show Arsenio Hall, Will Smith, a 22-year-old rapper, won a Grammy Award thanks to the duo he forms with his friend Jeff Townes, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. On the occasion of a birthday party, Quincy Jones gives the young rapper an audition in front of all his guests, including NBC boss Brandon Tartikoff.

Encouraged by the success of his sitcom Cosby Show, featuring an African-American family living in Brooklyn, NBC is launching The prince of Bel-Air in 1990. “The Cosby Show reinforced the idea that many blacks could live like whites. If you think about it, this is a household with two upper middle class parents. This resonated with a lot of white families, ”explains
Dr. Frederick W. Gooding, senior lecturer in African-American studies at Texas Christian University.

A “revolutionary” idea, according to Will Smith

If Benny Medina was welcomed by whites, the Banks will be a family of extremely rich blacks, their neighbors are none other than Ronald and Nancy Reagan. “Bel-Air is a very affluent Californian community, mostly white, and it is difficult for someone like me to acquire the necessary capital to settle in such a district”, comments the researcher. A “revolutionary” idea according to Will Smith in Prince of Bel-Air, the reunion in the American audiovisual landscape. ” The prince of Bel-Air showed, on television, the possibility for blacks to navigate in spaces which were traditionally closed to them, ”greets Frederick W. Gooding.

The series follows the integration of Will, a young African American who grew up in the popular neighborhoods of Philadelphia, in Bel-Air. Dressed in neon caps worn on the side and colorful t-shirts, Will evolves in Bel-Air with his hip-hop culture and by way of credits, an energetic rap performed by Will Smith, composed with his friend Jeffrey Townes. “Will is young, a little cheeky. He doesn’t follow all the rules, ”comments Frederick W. Gooding.

A young black able to adapt

As the Cosby Show, the sitcom dissociates the social question from the racial question. ” There where The prince of Bel-Air was absolutely innovative, it was by showing that a young black man with a hip-hop attitude could navigate these two worlds, and give them meaning, even if it was sometimes very difficult ”, congratulates the lecturer .

The series makes fun of the social differences that exist between Will and his family. Will loves rap and basketball while his cousin Carlton prefers golf and sweaters tied around the neck. The series thus shows a certain variety of the African-American experience.

Between two laughs recorded and two well balanced valves by the English butler Jeffrey or by Will, the series addresses the question of roots. “I grew up in the streets like you, I was hit with unimaginable prejudices. Okay, you have a big poster of Malcolm X on your wall, I’ve heard him speak a lot, I’ve read every word he wrote. Well, believe me, I know where I might come from, ”uncle Phil swings to Will in the pilot.

Racial issues raised

“There have only been a few episodes where racial issues have been indirectly spoken of, once when Carlton was carrying a gun, another time when Will and Carlton are arrested by the police,” recalls Frederick W. Gooding, who believes, however, that “many dark voices were missing”.

The catch? Most of the show’s writers are white. “We sometimes came across scenes that we found improbable. “Black people would never do that”, ”recalls Carlton’s interpreter Alfonso Ribeiro in Prince of Bel-Air, the reunion.

“One of our white writers wrote a Thanksgiving episode with pumpkin pie, and the black writers laughed and told us a black Thanksgiving had sweet potato pie,” recalls. Susan borowitz, the co-creator of the show. “If you have more diverse writers, then you will have more voices that match, qualify and / or testify to the reality of the black experience,” says Frederick W. Gooding.

During the rehearsals on the film set, the black actors thus correct the errors or approximations of the white screenwriters during the rehearsals. “On this series, we were free to explain to the writers the cultural aspects of what they had written,” said Daphne Reid, who took over the role of Aunt Vivian after the departure of Janet Hubert-Whitten.

An always relevant series

In 2019, Morgan Cooper, an African-American director, shoots a three-and-a-half-minute trailer that reimagines the sitcom in the form of a drama called Bel-Air, with the main character, Will, sent to live with his wealthy uncle and aunt after being caught with a gun. The video, posted to YouTube and viewed nearly 6.7 million times, caught Will Smith’s attention. The two artists join forces to produce the reboot.

“Morgan Cooper is going to put a more creaky, more realistic version on the table,” says Frederick W. Gooding. “He has a chance to tell the story in a slightly more relevant way”, continues the researcher.

“It’s as relevant today as it was thirty years ago, unfortunately,” said Will Smith. “When The prince of Bel-Air was created, we were all shocked to see the footage of Rodney King’s beating [par la police de Los Angeles], thirty years later, we still have the same conversations. The George Floyd affair is even worse because he was assassinated, ”laments Frederick W. Gooding.

TV, a “white-dominated affair”

Recently, series like Atlanta, Blackish and Insecure focused their plots on family life and young black professionals facing gentrification, discrimination, racism and police brutality. ” I’m happy that Black-Ish and its spin-off exist, ”he emphasizes. “But in retrospect, the Cosby Show did not open the valves. What we watch on television is always a white-dominated affair, ”observes the researcher.

If Shonda Rhimes is a voice that matters on American television, there are still too few black writers. “In theory, we like the idea of ​​diversity, but in reality it is still very difficult to implement,” notes Frederick W. Gooding.

“When you have an all-white cast, you don’t say it’s good, you just say: ‘it’s a TV series’. Friends was just a TV series, Seinfeld, too. They are for everyone. I can watch them, just like my Asian, Native American, or Latino siblings. Why is it all one way? “Asks the researcher.

The representation of blacks on television is still insufficient. “If we had more content like the one produced by Morgan Cooper, some of my white brothers and sisters might learn so that we can one day avoid tragedies like the death of George Floyd in the future,” concludes Frederick W. Gooding.