Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Ethnic Tip Review: Happy Black History Month
Yo holms it’s back to bel-air! Black History Month is almost over and while i’m making it just under the wire I still wanted to celebrate this month. It’s important, even more so in the face of even more goverment racisim than usual, to honor this month and what it means, even just as an ally.
So we’re going back to the fresh prince because Kev loves this sitcom, I love this sitcom, if your reading this you probably love this sitcom and with an episode that I fully admit I hadn’t seen before. I THINK i’ve seen the ending, read the synopsis when reading the episode guide on wikipedia, but I hadn’t actually seen this one.
I’m glad I did: even if this wasn’t a paid review, it would’ve been worth it just to see this one as it’s a reminder of just HOW good this show is and that even if Will Smith could probably use some help given what he did for his wife’s valentine’s present
He was damn talented and had some fantastic writers and other actors with him.
The Ethnic Tip comes from late season 1 and watching it I realized something: Season 1 of Fresh Prince is one of those rare season 1’s that just hits the ground running, and the rare ones that can do that and still maintain momentum. It’s not impossible, many a good show has pulled it off, Bob’s Burgers, The Venture Bros, Sealab 2021, but it’s damn impressive.
Season 1 of Fresh Prince still has some of those season 1 dead ends and that’s what makes the Ethnic Tip intresting: It has a premise that’s perfect for the show anytime but takes place primarily at Bel-Air Academy. BAA is Will and Carlton’s school, introduced a few episodes ago in the excellently titled Day Damn One, done as a flashback because the writers forgot to actually put will in school for half a season. It’s a very white very preppy boys only school, Will’s personal hell he dosen’t really fit into at first. It never goes away but earlier on they did try to give it more of it’s own cast with a stuck up principal, the stern but hilarious coach smiley and Kenny. Kenny is Carlton’s best friend and someone even dorkier than he is.. at least at this point. By the time Carlton’s dressing up as Macually Culkin back when Mac was a children, no one can possibly top him and god bless Alphonso Ribero for it.
I like Kenny a lot , being a n earnest geninelly nice guy and he works at first: He shows Carlton IS geninely popular at Bel-Air prep, how white Carlton’s friend group is, and is a nice middle man between the two, geninely thinking Will and Carlton are both the coolest people he’s ever met and creating a possible tug of war.
I also get why he mostly faded to the side: He’s funny enough.. but there’s not much he can do that carlton cant. He can be a clueless well meaning white kid and that’s it. Will already has a nerdy sidekick he bounces off better and Carlton works better with Will as a massive contrast. While the pilot tried to play the two up more as straight up antagonistic rivals, something the reboot apparently runs with and something I can give them credit for, it’s quickly abandoned as Carlton went from smug preppie rival to childish clueless preppy rival to Will and the world was better for it. The show had these two and really didn’t branch out that hard: Jazz was around if Will needed a partner in crime for dumber shenanigans or just to be funny, and Carlton already had plentful scene and b plot partners in his family. Kenny was fun, but you can only get so much out of him before your just trying to juggle too carltons.
He does end up the butt of the excellent opening joke, upset that the date he took to the New Kids on the Block thirsted over Donnie Whalberg instead. In fairness I too would have an exestential crisis if a woman wanted Donnie Whalberg. Not even instaed of me just wanting Donnie Whalberg. He looks and acts like a broken cement truck. Carlton and a random other guy figure he dosen’t have the right stuff. O o oooowooo oooo. I laughed so hard at that. I am very much part of the problem.
It’s history test time with the Coach teaching history and giving Carlton an a.. and Will an F. This being will he tries a zany scheme to avoid consequences, trying to take up signature interpratation. This gambit dosen’t work, and never would’ve as Carlton was there for ill getting an F and is nature’s perfect snitch.
Naturally Viv and Uncle Phil want to have a talk with Will and shoe the other kids out as usual, though we get two excellent gags as Carlton naturally listens in. This scene alone is just packed with so many great jokes: The handwriting thing was weak but carlton saying “You will?” off screen telling on himself is fantastic.
Will tries to deflect blame for what’s clearly laziness and not just trouble with the course, he showed up late to class and as we’ve seen at this point is far smarter, he just likes to coast, will points out it dosen’t really get into black history.
I love Viv’s response: She dosen’t excuse Will from the grade as she knows damn well this is dodge to get out of trouble, but realizes he’s not at all wrong. It is weird Bel Air Prep isn’t doing more about black history. She also just dosen’t let Will off, making him actually do something about it and helping him with it to everyone’s suprise. It dosen’t suprise me though: Viv is a teacher, something I forget and tbf it only comes up so often and I think this is the only episode where it is genuinely part of the plot, and likely knows just how mucht he education system tries to paper over black history with the basics at best and that her Son and Nephw’s school is as white as my knees.
So she has Will gather the signatures for a black history course and pitch them at the next meeting. I also love the Principal’s response at said meeting to finding out WIll read the handbook “Who gave you that? I mean…” It’s so perfectly cheesily acted. You can tell he wasn’t ready for that and tries to dance the sidestep. The coach , smiley, doe smake a valid point: he only has so much time, and only has read the one book he has to.. okay the former’s a valid poitn the latter’s just him being lazy and a fancy prep school weirdly having the coach teach history. It works fo ra public school joke, but the “we don’t have the budget thing” rings hollow when the baks alone could drop enough to pay a teacher.
They don’t have to though as Viv is qualified, throughly and agreres.. and so does smiley who realies it’s a paid month long vacation and peaces the fuck out. So with no other choice the course is inacted.
I adore will and carlton’s excahnge on the matter. Will thinks he’ll be top student because he already knows black history and Carlton thinks he will “because she’s my mommy”. God the delviery.
They both get a rude awkaening as Viv is a hardass, and goes especailly hard on them. She also embarsses them in front of cheerleaders because.. eh. It feels slightly out of character and like they wanted to do an embarassing mom joke but not make that the bulk of the episode.
I"m glad they didn’t as this angle is geninlely more intresting: WIll THINKS this will be an easy class… but clearly also assumes Viv wil ljust do the bare minimum. Instead she humilaties him a bit but in a way he deserves: he knows the surface but not the meaning. He recognizes the spritual Wade in the Water, which I did from a Diffrent World using it. What Viv teaches will, and me, is that the spirtual was used as part of the underground railroad, a mention of the big dipper being used to signal where runaway slaves and singing it used to signal them as they ran from those still trapped in bondage.
The month ends up being a living hell, Carlton’s exact words to his own mother later in the episode, as she makes them study harder, not watch tv (which seems a bit much), and grind while they don’t do great. Their classmates love it though and geninely want her to stay.. but Carlton and Will dither on signign their signatures to finish the pettition.
This is why the ep works for me: At first I thought VIv might be going too hard: it’s an IMPORTANT subject to teach and Will wanted it for the wrong reasons: he desreves his humble pie and having to actually work for his grade. He wanted black history taught, now he has to actually learn. But she came off like she was teaching at a college level to high schoolers.
I eventually realized that.. yeah she is.. but she’s not being unfair. He other students all go to her for help and she’s harder on her son and nephew because she assumed they’d actually WANT to know more and really dig into it. And there’s one VERY easy thing they could’ve done instead of just griping about it: Talk to her. No really, just talk to her, tell her it’s hard and she woudl’ve both explaind wy and been glad to geninely help> That’s.. what teachers , good teachers DO: If you need help they’ll help you. They won’t baby you. Will is too convinced that reading Malcom X’s bigoraphy three times, something he already tried on Uncle Phil in episode 1, means he knows all of black history when Viv shuts down his shit, pointing out A) he wanted this and B) context is king. Knowing what LEAD to say the black panthers or even present day is just as important as knowing one persons life if not more. It ads context, depth, shows where the ideas came from and encourages him to pull his head out of his ass and learn. Is it a repeat of the ending of the first ep? Kinda, diffrent context but same will thinking he knows everything complete with him pickig up one of the books and reading, a pogniant ending. But it works so well and it gives Viv a moment like Uncle Phil to show her stuff. And unlike phil it’s been very clear a season in she still fights for black progress and hasn’t been as blinded by the wealth, but Will still has a massive ego> He no longer thinks being rich means you left the struggle behind.. but still has the ego of a teen enough to boldy assume he knows everything and has to be reminded.. and that getting a dedicated professor who geninely cares about black history is a rare privilege not something to just throw away because i'ts hard. Yes Viv demands a lot.. but she appreciates her students… and just wanted Will to fucking learn.
This episode is truly excellent. It drags a little.. but it’s a fresh take on the “parent teaches for a while” trope that gets tired: they either embarass their kids or go too hard. The latter is what this goes for.. but it gives viv valid REASON for it and dosen’t punish the rest of the class to add extra pressure: the rest of the class are white dumbasses, but geninely apperciate the material. These are academic nerds like carlton, of course they’d love learning more history. And I like that the principal clearly does not want this: he can afford it, he just dosen’t, but can’t do anything against an educated black woman lest he look like a racist piece of shit back when that still held the power to actaully ruin someone’s career. “Sigh” Better days.
It’s a well done little slice of sitcom perfection, still funny as hell, I love Phil singing wade in the water just to goad the boys into actually talking about their frustration with the course.