CONFESSIONS OF A CHARACTER FREAK

CONFESSIONS OF A CHARACTER FREAK: THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR

I’LL ALWAYS TRY TO AVOID SPOILERS!

Zoe Jay S

Hello! Hello! Hello everyone. Welcome back on this fine Sunday. Are you excited? Cause I am. Why you may ask? We’re going to be discussing a classic today:

None other than Will Smith himself, playing Will Smith in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”.

Such a goofy character. And he looked good doing it. You have no choice but to love Will Smith.

I asked for ideas for this week’s blog and my younger cousin has taken an interest into re-watching the series and decided that this would be a great fit. Will Smith is a witty character who is full of life and emotion. He’s a character all by himself and every episode is on point!

Ladies, we’re always hearing the tall dark and handsome trope and honestly, Will fits the bill. You can’t hate on a good-looking man who is becoming of age and building character as he deals with the traumas of not having a dad in his life to being tempted by raunchy women when he has a fiancé. It’s wholesome, fun, and, too real to only have six seasons but it is what it is!

Will Smith as we know said, “In west Philadelphia born and raised

On the playground was where I spent most of my days

Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool

And all shootin some b-ball outside of the school

When a couple of guys who were up to no good

Started making trouble in my neighborhood

I got in one little fight and my mom got scared

She said ‘You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air’” (I had to.)

Can you imagine having your life uprooted because of something as miniscule as a fight and end up living better than the punk that messed with you and got you here?! Maybe it’s the petty in me, but I’d smile, sip on something lavish, and post it on the internet for my haters to see!

But besides all that, his character is written so well. There’s always something new for a young black man to learn or experience. And it was insightful for those of us watching too.

If you don’t know what episode this is, I suggest you hop to it! Oh, and grab some tissues while you’re at it! Thank me later.

From his continuous wise cracks on Carlton’s height to his protective brotherly nature over Ashley to his fear of Uncle Phil… amazing.

This was a successful family show that made people of color look GOOD. And we are here for that!

Hmm so what zodiac would Will Smith fall under? I want to say a Leo or Virgo. In my experience, they tend to be the life of the party and make the best jokes and keep the excitement going. Virgos especially, can get really emotional themselves and we see that reflection through the show. Do you agree? You don’t? Let me know?

Fun fact: my second favorite character, Geoffrey, is of Saint Lucian descent and so am I! We love that!

Let me know what characters you guys want me to do in the future! xoxo

Thomas Benke: Looking Around In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott, in the Chapter “Looking Around,” says this: Now, if you ask me, what’s going on is that we’re all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another. Otherwise we’d all just be barking away like Pekingese: “Ah! Stuck in the shit! And it’s your fault, you did this …” Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding some meaning therein. But you can’t do that if you’re not respectful. If you look at people and just see sloppy clothes or rich clothes, you’re going to get them wrong. She goes on to speak about empathy for other people and also, as an extension empathy for yourself. So, in a sense as you try to write believable, relatable characters, you will come to forgive people their trespasses—because no one believes they are the villain of their story, so you have to write “bad,” or “evil” characters from a point of view where they rationalize what they are doing in such a way that it is the right or only way they see is possible. By extrapolation, then, if you begin to forgive and withhold judgment from your less-than-desirable, or annoying characters, perhaps you can extend the same courtesy to yourself and forgive your own trespasses and sins. This, for me, starts to enter the realm of “writing as therapy,” and though I am a firm believer in that—I practice it to this very day—I think I would caution anyone who thinks that simply writing through things is going to lead you to a place of light and love. I am not saying it can’t by any means. What I am saying is I have wrote through my thoughts and my problems and my desperation and depression for decades and I still had enough baggage on my shoulders to supply an army platoon with rations for a year. In any case, when thinking about craft, it is very important to step into the shoes of all of your characters, especially those characters that you see as antagonists and villians. I believe there are very few universal maxims in writing but one thing is virtually certain: every character you write is your version of that human being. Confucius said “everywhere I go, there I am,” and that is never more true than when you are writing. So if you are writing a character that is distasteful to you, it might be effective for you to ask yourself why that is the case. I wrote a blog for Obscura last semester titled, “The Puppy Had It Coming.” The gist of the article was to pose a puzzle to writers. How can you write a scene where an adult human kicks a puppy across the room and the reader at least understands why. I am not saying there is any way to justify the action or for the readers to be on the human’s side unless they are sociopaths. I am saying you need let the reader know how dark the place is in the character’s mind that he is capable of doing that.