
Superhero movie franchises have long replaced the beloved rom-coms and coming-of-age films of the ‘90s and early 2000s at the box office, but streaming has broadened the types of stories that can be told on the silver screen, including more diverse relationship dynamics for audiences to watch, learn, and glean hope from.
“People love Bel Air so much because they feel loved and they feel the forgiveness and the grace that lives in the show in the midst of all the messy drama,” said Cassandra Freeman, who plays Aunt Viv on Peacock’s reimagined drama of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, while in conversation with co-stars Olly Sholotan and Simone Joy Jones at the Black Love Summit in Los Angeles on October 12. “The thing I love about our show is that no one is in a perfect relationship.”
“I really appreciated this season with Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv,” said Freeman, the co-founder and CEO of Creatricity, which presented the panel discussion. “It gets really messy, but they have brave conversations. I feel like people miss out on the opportunity of dealing with messiness in order to get the intimacy that’s on the other side, but what makes their relationship special is that they overcame so many issues. And I think in young love, you hit the first hurdle, and you’re like, ‘oh, I should tap out.’ ‘Oh, I can do better than you.’ And it’s like, no, no matter who you’re with, you’re supposed to [do the] work.”
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That sentiment is one Sholotan has learned extends to non-romantic relationships as well, noting during the conversation that portraying Carlton Banks for three seasons has helped him be more understanding in his real-life relationships.
“Carlton has taught me a lot of empathy and a lot of forgiveness of self and others, and I can say that I am a more patient person now because of playing this role,” he shared. “Once you accept that everyone’s imperfect, you realize that we’re all just people in development. Before this show, I was under the understanding of perfection as something that can and will be attained. Now it’s like, hey, we’re all just trying to figure it out.”
That notion, once again spilled over to Freeman and Sholotan’s co-star Simone, who said portraying Lisa has taught her she doesn’t always have to have the answer for loved ones when they come to her with their problems.
“I feel like there’s a lot of value in being still and listening, and I got a lot of that from [Lisa],” Simone said. “Sometimes her just lending an ear calms their characters, rather than having the perfect thing to say back.”
For as much as Bel-Air brings to the table in terms of exploring familial, friend, and romantic relationships, there are still stories its cast is waiting to see told. Freeman, inspired by the men on the series, is particularly interested in seeing more representations of male friendships on TV.
“It’s so funny when you look at a Friends and you see the many different personalities of the women, like with Golden Girls and Sex & The City — there’s so many all-women [shows]. But men, it’s like, there’s the sexy Black guy, the dorky Black guy, and then [one character is] gay. Like, that’s it?” Freeman said. “There’s so much more. Working on this show, the type of man that Olly is, is a different kind of man than Jabari [Banks], who plays Will. It’s a different kind of man than Jordan [L. Jones] who plays Jazz. There are so many different versions.”
For Sholotan, who grew up in Nigeria until the age of 10, the nostalgia that harkens from now watching classic Black sitcoms like Martin, Family Matters and Everybody Hates Chris, feeds into his desire for more content where characters are simply able to enjoy life.
“I want to see more youth of color just existing,” said Sholotan. “I watched Roll Bounce for the first time recently — incredible movie! The thing that really took me about it is that I kept waiting for the scene where these kids would be on the wrong side of town and the police would show up or something and it never happened. I’m not even lying, I watched this movie and I was almost in tears because I believe that art reflects culture and culture reflects what people think is possible. And watching Roll Bounce it’s like, kids of color can really just vibe and roller-skate and have a good time.”
To the point of art reflecting culture, Freeman expressed great pride in the dating perspectives of the young men in her cast during the panel. Recalling a conversation she once had with two of her co-stars — whom she didn’t name — she noted, “They were both champions to the Black women [they were seeing]. It was never about ‘she thought too much [of herself],’ it was like, ‘Black women always want to undercut themselves. She’s a winner. I’m trying to make sure she knows that she’s a winner.’”
Similarly, Simone said she’s had positive dating experiences as a young woman in Los Angeles, despite the perception that social media has ruined romantic relationships for her generation.
“I’ve had a great time dating out here,” said Simone. “I feel like in working hard and being our best selves, we find the people that we like on our way. And I feel like only when I’ve been like, let me take a break from being the best version of myself, have I found the wrong people.”
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