Vivian and Hilary

Though there is no white women on the Fresh prince cast, I feel the Hilary Banks is suppose to represent the stereotypical white girl. She is the white washed Black girl

Show: Fresh Prince of Bel Air

   

	Hilary	Vivian
Physical appearance (clothing, makeup, hair, general appearance, etc):	Tall, light skinned, very pretty curly hair, expensive fashion	Physically fit, tall, dark, profesional attire
Occupations:	Several occupations, but doesnt really hold a steady position, Free loads from parents	Black history teacher
Body Movement:	Uptight manners, speaks with hands, constantly smacks lips n rolls her eys	holds head and posture high
General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)	Air Head of the family,  selfish, constantly looking for relationships with men of high status	upholds morals of the family, sometimes she is the mediator
Level of intelligence (low, average, high).  How do you know this?	shows low level of intelligence,  very clueless of reality	high level of intelligence. School Teacher
What activities are they seen doing?	constantly shopping	Teaching,  babysitting,
General personality traits	Selfish, lazy, “mooch”	Strong and tough Black women, smart, independent,

  

Aunt Helen and Hillary

Show:_Fresh_Prince______________

 Because there are no white characters in Fresh Prince I chose Aunt Helen because she represents the “black” woman character and Hillary represents the “white” woman character. Even though they are both portrayed as black on the show, they both have distinct personas.

  

	Aunt Helen	Hillary
Physical appearance (clothing, makeup, hair, general appearance, etc):	Curvaceous, dark skinned, properly dressed for a mature woman	Well-dressed, trendy, well groomed and made up. Tall, skinny, curly hair and fair skinned.
Occupations:	unknown	Weather girl/Talk show host
Body Movement:	Walks with a swagger, exaggerated hand movements	“Ditsy,” but also proper when she walks
General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)	Relationships, advice	Herself, material things
Level of intelligence (low, average, high).  How do you know this?	High, life experience, motherly	Low, the show doesn’t suggest that she went to college. The token “ditz” talks like a “white” valley girl
What activities are they seen doing?	Eating, gossiping	Asking for money, at work
General personality traits	Loud, abrasive, strong-willed, “diva”	Self-centered, kind hearted, but can be snobby.

Vinh Nguyen

Hilary and Ashley Banks

I am doing the chart on the Fresh Prince of Bell Air. There are no prominent white female characters, so I am going to analyze Ashley Banks and Hilary Banks.

Ashley Banks is a very beautiful girl, who wears make-up. She dresses very nice, and wears nice designer cloths. She does not have a job she is a student. Her body movement when she was younger in the show was very cute, on the later episodes she has more of a sexy appeal. She discusses the usual things that teenage girls discuss. She talks about boys, and school and her activities she is doing. She is a very intelligent girl. The way she talks, and her knowledge about subjects she speaks of. She is a sweet girl with a very positive attitude.

Hilary Banks is also a very beautiful girl who wears the make-up and designer cloths. Her job is a weather girl. Her body movements are very sexual. She discusses the men she likes, and she discusses shopping and things she wants to buy. Her level of intelligence is extremely low, almost unrealistic. Her activities are shopping and hanging out with her friends. Her personality is extremely selfish, and self-centered. -Jordan Murchison

hilary vs. Vivian

 

Although there was not a white female character featured on the show, I feel that that Hilary’s character compensates. She is considered to be above the rest and what some black whould call and oreo because although she is black on the outside she is whit on the inside. She acts like a sterotypical blonde that is assumed to be an airheaded and not very educated. She has had the whole world handed to here because of her parents wealth and her fair skin is a reflection of what the ideal black woman is stereptyped to be.

Show: Fresh prince of Bel-Air

Ethnicity of Woman of Color:

	Hilary	Vivian
Physical appearance (clothing, makeup, hair, general appearance, etc):	fair skinned, curly hair , tall and skinny	dark skinned ( in earlier episodes) light skinned in later shows , short permed/ pressed hair
Occupations:	moocher, spoiled, free- loader, ( in later episodes gets job as weather girl)	Teacher and Lawyer
General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)	she was wrapped up in her boyfriend, talks about shopping and men	family oriented , talks about household concens
Level of intelligence (low, average, high). How do you know this?	Not very smart , easily confused	Educated , she is a teacher
What activities are they seen doing?	shopping	checking in on her family
General personality traits	Flighty, self-centered , concieted, selfish	Down to earth , street smart, understanding , can handle herself, strong black woman

 Jennifer Nash

hilary vs ashley

 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air does not feature any white characters in the main cast, the show only has an all black cast. I agree with you guys about how if white characters were incorporated into the show, they would have to deal with racial conflicts, which might now make the show as comical. Although the black characters crack jokes about their race, since they are all the same race its “okay” because they’re all “insiders” of the minority group.  And since there are no white characters in the show that are out of the “insider” group that could create conflicts, all the white viewers don’t see the hostility between the different races and thus feel like they can watch the show without feeling left out.

I’m going to compare Ashley Banks and Hilary Banks

	Woman of Color: Hilary	Other  Woman of Color: Ashley
Physical appearance (clothing, makeup, hair, general appearance, etc):	always wearing fashionable clothing with her make up and hair always done up.	Too young to wear too much makeup. Some fashionable clothes and her hair was either up or down.
Occupations:	unemployed, or working as a weather girl/talk show host	student
Body Movement:	perky, quick hand movements and strutting when she walks.	smoothe normal movement. usually cheerful and bouncy.
General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)	hilary talks about boys, clothes, money, her life, shes very self center	ashley talks about boys, trying to be noticed, her family, and Will.
Level of intelligence (low, average, high).  How do you know this?	Low intellegence always saying questionable things	Normal intellegence?She seems like an average girl but she doesn’t reveal much about her intellegence.
What activities are they seen doing?	going on dates and going shopping	going to movies, taking lessons, and when older she goes on dates
General personality traits	Self centered, complainy	happy, bubbly and active

Cody Nunn

Performance of Race. Vivian and Hilary

My show does not feature a white woman becuase it is a show about African American culture. The main focus of the show is to show African Americans in a different light……. coming from various  backgrounds (class) so that viewers can see that the culture can fall into the same category as the normal realm of the american culture.  So in other words, the show didnt feature white characters but certain characters (the banks) compensate for the role of the white subject. It features same race but of different backgrounds. This show was produced during a time when many other ‘black comedies’ were popular as well. The Fresh Prince of Bel air shows the behind the scenes of an upper class African American family who agrees to take in a street kid from Philly.    VIVIAN AND HILARY BANKS. (AFRICAN AMERICAN)

	Woman of Color	White Woman
Physical appearance (clothing, makeup, hair, general appearance, etc):	wearing makeup, well dressed but more sexy, well groomed, thin and tall.	Wearing makeup, well dressed but more professionally. Thin and average height.
Occupations:	daytime talk show host	Teacher, homemaker. Multiple career moves.
Body Movement:	Very feminine and girly. Uses a sexy and elegant stance. Plays with her hair and crosses her legs when she sits.	Like a woman. Feminine like but not as sexy.
General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)	Shopping, men relationships. Does not take work seriously.	Discusses her career moves, her family, work, and anything relating to Will.
Level of intelligence (low, average, high).  How do you know this?	Known for her lack of intelligence. I know this because she is snobby and shallow at times. Never talks about anything serious.	Vivian shows a high level of intelligence. Just by the way she talks and holds her conversations. Talks about her career moves and her family and gives advice.
What activities are they seen doing?	Seen shopping and coming home with shopping bags. Plays with her hair and makeup.	Seen coming home, preparing the table, working, turning on her husband.
General personality traits	Snobby and shallow. Giggles over anything and has a pretentious and spoiled attitude. People call her an airhead. She does however, show effection and love towards her family members.	Very friendly, compassionate and motherly, especially towards Ashley. Loving personality towards her family, especially her husband. Also career minded.

Catherine Nahapetian

	Michelle	Hillary
Occupations:	Unknown, but she plays on some sort of sports team – called “swimnastics”	Talk show host
Body Movement:	Very straightforward, refined, fluid body movements	Clumsy, flimsy, childish body movements
General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)	Athletic ability, her feelings for Carlton	Having a family and butler someday, talking like she’s a mother figure with Carlton and Michelle,
Level of intelligence (low, average, high).  How do you know this?	Hard to tell based on limited time she’s seen, but seems to have average intelligence. She is very submissive	Pretty low…she thinks that after one day of looking after the house and adolescents and adults, she’s ready to have her own kids
What activities are they seen doing?	Talking with Carlton, about to kiss him when Hillary interrupts,	Reading a magazine (seventeen), giving rice krispies to Carlton and Michelle,
General personality traits	Reserved, apprehensive, ladylike,	I’ve noticed that Hillary acts like a typical dumb-blonde character. Her lighter skin color and facial qualities make this connection possible.

Andrew Mundt

Race & women

In the TV show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, there are almost no white people. Even the few episodes where white women are present, their lines are usually so limited and their roles so small that it is near inconsequential to the show. Andrew (in our group) and I were talking about this today, and we came up with a rather oppositional reading as to why there are no white people. I have stated before that I do not believe that this show was targeted at the black community. The absence of white people (or really any other ethnicity) keeps the show from becoming too serious. It follows that if there were frequent white guests on the show, producers and writers would no doubt have to make an episode on race. By creating an all-black, affluent, mutually exclusive family (with almost no interaction with other ethnicities), the show can continue to portray the image of a happy household with none of the problems actually faced by black people (then or now). Andrew put it best (sorry to steal your thunder – you can totally borrow anything I said) – he said I was reading it as a sort-of “Black utopia”. The show sidesteps issues concerning race and most issues facing the black community.

*Since there are only 3 main female characters, I decided to compare Geoffrey and “Uncle” Phil. I found it interesting that the butler was much darker complected than all of the richer family members. The only other person who was close was the mother (Vivian), and she was replaced in later episodes by a very light-skinned new “Vivian”.

	Geoffrey	Phil
Physical appearance (clothing, makeup, hair, general appearance, etc):	Geoffrey is always in his uniform (with occasional exceptions, at which point he still dresses very nice – much in the style that Carlton does); British accent	When he is not in suits, Phil wears preppy, country club type clothing. He is almost never seen in jeans, always slacks. He wears polo shirts. And he does not wear sweatshirts – he wears sweaters, including ones draped over his shoulders.
Occupations:	butler	Lawyer/judge
General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)	Geoffrey talks about how he doesn’t want to be doing his job, about cleaning and constantly wishes he could be doing other things	Phil talks about his work, the kids, paying bills and things he must do, relationship with his wife; he is a very well-rounded character and talks about all the things that are again “normal” by TV standards
Level of intelligence (low, average, high). How do you know this?	Very intelligent (educated at Oxford University in UK)	Very intelligent ( a lawyer and later a judge)
What activities are they seen doing?	Cleaning, complaining about cleaning	Spending time with kids, with wife, eating (there are many jokes about his weight), going to work & returning from work, interviews, punishing Will and others for behavior, some deep moments with his kids, lots of yelling at Will
General personality traits	He talks back quite often, lots of snide comments, very sarcastic	A seemingly really nice guy – tries hard to be a good father/provider, steady except when it comes to Will (who often makes him lose his temper)

Laura Oxford

Production of Race and Gender

My show doesn’t feature both a woman of color and a white woman because the focus of my show is to explore the African American household, which in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, doesn’t consist of any white people. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air follows the life of Will and his Cousin’s family in Bel-Air, California and while there are white people on the show from time to time, all of the main characters are black. There are various woman of color on the show and they are used to present the multitude of personalities and characteristics that women of color posses. There is not just one singular identity for the entire race, but a full spectrum of characters each behaving in their own specific way. The absence of a white woman lead on the show produces a form of unity and strength for the show’s positive representation of African American’s, which at the time the current television field was lacking.

I chose Hillary Banks and Vivian Banks (The First One before they switched actors for the mom)

Physical appearance (clothing, makeup, hair, general appearance, etc):
Hillary Banks: Tall, Fashionable, Hair is always done and made up, She’s always dolled up, the is well up kept at all time, pretty
Vivian Banks: Classy and Sophisticated, Professional

Occupations:
Hillary Banks: Student, Unemployed, Talk Show Host
Vivian Banks: College Professor, Housewife, Mother

Body Movement:
Hillary Banks: Dainty, carelessly, sulky,
Vivian Banks: Dignified, strong, soft

General topics the character discusses (work, family, sports, music, relationships, sex, school, etc.)
Hillary Banks: Shopping, Work, clothing, shopping, friends, services for her, nothing too meaningful
Vivian Banks: School, Work, Family Life, Problems in Family, Will, her husband

Level of intelligence (low, average, high). How do you know this?
Hillary Banks: low, she graduated high school and attended college, but dropped out and didn’t tell her parents. She is ditsy on the show.
Vivian Banks: Highly Educated, She was a professor on the show. She behaves in an educated and professional manner.

What activities are they seen doing?
Hillary Banks: Complaining, talking, asking for favors
Vivian Banks: eating, sitting, walking, being a sub-character to Will, Carlton, and Philip

General personality traits:
Hillary Banks: Ditsy, Whiny, Complains a lot, feels deserving, spoiled, bratty, clumsy
Vivian Banks: Dignified, intelligent, moody, bitter, hard headed, sensitive, caring.

-David Monroe

STUDYING FOR MIDTERM TONIGHT….

Asli and I will be at the Odegard library this evening preparing for the exam. Stop by if you’re interested. Gives everyone a chance to compare questions and provide feedback. Hope to see you there.

 Catherine Nahapetian