The second season though, Carlton took a complete 180, succumbing to the pressures of being part of the Black circle at his school and taking a stand. They might be rich, but they’re Black boys, and they needed each other…and knew it. Carlton and Will found - in each other - confidants and a camaraderie that allowed them to stand tall in the face of adversity. I understood him better and appreciated his struggles as a child of privilege trying to navigate his world of prosperity as a popular minority, but also the introduction of his much cooler, system-bucking cousin from West Philadelphia. By the time the first season ended, the tide turned. In the first season of “Bel-Air,” I literally went from HATING Carlton to him being my favorite character on the show because of his growth and evolution as a spoiled, drug addicted, rich Black kid who loved the status quo and was opportunistic enough to let his white friends use the N-word around him because he just wanted to get along for his personal gain. “Bel-Air,” the reboot of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” where Anthony Sparks was the showrunner for the second season (perhaps coincidentally, but perhaps not) is heading in a similar direction with Carlton Banks, played by Olly Sholotan. Peacock’s ‘Bel-Air’ renewed for third season With Ralph Angel, they created a character who got to evolve, grow and experience various facets of Black manhood and humanity. With multiple seasons and episodes per season, you can spread your wings in ways you can’t do in a movie. I once told Anthony Sparks, the showrunner and a writer on the show through its first six seasons, that they’d managed to craft and write the most nuanced Black male I’d ever seen on television. Ralph Angel often zagged when you thought he would zig. He let his son, Blue, play with a female doll named Kenya, was protective of his gay friend and ensured that friend had space to be himself. He became an organizer, community builder and a leader. He was a devout family man and father who was concerned about legacy while also, early on, prone to committing crimes that might separate him from his family. Ralph Angel (sometimes referred to as Ra, and played by Kofi Siriboe) was hyper-masculine, yet extremely progressive in his views about masculinity. On Twitter, Sholotan has been responding to some of the memes and comments about his character.I’m a huge fan of the OWN series “Queen Sugar.” Ending in 2022 after a seventh season that introduced us to a story about a Black family that we’d never seen on television before, it also introduced us to who I’d argue is the most complex Black male character of all time, Ralph Angel Bordelon. He said: "The only thing I gotta say is y'all haters will be lovers." But he says he'll leave the audience to decide their thoughts. He added: "I think that the show starts at a rough point in Carlton's life and I am excited for viewers to see his journey."įor Sholotan, Carlton redeems himself in later episodes because the audience gets a glimpse into the character's personal struggle and battle with anxiety. You don't deserve to be Black.' How does that affect the psyche and what does that do?" If you tell someone for as long as they've been socialized that, 'Hey! Even though you identify as Black, you don't really act Black. "It's that you really get to peel back the layers of what these things do to the psyche of a 16-year-old kid. "That's what I think is so beautiful about this version of Carlton," the Carlton actor said. Alfonso Ribeiro, the original Carlton, in "Fresh Prince" and Sholotan in "Bel-Air." NBCUniversal / Peacock / Getty Images
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