Every now and again throughout our lives, we find ourselves in a brand new environment. For most of us, it usually takes a while before we fit in, if we ever do. At those times, we embody the trope known as the fish out of water. We're just flopping around trying to figure things out. This week, that's the topic for Thursday Movie Picks, chosen by our gracious host, Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. The catch is that since this is the last Thursday of the month, we're actually talking about TV shows that fit the theme. No problem. Let's get to it.
The set-up has been used over and over again in sitcom history - take a poor person and drop him/her into a rich neighborhood. Seldom has it been done so well. In this case, the poor person is a kid from Philly named Will Smith. Yes silly, that's the name of the actor AND the character. After a couple of guys started making trouble in the neighborhood, he got in one little fight and his mom got scared and said, "You're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air." Seriously, if you don't know the lyrics to the theme song, our chance for a meaningful relationship is slim, at best.
Tropes don't always follow the strictest guidelines. Sometimes, there's a twist. In the case of this show we're sticking with the poor kid, rich environment thing, to an extent. Our protagonist, a fictionalized version of show creator Chris Rock, is a kid growing up in a loving, but struggling Brooklyn family. He's also bussed across town to attend a nearly all-white school. He's something of a social outcast in both places. The show has lots of fun with purposeful and casual racism, poverty, and all sorts of familial situations to produce an abundance of wittiness, but rarely heaviness.
This time, we have a trio of fish. The Freemans, brothers Huey and Riley along with their grandfather have just moved from the 'hood into the predominantly white suburbs. Granddad is as old school as it gets, and Riley is pure street kid. Huey is more or less the lead and is an uncompromising militant. This leads to lots of clashing of cultures, and ideology, with loads of pop culture references serving as plots, and plenty of insight into all of it. Everything is done with anime, kung-fu movie, and hip-hop inspired flare. Fair warning to any who haven't seen it, even though this is animated it is definitely not for kids. Fun fact: the incomparable Regina King provides the voice for both Huey and Riley.
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