Current Events > I think it's weird that Carlton never dated any White women on Fresh Prince.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or at least, that I can remember; I'm rewatching the series on Hulu and am almost done with season 3, but so far, whenever he's been shown with a love interest, she's Black. Perhaps most egregiously so when he and Will hooked up with those French girls who both also happened to be Black.

There are a lot of jokes made at his expense at how "White" he acts, he lives in an affluent, predominately-White neighborhood, and he went to a predominantly-White high school during the first three seasons (which became coed during the third season). So, you would think that he would have been shown having a fling with at least one White girl given where he is and those seeming being the type of ladies he would go after. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have dated Black women at all, but I do find it strange that--at least, so far--they've avoided him being with White women completely, except that one episode when Ashley's friend had a crush on him (but since she was way younger than he was, he didn't reciprocate at all).

This is the same show that had an entire episode about one of their aunts marrying a White man and how the rest of the family save Will's mom had no problem with it after the initial shock of seeing him for the first time, so I can't imagine there would have been that much of an issue with Carlton dating one or two White (or otherwise non-Black) women over the course of the show.

Solar_Crimson posted...

This is the same show that had an entire episode about one of their aunts marrying a White man

No, he was a tall man

didn't Carlton date a white postal lady, or am I thinking about another show?

edit: smh, I think I'm thinking about Braxton from the Jamie Foxx Show

It just starting off as 90s. They might have been scared. But now that bring it up. He should have been seeing at least one white girl. Not even because even as play on his "white man " deal. But just because of a numbers. And he did get upset when the girl next door started crushing on Will LOL.

The fact that one of their aunts marrying a white dude was such a big deal that they had an entire episode about it should tell you why they didn't have Carlton routinely date white women.

GranolaPanic posted...

Wasnt the white guy she was marrying Diedrich Bader?

Yes, Batman himself.

pegusus123456 posted...

The fact that one of their aunts marrying a white dude was such a big deal that they had an entire episode about it should tell you why they didn't have Carlton routinely date white women.

Yeah, interracial relationships on television were novel/rare even in the early 90's it seems.

GranolaPanic posted...

He played Batman?

In Batman Brave and The Bold and Harley Quinn.

He actually does a solid job too, I wouldn't be upset if he became Conroy's successor.

The show is a product of its time. Pretty sure even Will Smith himself still hasn't been with a white woman on camera.

A_Good_Boy posted...

The show is a product of its time. Pretty sure even Will Smith himself still hasn't been with a white woman on camera.

The time he got close he lost his powers and almost died .

A_Good_Boy posted...

The show is a product of its time. Pretty sure even Will Smith himself still hasn't been with a white woman on camera.

I can understand Will not dating any White women during the course of Fresh Prince, since even as he matured he was still a product of West Philly.

That said, they did deliberately avoid putting him with a White woman in the film Hitch because they were afraid of pissing off the "general audience", though they also didn't pair him with a Black woman out of fear of making the film into a "Black film" and everything that implies. So, they went with the middle ground and cast Latina Eva Mendes as his love interest.

And then there's Hitch, where his character was formerly married to a White woman, but she has since remarried a White guy and she and Will don't get back together (even though in the original story the film is based on, I believe that the two did in fact get back together).

Ivynn posted...

Yeah, interracial relationships on television were novel/rare even in the early 90's it seems.

True, but at the same time, I also think that they were--and still are--a bit more common when it's a White guy who part of the equation.

That said, Night Court did surprise me when they had the main Black guy get married to the Vietnamese woman he met during the Vietnam War.

I don't find this a major surprise. Carlton isn't shown dating anybody most of the time. I don't think there is any romantic interest for him that lasts beyond one episode, it always fails in some way and then the audience is either supposed to feel bad for him or he's the butt of the joke.

They use this to contrast him with Will doing things like setting up a fake marriage ceremony to get with some religious girl.

I don't think the subject was too out of bounds for Fresh Prince, it just didn't fit the character dynamics.

Turtlemayor333 posted...

I don't think there is any romantic interest for him that lasts beyond one episode

Actually, that's the case for Will as well, at least until Lisa comes into the picture.

Even when Will spent an entire episode chasing after a girl and finally gets her in the end, by the time of the next episode, she is never mentioned again.

Weren't there a lot of black kids at Bel-Air Academy? At least after the first few episodes.

Background_Guy posted...

Weren't there a lot of black kids at Bel-Air Academy? At least after the first few episodes.

Yeah, they did start adding more Black (and other non-White) students as the series went on, but it was still mostly White.

Golden Girls also had an episode about interracial marriage. Dorothy's son was marrying a black woman. She didn't mind that she was black, but she did take issue with the fact that she was twice his age. The woman's mom - played by Virginia Capers, Phil's mom on Fresh Prince - was the one who had an issue with race.

So yeah, interracial marriage was still somewhat taboo on TV.

Solar_Crimson posted...

That said, Night Court did surprise me when they had the main Black guy get married to the Vietnamese woman he met during the Vietnam War.

Vietnamese war brides and war orphans were actually a huge trope through out the 80s. In fact, it was one of the most common interracial marriages and biracial characters depicted during that time.

I love the golf episode where dudes like, "Just call me whitey."

Will's like, "nah, cause if do that you're gonna say..."

"Will!!!" Screams uncle Phil.

Shit still cracks me up to this day.

Wait, Fresh Prince had Shredder and Batman?

Solar_Crimson posted...

True, but at the same time, I also think that they were--and still are--a bit more common when it's a White guy who part of the equation.

I was gonna say, interracial romance plots weren't necessarily uncommon, but they definitely were with Black men and white women.

I don't know enough to call it conclusively, but I'm pretty sure Will Smith had an onscreen romance with Rosario Dawson like three different times before having one with a white woman.

DrizztLink posted...

I was gonna say, interracial romance plots weren't necessarily uncommon, but they definitely were with Black men and white women.

Yeah, and I think even in Black media, it seems more common to have Black women dating/marrying White men, than it is for Black men to do the same with White women. At least, of the Black media (TV shows and films) that I can think of.

Solar_Crimson posted...

Yeah, and I think even in Black media, it seems more common to have Black women dating/marrying White men, than it is for Black men to do the same with White women. At least, of the Black media (TV shows and films) that I can think of.

Yeah there is nothing bigots hate more than Black Man White women.