The Fresh Prince wants the world to love him again, writes Fiona Sturges. But he’s going about it the wrong way, with the most tortured career resurrection in recent times
The Fresh Prince wants the world to love him again, writes Fiona Sturges. But he’s going about it the wrong way, with the most tortured career resurrection in recent times
His career was on the wane before he acted like an asshole at the Oscars. I loved him as a kid and still love some of his movies, but he was the upstart smartass. That doesn’t work when you’re 50+ and he doesn’t have the range to be more than that.
He lost any semblance of cool with Pinkett’s affair and the slap. He is desperate to get it back but that’s not really going to be possible. Had he not slapped Rock he might have been able to lean into being a more sentimental figure at this stage but that too has passed.
I don’t know. She didn’t really have any bearing on his decline before that point. I assume those that knew about their celebrity life and her affair did, but that wasn’t most people.
It’s hard to know if the slap was out of character as we don’t know him. However it was out of character for his image. And image is your brand.
He thinks he’s still 20 years old in Miami in the 90s. He has no appreciation for the fact that he has changed and rap has changed. No one wants to hear a creepy old man singing about offering jetskis to get with girls at a club.
I think when he was rapping, it was always a watered down pop, gentle version anyway. That was fine, because it was fun. Music doesn’t have to be meaningful. But as you say, there is no growth there.
He’s tri d a few times to have growth in his acting, chasing the Oscar. However, his strength was the smart talking kid who thinks he knows better, but gets schooled by life only to learn a life lesson.
Fresh prince, MIB. They were awesome.
Ali, not so much.