With the commencement of the back to school season, many college freshmen, like me, find themselves conflicted with an abundance of emotions. Confusion, anxiety, discomfort, uncertainty and often a reluctance to confront these apprehensions. For me, I find comfort in my Netflix and Xfinity subscriptions to take my anxieties away. Immersing myself completely into a new show allows me to get away from reality and become distracted from whatever is consuming my life.
Recently I’ve been watching a very old show, “A Different World,” a famous spin-off from “The Cosby Show.” It’s a show that many people hold near and dear to their hearts and most importantly the birthplace of the Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert OTP (one true pairing) fanbase. Funnily enough, the show starts out with an introduction to the characters on move in day at a fictional university, Hillman College. So as I’m binge-watching the series, I’m introduced to a myriad of different college students and their unique stories and ambitions for college. There’s Jaleesa Vinson, the non-traditional student who had a minor setback, but returns to Hillman years later to attain her bachelor’s degree. There’s Maggie Launten, a college freshman that gives the unique perspective of an ethnicity that is the minority, Caucasian, at a predominantly black university and how this affects her experiences. There’s also Denise Huxtable, whom the story first centers around, the college freshman excited to have this newfound freedom, despite being a little bit irresponsible and having really no idea of future plans. Needless to say, there are definitely different personalities and stories that everyone can relate to. However, this is more than just a new TV show recommendation.
While watching “A Different World,” instead of my primary intent to distract myself from impending college stress, I found myself taking in so much information about college classes, college life, college relationships, etc. While the show is totally fictional, the scene and storylines are highly influenced by prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities, more well known as HBCUs; Hampton University, Spelman College and Howard University. In fact, the show recruited Debbie Allen, an alumna of Howard University, as the chief creative force to add more validity to the college experiences portrayed, and took various field trips to interview real college students and their experiences.
The show, unlike any others of its time, addressed so many important and under-discussed issues and concerns on college campuses like rape, racism, HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases, the struggle to pay for tuition and how difficult it can be to find stable work right after graduation. These episodes took these issues and exceptionally showcased their existence in college, as well as gave multiple perspectives as to how to work through them. For example, the episode “No Means No” in season two deals with coercion and rape on college campuses. Main character Freddie Brooks, who has a fleeting crush on her fellow classmate, goes on what she believes is an innocent dinner date, but ends up in a very dangerous situation where she is stuck in his car and he aggressively forces sexual advances onto her, even though she very clearly makes it known she doesn’t want it. The show makes it a point to show that this situation can happen to anyone, that the aggressor can be the most unsuspecting of people. However, the show also showcased main characters Ron Brown and Walter Oakes, who did not excuse this student’s actions or his many other stories of doing the exact same thing to other freshman girls. Despite being friends with this student, Brown and Oakes made it clear to him that it was sexual assault and was illegal. And after his attempted sexual assault towards Brooks, he was punished to the full extent of both Hillman College’s law, as well as Virginia state law regarding rape and sexual assault. This is just one of the many examples of how this show talked about real issues on real college campuses, ironically making me feel even more prepared for college and what to expect.
Being apart of a generation where often life imitates art, watching and learning from a show like “A Different World,” can really prepare students for possible situations they may find themselves in. It surely made the transition from high school into college all the more informative and entertaining!