Top 20 Times The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Tackled Serious Issues

Closing a chapter of your life isn’t always easy. And sure, we all bawled when Will turned off the lights. After all, for six seasons, we’d watched him grow, evolve and develop under his family’s watchful and caring eye. While saying goodbye can be hard, it gives Will and the audience time to reflect on everything that shaped him into the man he became. This version of Will is very different from the kid who first moved to Bel-Air, and it’s only because of that growth that he’s finally ready to go out on his own. He looks back with nostalgia and forward with the knowledge that he’s prepared for whatever life throws his way. That’s something most people face at one point or another.

Season four takes a dark turn for Hilary when her beau Trevor’s big extravagant proposal goes tragically wrong. While the moment itself is initially played for laughs, Hilary genuinely and understandably struggles in the aftermath and blames herself. Will even convinces her to move out of the pool house, where she shared plenty of intimate moments with Trevor. But we arguably see Hilary’s deepest despair after she needlessly starts nitpicking the person Will sets her up with. This leads her to finally confront her own emotions and find some closure. The story arc teaches us to be patient and give ourselves, or others, all the time and space we need to grieve.

When Ashley gets the hots for and starts seeing her classmate Kevin, she turns to her cool older cousin to discuss the birds and the bees. Will’s caught a little off guard but steps up – well, he tries to. Later he, Carlton, and Hilary debate the pros and cons of giving the youngest Banks child some education. Ultimately, the guys visit a clinic to educate themselves before offering up advice – and it turns into an eye-opening experience for them too. It’s also great to see the parents ultimately approach the subject open-mindedly. This episode proves that teaching people about how to safely practice intimacy is incredibly effective.

In this episode, Will and Phillip meet an ex-con called Luther, who must find a job or risk returning to jail. Unfortunately, securing employment is much harder for a felon, and even Uncle Phil, who knows the pitfalls of the legal system, needs a little convincing. In fact, it seems like only Will’s willing to give the guy a genuine chance. He even initially gives him the benefit of the doubt after his autographed baseball goes missing. But when the family comes home to discover they’ve been robbed, all fingers point to Luther. Only he turns out to be innocent. It’s a poignant lesson in not judging people by their past actions and giving them a fair chance to be rehabilitated and reintegrate society.

The anxiety that can come with getting older is all too familiar to many. When Aunt Viv hits “The Big Four-Oh,” her birthday party pushes her to chase a lifelong dream. However, she soon becomes intimidated after struggling to keep up with the younger attendees of her Advanced Jazz dance class. It doesn’t help when a couple of snooty dancers try to make her feel like she doesn’t belong there. But Aunt Viv refuses to give up, holds her ground, and (figuratively) laces up her dance shoes. She out-dances the competition, proving that age really is just a number and that it’s never too late to chase your dreams – or realize you’ve cultivated new ones.

Will attends a Lakers game with Dee Dee, the daughter of one of his uncle’s clients. Although they seem like a match, he can’t get past her weight. When they go to grab a bite later on, he’s more concerned with protecting his rep than defending Dee Dee from the body-shamers. And she hears everything. The pair only reunite later at a dance, where she calls out his shallowness, telling him she has too much self-respect to waste time on someone who judges her body. After an otherwise miserable night, Will learns a valuable lesson. Don’t place value judgements on other peoples’ appearances, and find someone who thinks sticking straws up their nose is as funny as you do.

It’s widely believed that this episode occurs in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Philip and Vivian take the family to their old neighborhood to help clean up. Will meets Noah, a resident who calls out those who feign altruism to feel good about themselves, and how quickly they forget about those still trying to rebuild. Meanwhile, Philip realizes that while enjoying his well-earned life of luxury, he’s forgotten some of his core values. As the family reflects on their history, various members vow to be more committed to rebuilding the neighborhood and giving back to the community.

Will advocates for Black history to be taught at Bel-Air Academy, but quickly becomes disillusioned when it turns out to be more work than he expected. In fact, Will and Carlton, the only two Black students in the class, end up being the least invested. Things come to a head when Aunt Viv confronts Will over his attitude, especially as he was the one who fought for Black history to be taught in the first place. She tells him that the subject has more depth and complexity than he realizes and that it isn’t something to be taken lightly. Her words are important for him and viewers alike to hear. The episode concludes with a powerful quote from one of Will’s idols, Malcolm X.

Will and Jazz find themselves in court following a car accident with Hilary and her boyfriend, Eric. While taking the stand, Jazz stands with his arms raised and is reluctant to put them down. It’s presented as a comedic moment, but there’s a dark and all too real truth behind his fear. According to data collected by the Washington Post, interactions with cops ending in civilian fatalities have increased in recent years. And a disproportionate number of lives lost belong to Black Americans. Movements like Black Lives Matter are fighting to raise awareness and advocate for change. Still, this is an age-old injustice, and it’s heartbreaking to know that not enough has changed.

In this eye-opening two parter, we see various family members confront their own privilege and develop a greater appreciation for their fortune. Hilary and Carlton eat a big ‘ol slice of humble pie after spending Thanksgiving at a homeless shelter. Carlton’s forced to face his prejudices while Hilary learns that her photo op is someone else’s day-to-day reality. Meanwhile, Will and Uncle Phil end up in the slammer after an innocent mistake. There, Phil encounters an old college buddy and discovers how drastically different their lives turned out. Needless to say, by the time the family sits down to dinner together, they have a deeper understanding of their privilege.

Since the Banks house had a few teenagers around, it’s not surprising to see scenes where characters are coming to terms with their sexuality. But a season six episode where Ashley questions whether she’s ready to take another step forward with her love interest hit hardest. Fortunately, her older sister has great advice. Hilary addresses Ashley’s feelings and concerns and ultimately empowers her sibling to make the decision that feels right. Not everyone has someone that they feel comfortable talking to about the birds and the bees. So, during this conversation, Hilary may have acted as a big sister to many young people watching at home.

As much as we love this show, we have to admit that Will said a few sexist things. There are a few examples of him speaking to women in disrespectful ways of making assumptions based on gender. Will occasionally had to learn lessons about his bias the hard way. On one occasion, a prank orchestrated by Carlton and Lisa wakes him up. Another story sees a female boxer teach him a lesson about assumptions. He and Carlton also engaged in a battle of the sexes with Hilary and Ashley. While there are certainly aspects of these episodes that didn’t age gracefully, the main message about confronting sexist behavior is still relevant today.

Whenever the Smith sisters get together, you just know that you’re in for a good time. But their relationship was strained when Janice revealed that she was engaged to a white man. Initially, Viola Smith is adamantly against the union. She even tries to prevent Will from attending the wedding too. The show makes space to fully detail why she’s afraid of the union while also making it clear that Janice is aware of the potential hurdles she may face in society. Thankfully, Will’s words help convince Viola to see her little sister wed. The sweet conclusion to this episode gave us hope that Vy would continue to support her sister’s love.

After ignoring warnings about his health, Uncle Phil suffers a heart attack. Everyone rushes to aid the fraternal figure…except Carlton. He has trouble seeing his dad in such a vulnerable state. To him, Phil is an invincible superman and he can’t deal with that image crumbling. Carlton is finally challenged when Will confronts him. Their talk is full of harsh realities about mortality and parental issues. Fortunately, this raw conversation enables Carlton to finally come to terms with the situation. He realizes that it’s more important to appreciate the time he has with his father than to avoid him out of fear. This revelation is followed up with a heartfelt conversation between father and son.

In the aftermath of a harsh and humiliating Rush week, Will discovers Carlton wasn’t accepted into the all-Black Phi Beta Gamma fraternity. It soon becomes clear that this is due to the president’s prejudice against Carlton’s privileged upbringing.Will tries to spare his cousin’s feelings. However, Carlton steps in with hard-hitting truth for the fraternity leader. It’s a powerful speech about not invalidating someone’s identity just because they had a different experience. As the episode closes, Uncle Phil poses a rather poignant question about this intense topic. When the family responds by silently thinking his words over, the audience is encouraged to silently reflect too.

Will’s ego gets the better of him when he starts competing for Jackie’s attention. After getting completely wasted, he considers driving home before passing out first. He wakes up in a cemetery where he has a life-changing encounter with a group of poker-playing ghosts. The tone really shifts when he talks to Billy, a spirit whose life was cut short by a drunk driver. This talk hits like a punch in the gut. Its heavy content makes Will finally realize what could’ve happened if he got behind the wheel while intoxicated. Even though it all turns out to be a tequila-fueled nightmare, we’re sure that this lesson will stay with Will and the viewers forever.

When Will gets overwhelmed, his friend offers him a dangerous and illegal quick-fix solution. It’s all but forgotten about until Carlton mistakes his cousin’s pills for vitamins and ends up in the hospital. Although everything turns out okay, the guilt still weighs heavily on Will. He eventually confesses that he’s responsible for Carlton’s accident in a tearful and heartbreaking scene. The episode highlights that irresponsible substance use can also endanger a person’s loved ones. After Will realizes who he could’ve lost, the episode ends with his family knowing how sorry he is.

During one of the darkest episodes of the series, Will gets shot while he and Carlton are getting mugged. An angry, scared, and incredibly vulnerable Carlton decides to take extreme measures to prevent something like that from happening again. A hospitalized Will is horrified when he discovers that his cousin has a gun. He urges Carlton to see that his snap decision to buy a gun could cause more problems than it would solve. After a tense back and forth, Will convinces his cousin to leave the gun. The image of the bedridden young man removing the bullets as he breaks down in tears is incredibly sobering. While the issues surrounding gun control are complex, this emotional scene sends a simple message about choosing non-violence.

The plot of “Mistaken Identity” takes a dark turn when Carlton and Will get pulled over by an office while driving a car that belongs to one of Philip’s colleagues. Unfortunately, they end up behind bars. When Phil and Vivian come to their rescue, the officers continue to show more prejudiced behavior. It’s not until a white man vouches for the young duo that the police finally start to work with the Banks. But Uncle Phil is sure to get in the final word with a strong and impassioned speech about prejudice. Even after they are released, Will and Uncle Phil make it clear to Carlton that this encounter is unfortunately not likely to be an isolated incident.

Viv and Phil are skeptical when Will’s dad comes back into his life suddenly after 14 years. Sadly their concerns are proven correct when Lou flakes out on his son once again. This leads to one of the most iconic moments of the entire series and arguably one of Will Smith’s best performances. The emotion is so raw that you can’t help but get choked up during his heart-wrenching monologue. He’s so convincing that many believed he was drawing on his own experiences. While it turns out that this situation didn’t happen in the actual Will’s life, his acting brought an all too real issue to the forefront.