Wow, I completely forgot what a fierce TV show this was. Well-written, well-directed, and well-acted, it may well have been the last gasp of the Quality Sitcom. Clearly a direct descendent of the Norma Lear School, it touched on social issues in a way that was both poignant and funny. Kudos to the cast and writers.
3:40-4:36 is very sad yet makes me appreciate my African roots and my Southern way of life. My great-great-great grandmama was a house nanny, my great-grandmama a maid and my grandmama a housewife. These women shaped my life and so many other lives in my family today.
My great Great great granddaddy was also listed as a slave owner, But he brought back his family. So even though its listed as he was a slave owner we know that in order to have his family together he brought them back from white slave owners.
IT AMAZES ME AT H0W AMAZING I F0RG0T THIS SH0W WAS...IT 0PENED S0 MANY PE0PLES EYES T0 P0LITICAL, & RACIAL ISSUES BACK THEN... I MISS THIS SHOW SO MUCH..!!
As HOT as Kim Reese was, she still looked like an Aunt Jemima; Mammy was HOT, too, the only problem was that Mammy fussed to much, but putting up w/ them peckerwoods, she had to! Mammy, like Mr Gaines says, was strong because she had to be, Real Talk! MAMMY WAS, IS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE HOT!!!
This was a very interesting scene however, was it also stated that Whitley's ancestors bought the slaves because perhaps they were family? Mr. Gaines did mention that to Whitley near the end. He said he's heard of blacks buying back their own family members.
"It's easy for YOU...who does this look like- me or you??"
Wow....I KNOW I watched this when it originally aired more than 15 years ago, but I never cried at the monologue from Charnele Brown (as Kim tearfully confides in Mr. Gaines about Halloween) until now. OMG!! It was episodes like this that reminded me what a beautifully sensitive and even regal series this was. I wished it had gone on for six more years, it was amazing when it gave spotlights to all the cast members at once.
This is my favorite episode from a tv show ever. 0ut of the mammy came what we are today. We shouldn't be ashamed, but proud of it. The women that were considered mammy fed us and worked her behind off so we could learn and live better. I am a proud of my mammy.
One of the best pieces on the "Mammy" that I've ever seen. The stereotyped image that little black girls grow up with and sometimes become content with it ; that "Aunt Jemima" is their destiny. But really, how do you see yourself, NOW? Do as Freddie says and re-appropriate the symbols of our oppressors...this will "neutralize the stereotype"!
One of the best pieces on the black "Mammy" that I've ever seen. The stereotyped image that little black girls grow up with and sometimes become content with it ; that "Aunt Jemima" is their destiny. But really, how do you see yourself, NOW? Do as Freddie says and re-appropriate the symbols of our oppressors...this will "neutralize the stereotype"!
but i mean its not like whitley own the slaves, but damn their money comes from owning slaves, but then again do they discount their money, damn, i would be pissed at my ancestors for doin sum shit like that, that puts salt on their family name, and their family money
actually she doesn't know the circumstances behind owning the slaves. it could have been like the man said, they bought their loved ones, or extended family or saved people from slavery.
I am possitive people bought some slaves, just to save them from slavery. just like some slave masters fed them the same exact food they ate, wore the same clothes, married them [hello thomas jefferson]
I like to look at all angles, but [as in my frist post] i call truth to what happened historically.
I don't agree with him. First of all Mammy wasn't invented by Black people, it was invented by white men, to stereotype black women to their WIVES. So that their wives would feel non-threatened by the black woman. Meanwhile, old mister white man would hop down to the slave quarters and rape the black slaves.
That's where mammy came from. It was never a nice thing, and definitely not innocent.
Don't embrace Mammy, it's a lie and a con from the start.
thats wut ppl know we know mammy was a negative thing, but instead of ignoring and having it as a wound, u embrace to make it beautiful, so it doesnt remain ugly, who cares wut sumthing orginated from and why its called wut its called, a word is a word, the meaning can change if u let it,
@shakaama I've always wondered is this the reason most black women feel more comfortable dating inside their race, where as black men are, I suppose, free-er in who they have kids with, or marry. Are we still having flash backs to those days where we were constantly stereotyped, and told you're nothing more than something to unleash a white man's animalist desires upon, is this still ringing through the black woman's mind, and so gives them a bad view of possibly marrying a white man?
@Indiegirl007 YEAH OLDER BLACK RELATIVES ALWAYS TELL A LOTTA YOUNGER BLACK WOMEN NOT TO FUCK WITH WHITE MEN B/C THEY JUST LOOK AT U LIKE A TOY OR THEY WILL SHOW THEIR TRUE COLORS LATER ON. I KNOW SOME BLACK WOMEN IN HAPPY INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS I GUESS BUT IT JUST AINT FOR ME, IM MORE COMFORTABLE W/ A BLACK MAN NOT FOR THAT REASON ONLY BUT A LOT MORE
I sure LOVE me some Mr. Gaines character !!!. He's so forthright and a southern sweethearted gentleman at the same time. ..
I love the moment he had with Kim about the Aunt Jemima story...so touching and emotional..I could definitely relate to the story..Gr8 episode!!!!! =D
I tried to dress up as Madonna (I'm talking: 1985, Lucky Star, fluffy hoop skirts, 3 tank tops, gloves, lots of cross chains around my neck, mole, and a single star earring,) for halloween when i was in 3rd grade and NO one knew who i was at school for the class party. In fact, my teacher admonished me for wearing fishnet tights, even though 2 other girls (who were white) who were also dressed like Madonna were wearing similar ripped tights.
I was just watching this episode since i saved it on DVR (Nick at Nite & BET have dropped the ball, TVONE, *please* step up to the plate!) and this show is definitely timeless.
The scene with Kim & Mr Gaines was one of my favorite scenes of DW ever. Lena was my crush way back when but Kim Reese was the most attractive woman IMO
honeegrrl, thanks for that information. It's sometimes so troubling for me to see black males still caught up in light-skinned privilege. And I say that as a lighter-skinned guy. Plus I always thought Kim had a gorgeous smile.
I always found it intriguing that Jasmine Guy gave Whitley a southern white woman accent and when I went to college one of my good friends is the only person I've ever met that had a similar accent, and we called her "Whitley" lol
I never understood why some people said Freddy was "fine". Freddy?!!! I mean, she's o.k., and some of her more natural features did come out when she straightened her hair in season six...But honestly, I think the sudden lust for her was part of the strange ranking system for black females, wherein a lighter-skinned woman only has to be minimally attractive to be considered "fine".
i dont agree, were all beautiful no matter the shade, freddy was beautifu, so was kim, and whitley, jelessa all of em, its wrong to discount dark skin women for a lightskin one yes this is true, but dont switch and and discount light skin women for a dark skin one, no matter the shade of black its black and beautiful
I like Whitley's southern accent. I wish they would make more shows like this that show young black adults doing the right thing instead of these corny shows like college hill, Baldwin hills i miss the late 80's and 90's TV wise
I know! The Cosby Show, A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, that was the good stuff. The shows actually meant something and addressed heavy topics that you hardly ever see addressed now: racism, gun violence, drug & alcohol abuse, sex and pregnancies... I guess that stuff is taboo now.
Out of all the episodes from this show, I remember this one the most...very meaningful!
eracism09 1 week ago
i love this episode!... and my brown complexion = )
sammygirl62393 2 weeks ago
Wow, I completely forgot what a fierce TV show this was. Well-written, well-directed, and well-acted, it may well have been the last gasp of the Quality Sitcom. Clearly a direct descendent of the Norma Lear School, it touched on social issues in a way that was both poignant and funny. Kudos to the cast and writers.
njplr 1 month ago
3:40-4:36 is very sad yet makes me appreciate my African roots and my Southern way of life. My great-great-great grandmama was a house nanny, my great-grandmama a maid and my grandmama a housewife. These women shaped my life and so many other lives in my family today.
demiere1998 1 month ago
Kim is the finest woman on this show, and Mr. Gaines makes the most sense of all the characters.......
mrmartywaring 4 months ago 4
Mr. Gaines always gives great advise.
DaniB0626 5 months ago 3
Slaves that could ...would often buy other slaves for the purpose of setting them free.
revdrodgerssr 5 months ago
THIS SHOW WAS THEE BEST... THEY NEED TO MAKE A COMEBACK ASAP
alilee2010 6 months ago
My great Great great granddaddy was also listed as a slave owner, But he brought back his family. So even though its listed as he was a slave owner we know that in order to have his family together he brought them back from white slave owners.
DonDiva4u03 7 months ago
her ancestors bought slaves not her. Lena need to chill out
MJThrillerOffTheWall 8 months ago 5
WOW - this show was groundbreaking. This is so awesome!!! They need to bring this back.
Ayommari 8 months ago
IT AMAZES ME AT H0W AMAZING I F0RG0T THIS SH0W WAS...IT 0PENED S0 MANY PE0PLES EYES T0 P0LITICAL, & RACIAL ISSUES BACK THEN... I MISS THIS SHOW SO MUCH..!!
iL0VE2SMiLE 8 months ago
As HOT as Kim Reese was, she still looked like an Aunt Jemima; Mammy was HOT, too, the only problem was that Mammy fussed to much, but putting up w/ them peckerwoods, she had to! Mammy, like Mr Gaines says, was strong because she had to be, Real Talk! MAMMY WAS, IS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE HOT!!!
WizzoPro9476 9 months ago
aw i love mr. gaines, he's so insightful =)
Luv4TajhanB 11 months ago
This was a very interesting scene however, was it also stated that Whitley's ancestors bought the slaves because perhaps they were family? Mr. Gaines did mention that to Whitley near the end. He said he's heard of blacks buying back their own family members.
honeegrrl 1 year ago
"It's easy for YOU...who does this look like- me or you??"
Wow....I KNOW I watched this when it originally aired more than 15 years ago, but I never cried at the monologue from Charnele Brown (as Kim tearfully confides in Mr. Gaines about Halloween) until now. OMG!! It was episodes like this that reminded me what a beautifully sensitive and even regal series this was. I wished it had gone on for six more years, it was amazing when it gave spotlights to all the cast members at once.
mca1218 1 year ago 12
lol at lena " now we know why you so bossy it's DNA. them no good ancestor."
wwwDOTlovablefashionsDOTcom
hellohey000 1 year ago 7
@hellohey000 -lol
GODZKRE8TION 1 year ago
I loved Mr. Gaines relationship w/ Kim.
jb142653 1 year ago 4
awwwwwww mr gains is so sweet
fridaydotpulseTV 1 year ago
ahahaha D.N.A ahahah
flygreen68 1 year ago
This is my favorite episode from a tv show ever. 0ut of the mammy came what we are today. We shouldn't be ashamed, but proud of it. The women that were considered mammy fed us and worked her behind off so we could learn and live better. I am a proud of my mammy.
1LHPrincess 1 year ago
thats whats she get's for celebrating holloween lol that aint a something we as a people should be celebrating.
dedseason 1 year ago
One of the best pieces on the "Mammy" that I've ever seen. The stereotyped image that little black girls grow up with and sometimes become content with it ; that "Aunt Jemima" is their destiny. But really, how do you see yourself, NOW? Do as Freddie says and re-appropriate the symbols of our oppressors...this will "neutralize the stereotype"!
Trinidimple 1 year ago 2
One of the best pieces on the black "Mammy" that I've ever seen. The stereotyped image that little black girls grow up with and sometimes become content with it ; that "Aunt Jemima" is their destiny. But really, how do you see yourself, NOW? Do as Freddie says and re-appropriate the symbols of our oppressors...this will "neutralize the stereotype"!
Trinidimple 1 year ago
d0pe dope dope\
t0iletrees 1 year ago
Kimberly is beautiful!! she is a nubian queen! she has nothin 2 be ashamed of
Babycam08 1 year ago 8
DNA "Dem no good ansectors" whitley almost knocked mister gains over
sharnese228 1 year ago 10
This episode is so powerful
MzLockSteady 1 year ago
but i mean its not like whitley own the slaves, but damn their money comes from owning slaves, but then again do they discount their money, damn, i would be pissed at my ancestors for doin sum shit like that, that puts salt on their family name, and their family money
BesosXOXO123 2 years ago 2
actually she doesn't know the circumstances behind owning the slaves. it could have been like the man said, they bought their loved ones, or extended family or saved people from slavery.
I am possitive people bought some slaves, just to save them from slavery. just like some slave masters fed them the same exact food they ate, wore the same clothes, married them [hello thomas jefferson]
I like to look at all angles, but [as in my frist post] i call truth to what happened historically.
shakaama 2 years ago 6
@shakaama Yeah that's true, there were slaves who purchased slaves to save them from oppression.
honeegrrl 1 year ago
thats true thats true
BesosXOXO123 1 year ago
I don't agree with him. First of all Mammy wasn't invented by Black people, it was invented by white men, to stereotype black women to their WIVES. So that their wives would feel non-threatened by the black woman. Meanwhile, old mister white man would hop down to the slave quarters and rape the black slaves.
That's where mammy came from. It was never a nice thing, and definitely not innocent.
Don't embrace Mammy, it's a lie and a con from the start.
shakaama 2 years ago 4
thats wut ppl know we know mammy was a negative thing, but instead of ignoring and having it as a wound, u embrace to make it beautiful, so it doesnt remain ugly, who cares wut sumthing orginated from and why its called wut its called, a word is a word, the meaning can change if u let it,
BesosXOXO123 2 years ago
@shakaama I've always wondered is this the reason most black women feel more comfortable dating inside their race, where as black men are, I suppose, free-er in who they have kids with, or marry. Are we still having flash backs to those days where we were constantly stereotyped, and told you're nothing more than something to unleash a white man's animalist desires upon, is this still ringing through the black woman's mind, and so gives them a bad view of possibly marrying a white man?
Indiegirl007 1 year ago 4
@Indiegirl007 you might be right.
shakaama 1 year ago
@Indiegirl007 YEAH OLDER BLACK RELATIVES ALWAYS TELL A LOTTA YOUNGER BLACK WOMEN NOT TO FUCK WITH WHITE MEN B/C THEY JUST LOOK AT U LIKE A TOY OR THEY WILL SHOW THEIR TRUE COLORS LATER ON. I KNOW SOME BLACK WOMEN IN HAPPY INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS I GUESS BUT IT JUST AINT FOR ME, IM MORE COMFORTABLE W/ A BLACK MAN NOT FOR THAT REASON ONLY BUT A LOT MORE
oohkillertofu 1 year ago
@oohkillertofu thats right.
universalconnections 1 year ago
This story spoke volumes about the struggle within the Black community regarding identity, images of beauty and what it means to be Black. Deep....
carpediemtoday 2 years ago 2
TVone is gonna start playing A Different World episodes starting Jan 25th.
docweb100 2 years ago 3
T_T I cannnnnn't WAIT!
Thanks for letting us know!
Muisann 2 years ago
Lena wasn't no joke! She got Whitney's behind.
LifeIsNotorious 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@LifeIsNotorious But should Whitley pay for what her ancestors did?
MissNesha 1 year ago
lol df is jada wearing
SocailQueen 2 years ago
I sure LOVE me some Mr. Gaines character !!!. He's so forthright and a southern sweethearted gentleman at the same time. ..
I love the moment he had with Kim about the Aunt Jemima story...so touching and emotional..I could definitely relate to the story..Gr8 episode!!!!! =D
destined4mo 2 years ago 8
I agree i love Mr Gaines too...such a sweet man
katrina72 2 years ago 3
Kim's story happened to me.
I tried to dress up as Madonna (I'm talking: 1985, Lucky Star, fluffy hoop skirts, 3 tank tops, gloves, lots of cross chains around my neck, mole, and a single star earring,) for halloween when i was in 3rd grade and NO one knew who i was at school for the class party. In fact, my teacher admonished me for wearing fishnet tights, even though 2 other girls (who were white) who were also dressed like Madonna were wearing similar ripped tights.
catlogic11 2 years ago
Wow.....I bet u looked too cute though
katrina72 2 years ago
This show is so underrated, it makes me sick = (. Poor Kimmie
kamay81 2 years ago 46
I was just watching this episode since i saved it on DVR (Nick at Nite & BET have dropped the ball, TVONE, *please* step up to the plate!) and this show is definitely timeless.
The scene with Kim & Mr Gaines was one of my favorite scenes of DW ever. Lena was my crush way back when but Kim Reese was the most attractive woman IMO
ibm0615 2 years ago 4
@ibm0615 still one of my favorite scenes of DW ever
ibm615o 1 year ago
honeegrrl, thanks for that information. It's sometimes so troubling for me to see black males still caught up in light-skinned privilege. And I say that as a lighter-skinned guy. Plus I always thought Kim had a gorgeous smile.
representativejoin 2 years ago 7
I always found it intriguing that Jasmine Guy gave Whitley a southern white woman accent and when I went to college one of my good friends is the only person I've ever met that had a similar accent, and we called her "Whitley" lol
nsr0802 2 years ago
so jasmine guy really doesn't speak like that i was wondering about that lol
daoneandonly8889 2 years ago
lol, nah, but she does have a little drawl because she's from Georgia, but it's not that dramatic
nsr0802 2 years ago
This show was so insightful. It will continue to inform for generations.
elombe06 2 years ago 4
I never understood why some people said Freddy was "fine". Freddy?!!! I mean, she's o.k., and some of her more natural features did come out when she straightened her hair in season six...But honestly, I think the sudden lust for her was part of the strange ranking system for black females, wherein a lighter-skinned woman only has to be minimally attractive to be considered "fine".
representativejoin 2 years ago
I know a lot of black men that thought she wasn't cute. In fact, the black men I know thought Kimberly was the cuter one.
honeegrrl 2 years ago
i dont agree, were all beautiful no matter the shade, freddy was beautifu, so was kim, and whitley, jelessa all of em, its wrong to discount dark skin women for a lightskin one yes this is true, but dont switch and and discount light skin women for a dark skin one, no matter the shade of black its black and beautiful
BesosXOXO123 2 years ago 5
I like Whitley's southern accent. I wish they would make more shows like this that show young black adults doing the right thing instead of these corny shows like college hill, Baldwin hills i miss the late 80's and 90's TV wise
cnice9 2 years ago 4
I know! The Cosby Show, A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, that was the good stuff. The shows actually meant something and addressed heavy topics that you hardly ever see addressed now: racism, gun violence, drug & alcohol abuse, sex and pregnancies... I guess that stuff is taboo now.
DeLovely9109 2 years ago 6
I always liked Mr. Gaines character:)
briggie28 2 years ago
Yeah, He was the paternal figure on adw !
kamay81 2 years ago 3
what does kim say about the costume contest
sioux7000 2 years ago
"Is this what you think you look like?"- Mr. Gaines
prettypoodle5 2 years ago 5
"it's DNA, dem no good ancestors". This show was so good! It's timeless!
SHIKA8327 2 years ago 10
lol..."you lil' muckracker you"
dreamer40 3 years ago 8
Kim did such a great performance in the dramtic of this scene. I love it
ZystynaZay 3 years ago 15
this is my favorite a different world episode besides the one with tupac in it. luv it, luv it, luv it.
frenchie510 3 years ago 6
Kimberly was a fantastic, complex character.
spanishliljon 3 years ago 55