Vivian Chong

Professor Coleman
Sociology 1/ Section #5916
29 June 2014
The video clip that I have chosen to analyze is an episode called Mistaken Identity
from the television show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Will and Carlton are cousins who
currently live with Carltons parents, Vivian and Phillip Banks. Will and Carlton was supposed
to drive the car of Phillips law partner, Mr. Furth, to the companys retreat in the mountains. On
their way there, they are pulled over by a police officer and are arrested, as the policeman
believed they were associated with the car thefts in the area. After they were detained for a few
hours, they confessed to being the criminals so they could get media attention, and so Phillip and
Vivian would know that they were in jail. When Phillip and Vivian saw the two on the news,
they immediately went to the police station to retrieve them. When they return home, Carlton has
an argument with Will about the justice system based on what happen over the weekend. Carlton
claims that they were just doing their job and was in favor of the system. Will, on the other hand,
rebuttals and says that the system Carlton believes in is going to follow him for the rest of his life,
and the same situation is going to happen again in which his status will not help him because
when they look at his skin color.
From Comtes perspective, he would view that although segregation and slavery have
ended years ago, minorities will continue to experience forms of racism and discrimination from
the majority race. He would focus on the social statistics of the situation, as he would view that
even though the social dynamics of society have changed over the years, there are still some
aspects of society which remains stagnant.
Marx would view this situation as an example of the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. In
this case, the policeman would be the Bourgeoisie, or the elite, and Will and Carlton would be
the Proletariat, or the common people. This is a prime example of how those who are in power
take advantage of the common people who are profiled into a crime and are forced into
confession.
Durkheims opinion would argue that it is not the entirely the officers fault for the
accusation, as it was partly due to the social values he has grown up with. These social views
usually do not change within a lineage and are passed down from previous generations. These
social facts existed before our time, and will be here after.
The paradigm that is most represented in my video is the Symbolic Interactionist
Paradigm. The police officer is supposed to be a symbol of justice, where he is expected to
distinguish the difference between right and wrong. Their main job is to take the criminals off
the streets, and make it a safer place to live. In this given situation, however, the officer fails to
live up to his role, as he wrongly accused two men of a crime they did not commit due to their
appearance and stereotype. The scene where there is an argument between Will and Carlton is a
prime example of this paradigm, in which society is comprised of individuals that interact on
these symbols that have predetermined meaning. Carlton believes that the police are just doing
their job and that this system is not flawed. Will does not agree with his opinion, as he thinks
Carltons belief blinds him from what actually happened. Will tries to explain to Carlton that
people are not arrested for being lost, and they were profiled into a crime they did not commit.
He emphasizes the main reason they got into this whole occurrence was because Carlton is an
African American male driving a nice, expensive car. He attempts to show that regardless of
status, money, or power, this type of situation will occur again and no one will help him because
once people see his skin color, they will automatically form a fixed perception of him. This is an
example of Definition of Situation, where if one believes that the situation is real, they will treat
it as if it is real. The police officer believed that they are the car thieves and treated as criminals,
when in actuality, they did not do anything wrong, which is another point Will highlights in his
argument.
Stereotypes affect the lives of many people, as it is often displayed in our culture. These
perceptions of race are often seen in many aspects in our society, through our social interactions.
This controversial matter still occurs in our day to day lives.

Work Cited
Youtube Video. Will and Carlton Get Pulled Over. Accessed June 28, 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhqZwXXS3pI
Youtube Video. Uncle Phil Gets Will and Carlton Out of Jail. Accessed June 28, 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW9pklBXqk4
Youtube Video. Carlton Learns About Discrimination. Accessed June 28, 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQtDXxXyPYQ