A Different World: Character Appreciation Post 👩🏽🎓📚
Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love this show. It's definitely top 3 if not my #1 favorite of all time. It details the life of HBCU college students as they go through different trials and tribulations, along with bonding and creating new relationships with new people.
I remember being a little kid, around elementary age, I would be getting ready for school and this show would come on TBS (I think) every morning at 6 or 7 and we would watch it every Monday - Friday. Every time I hear the theme song I feel a sense of nostalgia along with memories my dad fussing at me while getting ready, Lol.
This show (along with my parents 😅) is probably the main reason I wanted to go to college so badly. It made college look super exciting. It is a great show to look up to especially being black and not having many other positive shows like this out there. I will literally binge watch this show to this day. Anywho, back to the point. The point of this post is to spotlight my two all time favorite characters: Winifred "Freddie" Brooks and Lena James.
Freddie's character was introduced to the show during the beginning of the second season in 1988. She is portrayed by popular voice actress Cree Summer. You may know her as every black female cartoon character ever (😹): Susie Charmichael (Rugrats), Miranda Killgallen (As Told by Ginger), Numbuh 5 (Codename: Kids Next Door) and the list goes on!
Freddie was known as a very eclectic character who deeply cares about her people, nature, and the universe. She can be often seen urging people to protest something they deeply care about whether it's logical or not, Lol. Freddie is the quintessential student activist.
Freddie is one of my favorite ADW characters for many reasons. Let's start with her style. Yes Whitley was supposed to be the stylish one but she was way too stuffy for me, lol. Freddie has that go with the flow, comfortable, earthy type of style that I love. She wears what she wants and is happy in her own skin (aside from that one episode where she wanted to be "sexy like Whitley" 😅). I also love her passion and how hard she goes for what she believes in. She just truly wants to what's best for the world, while being one with the universe. And probably my last reason, Freddie is funny as heck, lol. She is the youngest of the crew, and her innocence and personality equals hilarity.
Next, "L to the J" *Tupac voice*, lol (you'll get it if you complete the series) Ms. Lena James! Lena's character was introduced in the 5th season as a freshman, Class of 1995. Her character is portrayed by the bomb Jada Pinkett (now Jada Pinkett-Smith). She is known for being in many popular black films throughout the 90's like: Jason's Lyric, Set it Off, and Menace II Society.
Lena's transition into college was not the smoothest, between her rooming assignment not being submitted (or something to that effect, I don't think it was ever discussed on the show) and her having an engineering scholarship when that truly was not her passion. But after all was said and done, homegirl got settled and she did her thing in school.
Lena is one of my favorite characters because she just has that "homegirl from around the way" vibe. She keeps it real and is very relatable. She was always there for her friends whenever they needed her (i.e. Gina and her abusive boyfriend).
Lena also had BOMB style 🙌🏾. It was like the typical 90's style but turned up 50 notches. She dressed however she please and was almost always guaranteed to turn heads, whether good or bad.
These two are my two favorite characters from the show because they taught me how to be myself even when everybody is just trying to fit in. While they both are two different characters, they still share similar qualities. No matter how many times I watch the series over and over, I can always get a laugh out of these two (& Ron lol). Besides Lena brought Piccolo (Tupac Shakur) on the show, how dope is that? (Homie, if ya know me (another show reference), you know that I'm a huge fan of Pac. But I'll save that for another blog post lol). Be on the lookout for my Dwayne & Whitley couple appreciation post sometime next month, but for now, who's your favorite ADW characters, and why? Comment below! 👇🏾
