By Amir Said
Before I fell in love with Denise from the Cosby Show, I was devoted to Charlene from Diff'rent Strokes. O.K., let me clarify that: I was convinced that Charlene and I would get married. In my mind, Charlene really didn't even like Willis. She just liked Mr. Drummond's penthouse and all the perks and amenities that came with dating a rich kid. Even though I was only 8, when Charlene and Willis started rollin' together, I knew I had an advantage. I was a tough young kid. My knuckle game was serious, and I had a natural sense of the streets. So I figured all I had to do was show Charlene that I was real, cuz Willis was a cornball. I mean, the Willis from episodes 1 & 2 ('78 through '80) was bout it. But by season 3, ('81), around the time when he and Arnold had taken to calling Mr. Drummond "Dad', he had become soft and he had forgotten his Harlem roots. Needless to say, I suffered through their relationship, mad at the fact that Charlene wasn't with who she really deserved: me.
Landing the role of Charlene Dupre must have been just what a young Janet Jackson (she was 14 at the time of her debut) was always looking for. After a regular role on the 70s breakout hit, Good Times, she was poised to break out from underneath her famous big brothers' shadow, most notably Michael's. However, not even a full 2 years later, her chart for imminent stardom was abruptly cut short by the force that was Thriller!
On November 13, 1982, two weeks before Michael Jackson's uber classic album Thriller was released, younger sister Janet appeared on Diff'rent Strokes for
the 7th time. Undoubtedly, for a sibling struggling to get out from underneath another sibling's extraordinary shadow, Thriller's incredible success, along with Michael's promotion to the world's biggest pop star, must have been a huge blow to Janet Jackson's own personal quest for higher recognition. In fact, It would be more than a year later (early 1984) before Janet Jackson would make another appearance on Diff'rent Strokes. But by then the show had already begun to lose it's appeal. In 1985, NBC canceled Diff'rent Strokes, without any warning and without a proper send off. However, the show did manage to get quickly picked up by ABC for its sixth and final season. More importantly, Janet Jackson's "Charlene" was finally written in as a regular cast member (ironically, it was during this season that Charlene and Willis broke up). On March 4, 1986, Janet Jackson released Control, a critically important and wildly successful album that would eventually help take her a few more steps away from brother Michael's daunting shadow. Three days after the release of Control, the production set of Diff'rent Strokes shut down for good.
Having successfully dodged the misfortunes and demons that captured fellow cast members Todd Bridges (Willis), Dana Plato (Kimberly), and Gary Coleman (Arnold), Janet Jackson would go on to finally escape from her big brother's shadow. After 1986's Control, 1989 brought the release of Rhythm Nation 1814, a strange but effective concept album that cemented Janet Jackson's
influence on pop culture forever. If we blame Michael Jackson for the
red, turbo-zippered "Thriller jacket", then we damn sure gotta blame
Janet Jackson for that dumb ass black military cap with the doofy metal plate in
the front.
In 1993, Janet Jackson released Janet, her 5th studio album. Here, it
is important to note that in that very same year, she butchered a John Singleton script, and nearly sabotaged a good Tupac performance in the movie Poetic Justice. Four years later she dropped The Velvet Rope,
(a well-over due apology for the wreckage she caused in Poetic Justice). Another four more years, another release. However, Janet Jackson's 7th studio album, All for You, would prove to signal the end of her influence on pop culture.
There will never be another character like Charlene-- pretty, naturally shy with an uncertainty in her biggest talent. Nawgh, that wasn't acting for Janet Jackson. And though I'm still tight about the episode where Willis and Charlene planned to do it for the first time, I'm comforted by the realization that 20 years ago I wasn't watching Janet Jackson play Charlene, I was tuning in to watch Charlene play Janet Jackson.
Charlene (Janet Jackson) from Different Strokes (favorite).
Charlene (Janet Jackson) from Diff'rent Strokes (2nd favorite).
*Originally published by BlameTheCritic.com, July 10, 2008
I protest! Willis was SEXY! I had a definite crush on him, but it could have been because he was the only young black boy in my world at the time.
But then...he is STILL kinda sexy in his recurring role on Everybody Hates Chris. But that's just between me and you.
Posted by: Raquel Wilson | December 21, 2008 at 06:02 AM