Akeem's wedding.
Coming to America is a classic 1988 comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. It is about an African prince who travels to America with his "servant" to find a bride who is not royalty.
Many people assumed that Semmi was the servant of Akeem. However, upon closer investigation, one will see that it is more likely that Semmi is actually the younger half-brother of Akeem, not his servant.
The theory[]
There are two reasons people generally assume that Semmi was the servant of Akeem. First, when Akeem walks in on Semmi and Patrice making out, Akeem asks, "If you are the prince, then who am I?" and Semmi says, "My servant." One would naturally be taken for a reversal of the relationship, that is, Akeem is the prince, and Semmi is the servant. However, it does not necessarily have to mean this. Through out the movie, it is obvious that Semmi is the more lustful. He says, "This trip is an excellent idea! Forty days of fornication!" And, "do you realize that I have not had sex since we got to America?!" This drives Semmi much more than Akeem, so he wants to exalt himself up as much as possible to Patrice to make her want him more. Add to this, that before they made out Patrice was interested in Akeem, so not only does Semmi exalt himself in saying he's a prince, but also downplays Akeem by saying he's just a servant, which would give her all the more reason to forget about Akeem.
The second reason it is always assumed that Semmi was the servant of Akeem was because of his seeming insignificance in the eyes of the king and queen. They always treat him as a nuisance. But there is another explanation for this. The evidence that Semmi is the younger brother of Akeem is as follows.
First, in the beginning of the movie, look at Akeem and Semmi's clothing. The first time we see them both is at the breakfast table. Akeem and Semmi are both wearing something that looks like a sports uniform. Notice the numbers on their shirts. Akeem's number is 1. This is not a coincidence, it denotes Akeem's rank as the firstborn son of the king. Semmi's number is 4, which denotes his rank as fourth born. Fourth borns are never granted any special significance. The king is a hard, traditional man, and only cares for his firstborn who will continue the kingdom.
The similar clothing continues through out the film. It is most significant in the beginning of the film, because there they are both still in the kingdom. At Akeem's courtship, where he first meets his supposed bride-to-be, notice that he and Semmi both wear some kind of wreath on their head, a black sparkly thing. Only royalty would have this kind of headpiece, no one in the audience does. (Some of the men in the audience have hats, but nothing like those wreaths.) Also, in this same scene, notice that Akeem is wearing a leopard around his shoulder, like the king wears a lion around his later in the movie. Akeem wears the leopard to show his status as the prince, and the one who will one day wear the lion. Semmi also wears something around his shoulder, a gold chain of some kind. He does not wear an animal because he will not succeed the king, but his strap does denote his royalty, just his lower rank.
Second, Semmi has a much closer relationship to Akeem than a servant would have. At the courtship scene, Semmi is standing right next to Akeem, in almost the same clothing as already noted. All the other servants are standing back out of the way, because being so close to the royal family at this moment was not permitted.
When we first see Semmi at the breakfast table, he calls Akeem "the birthday boy." This would be highly inappropriate for a servant to call a prince in front of the king and queen, but he is not rebuked for it. Not to mention the profanity Semmi spews at Akeem when they go to work out. It seems impossible that a servant would ever be able to speak to a prince in such a manner, even in the gym.
Third, it is implied in the film that Semmi is just as used to being treated as royalty as Akeem. After the breakfast scene, when Akeem and Semmi are walking off, Semmi says, "Akeem, what happened to the rose bearers?" Clearly, he is used to walking on the rose pedals, which means he is a son of the king. Also, in the scene where Akeem and Semmi are applying to work at McDowell's, Mr. McDowell hands Akeem a mop in the water. Akeem of course does not know how to use it and leaves in the bucket of water when trying to mop. Look at the faces that Akeem and Semmi make when they look back up at Mr. McDowell. They both akwardly smile and nod. This shows that Semmi does not know how to use a mop either, which means Smemi does not know how to do the most miniscule of tasks. This would be expected of royalty, but certainly not of a servant.
Fourth, Akeem, while clearly aware of his higher rank as the firstborn, to some degree still acknowledges their brotherly relationship. When he and Semmi see the people wearing the clothes they stole, Akeem cries, "Let them wear our princely robes!"
Finally, and ironically, the most striking objection to this theory is from Semmi himself. In the breakfast scene, Semi says to the queen, "I was just remarking to my mother the other day what beautiful skin the queen has!" This obviously means that the queen is not his mother. However, we do not have to therefore conclude that Semmi is not royalty. Consider the character of the king. It is not a stretch to say that he is lecherous. We know he is not faithful to his wife, since he said to Akeem, "I always assumed you had sex with your bathers, I know I do!" Note the present tense, "I know I do," not, "I know I did." So it is reasonable to conclude that the king has concubines. And since the king and Semmi are the only two who are so lustful, it would make since that Smemi inherited this from his father. So Semmi is the fourth born son of the king, born of a concubine, and half-brother to Akeem. This would also explain why the queen detests Semmi so much, and why the king does not treat him with near the respect that he does his firstborn.