By: Erin Moran
For my project, I will be analyzing Rochelle, Chris’ mom in Everybody Hates Chris, as a character who perpetuates the Sapphire stereotype. Rochelle, played by Tichina Arnold, is a strong-willed mother who will do anything for her children, including “whooping ass.” In my childhood, I remember sneaking downstairs late at night to watch Everybody Hates Chris, but as I’ve grown up, I have more clearly seen that despite the amazing acting that Tichina does she perpetuates the Sapphire stereotype. This stereotype is perpetuated through Rochelle’s visual representations of anger as well as the presence, or absence, of dialogue.
As Rochelle was a character that Heber Guerra-Recinos also analyzed in Spring 2020, I would like to add to their conversation by pulling new information and examples to strengthen the pre-existing analysis as well as offer my own, independent, analysis of Rochelle’s Sapphire stereotype.
This frame has been pulled from Season 1, Episode 6 of Everybody Hates Chris, titled “Everybody Hates Halloween. ” Throughout this episode, Chris desperately wants to attend his first high school party to see a girl he likes. Upon receiving the address to the party, he finds the address to be smudged. After asking his mother, Rochelle, to go to the party, he writes what he believes to be a fake address down for her. However, the address is a liquor store named Shabazz Liquors. After returning home from the party, he is met with his mother opening the door, belt in hand, and a silence that is deafening. As he walks through the door, Rochelle states “Shabazz Liquors, huh?” and closes the door on the audience as the episode comes to a close. In the chosen image, we can point out key features that attribute to the Sapphire stereotype which include: facial features, angles and lenses, props, and the use of lights and shadows. All of these working parts come together to form Rochelle’s Sapphire stereotype – the “Angry Black Woman” figure.
As Rochelle glares at Chris, and the audience behind him, she perpetuates the Sapphire stereotype as a woman who takes no trouble – the “Angry Black Woman” who is not to be messed with. The wide lens pan from Rochelle opening the door to Chris in the doorway is another lens that supports the portrayal of the stereotype. At first, the audience can see that Rochelle and Chris may be the same height and, in turn, seen as two people who are on the same playing field – equals. However, as he enters the house, his true height is shown. Chris is shorter than his mother, which equates to his mother being in control of the situation both physically through height and power but also emotionally as she is older, wiser, and – most importantly – his mother. The use of lighting and shadows in the scene can also be read as a power dynamic between Rochelle and Chris. Chris is entering from a well-lit hallway while Rochelle almost lurks in the darkness, waiting for her son to get home. This further cues the anger that Rochelle portrays to the audience through the shadows accompanied by feelings of uneasiness for what may come next. The presence of the belt in hand is another visual representation of the stereotype as Rochelle is willing to be malicious to her son despite not knowing the full story behind Chris’ address mishap. Rochelle closes the door in the audience’s faces as Chris enters the house which further represents closing the audience off to what may happen next – letting their minds wander about how she will address her son. Finally, the absence of dialogue in this scene sets a strong and fearful tone for the audience. With the visual representations of facial features, light and shadows, and the presence of the belt accompanied with the silence, this scene exudes uneasiness of what will come next. It allows the ending of this episode to be finite while still leaving the anger and actions up to the interpretations of the audience.
Rochelle as a Sapphire stereotype is used as a form of entertainment through her quick-witted comebacks and how her anger quickly becomes a joke throughout the series. This evokes audience perceptions of Rochelle and her parenting style in relation to the image of the belt, facial features, and silence. The scene and portrayal of the Sapphire stereotype through Rochelle is meant for the audience to laugh as well as, consciously or subconsciously, read her character to be a modernized “Angry Black Woman” figure.
In conclusion, I believe that Tichina Arnold portrays Rochelle humorously. However, she perpetuates the image of the Sapphire stereotype through her use of verbal threats to her children and husband as well as her never-changing, hardened facial features. As she is portrayed this way throughout the entirety of the episode and series, Rochelle seems to be written strictly for perpetuating the stereotype. She has never been given an opportunity to show any other emotions besides anger and violence.
Black Men & Women 