WASHINGTON — By any standard, the woman’s a witch.
I’m talking about Sherry Palmer on Fox’s critically acclaimed drama "24." The ambitious wife of an integrity-oozing presidential hopeful, Sherry did the following things on the show to "support" her candidate hubby:
Lied to him. Insulted him. Hid from him their son’s involvement in an accidental killing. Endangered a teen-ager’s life by leaking critical information that her husband begged her to suppress. Coaxed a female speechwriter to try to seduce him. Informed him that no matter how horribly she behaved, he wouldn’t dare to leave her.
Naturally, I adore her.
But Sherry and her idealistic husband are black. So I figured I knew why my friend Geri was phoning me immediately after the show’s thrilling season finale:
Sherry, played by the magnificent Penny Johnson Jerald, is a Bad Role Model. Manipulative and domineering, she’s a character some African Americans would find intolerable.
I steeled myself for Geri’s wrath.
The character "was so … powerful," began Geri, sounding, well, admiring. "She wasn’t about her husband being in the White House; she was about her getting there. … She was great."
What Geri loves most about Sherry — and "24" — is that "race wasn’t a factor. There were no boundaries for (Sherry) that were racially imposed. Watching her, I felt, OK, we’re never going to be a colorblind society. … But there is a way to portray people so that race isn’t always the issue."
There always has been. Think of such noble black female TV characters as Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) on "Star Trek" and Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) on "The Cosby Show."
Sherry, bless her, just happens to be a she-devil.
To my mind, that’s progress. Sherry is as fun — and as frightening — as scheming physician Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) on "ER" and the mom-from-hell Angela Lansbury played in "The Manchurian Candidate."
But some people hold black performers to a different standard. Many who publicly cheered Halle Berry’s historic Best Actress award privately wished she’d won it playing anything but an abusive mom who has buck-wild sex with Billy Bob Thornton.
Why, they wonder, couldn’t African Americans’ first Best Actress have been Dorothy Dandridge, Cicely Tyson or Alfre Woodard playing the kind of dignified princess-nun-environmental activist role that wins white women Oscars?
Such attitudes potentially limit minority actress’ scope, not to mention black audiences’ artistic experiences. Admittedly, I’d love to see adorable newcomer Sanaa Lathan ("Love and Basketball") do a Julia-Sandra-Meg romantic-comedy thing or be the love object in an "Ed"-like sitcom.
But I would never have missed Hollywood actress Khandi Alexander’s stunning turn as a bruised real-life crack addict in HBO’s "The Corner."
Alexander, who’ll play an egocentric coroner in CBS’ fall spinoff "CSI: Miami," knows the price of playing "negative" roles. She was nominated for the NAACP’s Best Actress Image Award for "The Corner," but didn’t win.
An insider from the civil rights organization explained why.
"She told me, ‘You did a very good job, but that’s not the image we think should be rewarded,’ " Alexander recalled in a phone interview. "It was sad because the woman I played lives — she wasn’t the figment of anyone’s imagination."
Can’t recovering addicts be heroic?
"I felt it was wrong for them not to recognize it," Alexander said.
A "24" fan, she finds the ruthless Sherry "refreshing." Alexander has little use for roles "where everybody likes you. I don’t know anyone who’s 100 percent pure — nor do I have any interest in portraying anyone like that."
Why should she when the real problem isn’t negative roles but too few black roles, period? As fine a living as Morgan Freeman makes mentoring Ben Affleck and Ashley Judd on screen, he’s one of America’s finest actors. Shouldn’t he be doing more?
And black actresses? Scanning several magazines’ summer movie previews, I found just one major dramatic release starring a black woman: "Sunshine State" with Angela Bassett. One.
No wonder more black actresses appear in rump-shaking music videos than anywhere else. No wonder Washington, D.C., actress Kamilah Forbes has a shrug in her voice when she says, "There’s no such thing as colorblind casting."
"But that’s OK with me," continues Forbes, who’s receiving rave reviews for playing a drug-addicted teen in Pearl Cleage’s play "Chain." "I need to portray black roles — there’s so much to say that hasn’t been said."
Though her current role sounds stereotypical, Forbes says, "there can be truth and growth in ‘negative’ roles if they’re well written."
Forbes feels no meaningful role should be off-limits. "If it’s in our reality, why not see it onstage?"
Or on TV? In the "24" finale, Sherry Palmer’s fed-up husband finally kicked her to the curb. Next season should provide Sherry with plenty of opportunity for payback.
I can’t wait to hate her.
Donna Britt can be reached at The Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071-9200.
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