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Cookie in Empire is a badass and a model of feminist disrespectability Cookie in Empire is a badass and a model of feminist disrespectability
(35 minutes later)
The hit US show Empire returns to E4 this evening and, finally, the terrible wait ford its irrepressible matriarch is over. Yes, Cookie Lyons – sweet like the confectionery of her first name, formidable as the animal of her surname – is back. One of the most compelling characters on our screens today, she is a mass of contradictions. Always astute, funny and loving, by turns tough, sensitive, petty and magnanimous, she always has me bent double with laughter at her outrageous moments. No one else on screen can deliver biting one-liners with the same exemplary dispassion – she is the dictionary definition of badass. The hit US show Empire returns to E4 this evening and, finally, the terrible wait for its irrepressible matriarch is over. Yes, Cookie Lyons – sweet like the confectionery of her first name, formidable as the animal of her surname – is back. One of the most compelling characters on our screens today, she is a mass of contradictions. Always astute, funny and loving, by turns tough, sensitive, petty and magnanimous, she always has me bent double with laughter at her outrageous moments. No one else on screen can deliver biting one-liners with the same exemplary dispassion – she is the dictionary definition of badass.
Related: Empire – the kind of smart, addictive show British TV doesn’t know how to makeRelated: Empire – the kind of smart, addictive show British TV doesn’t know how to make
A former jailbird and mother of three successful black men, Cookie’s story is grounded in the socio-political struggle of African American women who are three times more likely to be imprisoned than their white counterparts. Over the last 30 years, the number of women imprisoned in the US has risen by an astonishing 800%. Those prisoners who are mothers will, almost invariably, be their child’s primary carer. Cookie’s struggles with her sons attest to the enduring emotional damage that such separations cause. It’s important to understand this background to Cookie’s story – not least because it can help us resist the urge to try to emulate her image of black motherhood and femininity. I am a black British woman and mother who will never be able to diminish a rival by calling them “boo boo kitty”. Or, for that matter, to strut out of a room clad in leopard print and shades, lusciously intoning the words “don’t forget to thank me, baby”. It’s important to recognise that. A former jailbird and mother of three successful black men, Cookie’s story is grounded in the socio-political struggle of African American women who are three times more likely to be imprisoned than their white counterparts. Over the last 30 years, the number of women imprisoned in the US has risen by an astonishing 800%. Those prisoners who are mothers will, almost invariably, be their child’s primary carer. Cookie’s struggles with her sons attest to the enduring emotional damage that such separations cause.
It’s important to understand this background to Cookie’s story – not least because it can help us resist the urge to try to emulate her image of black motherhood and femininity. I am a black British woman and mother who will never be able to diminish a rival by calling them “boo boo kitty”. Or, for that matter, to strut out of a room clad in leopard print and shades, lusciously intoning the words “don’t forget to thank me, baby”. It’s important to recognise that.
The character’s appeal is universal though because she represents a feminist politics of disrespectability (what black American feminists call ratchetness) that has no time for prim notions of femininity as demure, quiet and self-effacing. Cookie is loud, confrontational, uncompromising and very much visible. But the character, wonderfully played by Taraji P Henson, never becomes the caricatured angry black woman. This is partly because, as Stephanie Phillips has written, she “seems to be every black female stereotype mashed into a rotating series of animal print”. In any one episode she is the shameless jezebel, nurturing mammy and aggressive bitch, flawed and complicated, as fully human as a two-dimensional character on a TV screen can be.The character’s appeal is universal though because she represents a feminist politics of disrespectability (what black American feminists call ratchetness) that has no time for prim notions of femininity as demure, quiet and self-effacing. Cookie is loud, confrontational, uncompromising and very much visible. But the character, wonderfully played by Taraji P Henson, never becomes the caricatured angry black woman. This is partly because, as Stephanie Phillips has written, she “seems to be every black female stereotype mashed into a rotating series of animal print”. In any one episode she is the shameless jezebel, nurturing mammy and aggressive bitch, flawed and complicated, as fully human as a two-dimensional character on a TV screen can be.
With her mix of rage, defiance and ambition, Cookie is also, in some ways, a blueprint for how many mothers, irrespective of race, feel they must navigate the world of work. However capable and committed she proves herself, she is nevertheless sidelined. And yet she is determined to take her proper place in the music and entertainment empire she helped create. Here the role touches on wider society’s tendency to erase women’s artistry and brilliance. From the pioneering work of the mathematician and computer programmer Ada Lovelace, to the groundbreaking production and lyricism of musician, Missy Elliott, society seems inclined to forget women’s contributions. With her mix of rage, defiance and ambition, Cookie is also, in some ways, a blueprint for how many mothers, irrespective of race, feel they must navigate the world of work. However capable and committed she proves herself, she is nevertheless sidelined. And yet she is determined to take her proper place in the music and entertainment empire she helped create. Here the role touches on wider society’s tendency to erase women’s artistry and brilliance. From the pioneering work of the mathematician and computer programmer Ada Lovelace, to the groundbreaking production and lyricism of musician Missy Elliott, society seems inclined to forget women’s contributions.
If all the above sounds too fancy for your liking, you can watch Cookie for nothing more than her caustic wit. Who hasn’t wished that they could one day let a much-loathed colleague know just what they thought of them? Well, Cookie always does, and she never fails to disappoint – she provides vicarious verbal attacks to the heart’s content. Enjoy.If all the above sounds too fancy for your liking, you can watch Cookie for nothing more than her caustic wit. Who hasn’t wished that they could one day let a much-loathed colleague know just what they thought of them? Well, Cookie always does, and she never fails to disappoint – she provides vicarious verbal attacks to the heart’s content. Enjoy.