Rochelle (Everybody Hates Chris)
| Rochelle Rock | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Everybody Hates the Pilot |
| Portrayed by | Tichina Arnold |
| In-universe information | |
| Family | Gene (father) Maxine (mother) Charlotte (younger sister) Mousey (older sister) Michael (older brother) |
| Spouse | Julius Rock (1969-present) |
| Children | Chris Rock (older son) Tonya Rock (daughter) Drew Rock (younger son) |
Rochelle Rock is the mother from the hit television program, Everybody Hates Chris. Rochelle is played by actress, Tichina Arnold. Everybody Hates Chris is loosely based on comedian Chris Rock's childhood and teenage years and thusly Rochelle is loosely based on Chris Rock's real-life mother. However, Chris Rock's real-life mother's actual name is Rosalie Rock. Shades of Malcolm In The Middle's Lois character that came before her, Rochelle is also a tough TV mother with one of her sons as the central character.
Character Background
Rochelle Rock is a 36 year old mother, who works part-time in a small real-estate office, referred to as the "Department of Records", on the show. She also runs a household with her husband, over their three children, on a tight budget. One of Rochelle's pet peeves is for anyone to view her and her family as poor, so she often tries to make it appear as otherwise. This can be a challenge as her husband is insanely cost-conscious and demands that Rochelle use such things as food stamps. Rochelle's husband is Julius and their three kids are Chris, Drew, and Tonya. Not only does Rochelle have three children, but she’s also having to raise her family, living in a dangerous lower-class neighborhood, with thieves, gangs, criminals, etc. She and the rest of her Rock clan moved from Housing projects, to a four-bedroom apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York. These are just some of the reasons why Rochelle has to be the strong, opinionated woman she is. In fact, there have been several instances of hold ups and robberies on the program. Known for her stern intimidating, ranting and raving moments, and comical sassiness, Rochelle is the exact opposite of the show's protagonist, Chris, who is often walked on by everyone else on the program. Next to being the dominant matriarchal figure, Rochelle also shows love to her family, always making sure they're safe, giving them everything they need, helping out as best she can, and doing much of the housework.
Rochelle and Julius Rock were married around the late 1960s. Rochelle depends on Julius Rock more than anyone. This is mainly because of Julius having two jobs. It doesn't take Rochelle much, or very long to quit the jobs she gets to help out. Her final words before leaving her jobs are always, "I do not need this. My man got two jobs!" Oftentimes, she gets a job when Julius is going through trouble in which he can't work, so doesn't for some time. As soon as he's back on his feet and at work, Rochelle literally looks for a reason to quit her job. If her boss so much as looks at her the wrong way, he or she is sure to hear Rochelle's quitting catchphrase, before her leaving with no return.
Overall, Rochelle and Julius have a healthy marriage, and are sweet and respectful of each other in general. Though they have their moments, it doesn’t take much for them to patch things up. It’s usually Julius who’s the one to make the first effort at patching things up, being the more reasonable and level-headed of the two. Rochelle tends to stick to her opinions and ways, even when she’s not making any sense, sounds absurd, and is aware of all this but doesn't care. In fact, lots of times when Julius has done something wrong, Rochelle has him just as afraid as their three children, so Julius hasn't much choice but to be the person who makes the first effort at making up. Kind-hearted, fair-minded, and understanding when she wants to be, Rochelle is always able to change her ways whenever Julius is really beginning to have problem with her and so has his calm serious talks with her. However, as with all of Rochelle’s affectionate moments, her warm way of making up with Julius is never without a wittily sassy remark for him. Rochelle is known to make these remarks right in the middle of kissing Julius or hugging him. Rochelle refers to Julius with pet names, oftentimes “baby!” and "sweetie!"
Rochelle and Julius gave birth to their first son, Chris Rock, in 1969. Much like his brother and sister, Chris is respectful and obedient toward his mother. However, as with the other children, Chris’ behavior doesn’t just come out of the blue. Rochelle has a way with keeping her children in line. One way, in which she does this, is by constantly letting Chris know how she'll do such things as, “slap the black off of his behind” or “knock the lobes off his ears and the pores off his face”, if he doesn’t do as she says. As with many of the other characters on Everybody Hates Chris, Rochelle often ends up acting unfairly towards Chris. Chris ends up having to just suck it up, especially since Rochelle is his mother and Chris loves his parents so much. Rochelle refers to Chris as “Boy!”
Rochelle and Julius gave birth to their second child, Drew Rock, in 1971. Ironically, Drew appears older than Chris, because he’s taller, cooler, and more auspicious than at least Chris is. Throughout the show’s existence, Rochelle has come down hardest on Drew out of all children and tolerates the least misbehavior out of him for some reason. Drew often annoys and tries to instigate his brother and sister. However, Tonya has been known to be far worse in this department and it has been overlooked sometimes by her parents. Rochelle once excused herself and Drew from the dinnertable, sending him upstairs with her, while raving on and on. As in many cases, Drew did something wrong, and Rochelle took him off in private to handle it. Whatever happens when she takes Drew off in private is unknown, as the camera and none of the characters ever follow. However, in one episode, the sound of Drew's cries were heard. It was suggested on the episode, that Rochelle might have actually slapped Drew off into next week and Drew wouldn’t be back until the following Sunday. As with Chris, Rochelle refers to Drew as “Boy!”
Rochelle gave birth to her youngest and only daughter, Tonya Rock, in 1973. Out of all of her children, Tonya gets away with the most misbehavior, as it's usually done behind the backs of her parents. Out of her three children, Rochelle is sweetest towards Tonya since she's an only girl, as well as the youngest of her children. Tonya is often seen tattling on her brothers to Rochelle. Because Rochelle doesn't know what exactly has gone on, she'll go after all the children, even though its usually just Tonya who deserves punishment. Tonya was a piece of work in the first season of Everybody Hates Chris, causing a lot of trouble with her brothers. However, in one particular episode, Rochelle seemingly put that to an end; she had it out with Tonya, to the point where she had to be restrained at the dinnertable. After the first season, Tonya became far less misbehaved, even though she’s still sometimes has her moments where she gets away with murder on her siblings. Rochelle often refers to her as “Girl!”
Rochelle doesn’t have much of a relationship with Chris’ friend Greg, as it’s a character that normally hangs out with just Chris. However, in the show’s 3rd season premiere, Rochelle remarks “What the hell is that smell? Greg, is that you, boy?” Greg, who was wearing a diaper that he had peed in, replied on how he was studying to be an astronaut. Rochelle quickly snapped, “Well, even astronauts wash their…” However Chris was able to get his mom to leave with him, before she finished off her sassy remarks for Greg's offensive smell. Rochelle left the seen covering her nose, while exclaiming, "My god!" Like Chris, Rochelle has friends that only interact with her for the most part, such as Vanessa, who's played by Jackee Harry.
EXTENDED FAMILY
- Jimmy Walker as Gene, Rochelle's father. Gene and Rochelle have a loving relationship. Her father gave her great advice and encouragement before he died. It took Rochelle awhile to get over his passing away
- Loretta Devine as Maxine, Rochelle’s mother. Maxine and Rochelle have a good relationship. However, it has been said that Maxine is an even bigger ghetto snob than Rochelle is. They both seem to have some habits and behaviors that annoy each other.
- Earthquake as Uncle Mike, Rochelle’s fully grown brother. Rochelle is usually gracious to her brother, allowing him to stay with them when their mother, Maxine, kicks him out. Although Rochelle is nice enough to allow Uncle Mike to stay with them for awhile, Rochelle often hears about it from Julius who detests Uncle Mike's visits. This is particularly because Uncle Mike can be very obnoxious, towards Julius in particular.
- Monica Calhoun as Aunt Charlotte “Grievey”, one of Rochelle’s sisters. She and Rochelle don't have much of a relationship because Grievey only likes to come around during funerals and doesn't say much.
HABITS
- Rochelle likes to gossip with her friends at the beauty salon, as well as over the phone.
- Rochelle often cares about what other people think.
- passionatly sing (not very well).
- Rochelle also has a thing for Chocolate turtles (a pecan candy). In one episode, titled Everybody Hates the Lottery, Rochelle is addicted to Chocolate turtles, and mostly eats every single one of them.