Formative Performances: Yvette Nicole Brown in “Community”

[Women’s History Month, Day 20]

This actress has been on the same show for three years and never been nominated for a Supporting Actress Emmy, and that’s just ridiculous, because she’s great. As Shirley Bennett on Community, Yvette Nicole Brown is equal parts sweet and poisonous, equally full of Christian forgiveness and vindictiveness, equal parts lovable and scary. She’s filled with justified anger and tries to cover it up with cheerfulness, but the anger is always simmering underneath the surface, ready to explode when provoked.

Seeing a black woman playing something other than a finger-snapping sassy stereotype is, unfortunately, all too rare on television. I’m grateful for Shirley and Yvette Nicole Brown for giving us a woman who isn’t a stereotype, but a flawed human being who grows and changes. (See more about my thoughts on Shirley here.) Enjoy this clip. It’s nice.