Sherry Parker is a major character from the 2010 film The Karate Kid. She is the mother of Dre Parker. She is the equivalent of Lucille LaRusso.
She is played by Taraji P. Henson.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Sherry Parker was born September 11, 1970. Not much is known about Sherry's early life. At some point she got married and had a son named Dre, later becoming a widow after her husband passed away. At some point she got a job at a car manufacturing company somewhere in Detroit.
The Karate Kid[]
Sherry received a job transfer to Beijing, China, which forces her and Dre to move from Detroit to Beijing. She believes that this is a "new opportunity". On the plane, she tries to learn basic Mandarin Chinese and forces Dre to learn some as well. Once they arrive at the airport they are greeted by someone who mistakes their last name as "Packer" which she corrects to "Parker".
On the way to their new apartment, they see the Olympic Village showing Dre that "not everything is old in China" as he complained on the plane. When they arrive, Dre meets a boy named Harry and she notices how Dre is "making friends already". At their apartment, she noticed that Dre left his jacket on the floor and she keeps telling him to "Pick up your jacket" which would continue many more times. She tries to take a shower and believes something is wrong with the shower, not being aware of what a switch is, so she asks Dre to get the building's maintenance man, Mr. Han to fix the shower.
Sherry walks Dre to school on his first day. She notices he has a black eye which concerns her almost convincing her that he is getting bullied but Dre claims that he "ran into a pole" and she decides to give him the benefit of the doubt. She later signs Dre's permission slip allowing him to go to the Forbidden City for a school field trip. She later buys three tickets to the Shi-Shi Festival. One for her, one for Dre, and one for Mr. Han who refuses at first but she insists that he goes with them, eventually breaking him down and getting him to tag along with them.
Sherry, along with Meiying, cheered for Dre at the Kung Fu Tournament. She got worried when Dre got injured and excited when he won the tournament.
Personality[]
Sherry can be bossy and strict at times but she cares about her son a lot. She is a little quick tempered, especially when Dre refuses to hang his jacket up at the start of the movie. She likes to be in control, she orders Dre to do what he is told and forces Mr. Han to come along to a festival even though he tells her he doesn't like crowds of people. Overall, she is a caring person and supportive mother, and this is shown several times in the movie.
Trivia[]
- Her original counterpart would be Lucille LaRusso since they are both single mothers of the protagonist who move to other places for work related reasons. Except Lucille is more soft spoken and Sherry is more fiery and strict.