Tyler Perry Owes the Black Audience More
Tyler Perry/Wikipedia
Editor’s Note: This is not a review of Tyler Perry’s most recent film “A Fall From Grace.”
Tyler Perry was homeless. Now he's rich. He was an average Joe. Now the world knows his name. Because opportunities to build a $600 million fortune not related to sports or music don't often avail themselves to black people as often as they do to others – Tyler Perry has been crowned a champion by so many.
But Tyler Perry is no hero.
At this point, I’ve lost at least half of my readers because unfortunately for so many – once you earn a certain dollar amount, you earn their artificial respect and their undying defense. Over the weekend I rubbed a lot of people wrong on social media. As a real journalist, a critic of all genres and a student of various art forms – I offered my assessment of Perry’s filmmaking.
I’m not impressed. I’ve never been moved by his writing and without trying – I stumble across error after error in Perry’s productions.
The man who made the character Madea famous could be black, white, Hispanic, Native American or any other and I would say the same thing. I think what’s most troubling about Perry is the fact that he has made a fortune off of black support and refuses to give his black fan-base quality efforts in production. Perhaps even more disheartening is the lack of demand for him to do so.
At the dawn of the New Year, Perry took to social media to boast about being one of the only producers to not utilize a Writer’s Room. His reason for not including a writing team was that his audience prefers his writing style.
Let’s take a moment to discuss Tyler Perry’s writing style:
Attractive characters co-exist.
Black men evoke pain.
Black women struggle.
The End.
A $600 million dollar fortune means one can afford to extend opportunities to top-notch writers, creative directors, directors of photography, set designers, costume designers, prop masters, makeup artists and a stellar team of editors.
Right now, someone is screaming at my story “he built a studio and has given so many black people those jobs.”
Kudos to Perry for building a studio, equipped with just as many resources and positions as those studios in Hollywood and beyond. But then there is the issue of shooting a motion picture in five days. For a very braggadocios Perry – this is a good thing. But not even a stellar team of top-notch creative directors, directors of photography, set designers, costume designers, prop masters, makeup artists and editors can produce quality work in a system based on one-take and not even a full calendar week.
Why the rush Mr. Perry? Why cut corners? Why not take pride in the beauty of thoughtful execution of something you claim to be so passionate about?
I’ll tell you why – because Tyler Perry knows that as long as he puts recognizable black actors in his films, adds likable music, solicits either a few laughs or tears and boasts about being a successful black man – a certain demographic of people will also spend money, in essence making him wealthier.
Tyler Perry owes the black audience more.
It has never been my style to speak on behalf of the black culture, as if to say we are some categorized collective, but I think I’m in a position to say that intellectuals, freethinkers and culturally proud black persons like myself appreciate good entertainment enveloped in authentic effort. Our desire to engage in discussions, productions and activities that respect our attention to grammar, detail, succinct progression of a storyline and diverse storylines don’t mean we’re “acting white.” We can appreciate slang, Ebonics, narratives of the “hood” and painful revelations of black plight in this country and beyond. But when we spend our dollars to support, our dollars should be valued as more than just offerings toward the wealth of an individual.
The painful truth is that the adoration so many black people have for Tyler Perry is a sign of self-hatred and an indoctrinated belief system that black people don't deserve a product packaged with care. Why else defend something so obviously rushed and treated so callously?
Imagine if we were more vocal with our legitimate demands. What would Perry do if his viewership declined until he offered more to a storyline than a black woman’s abysmal fate?
The absolute best thing Perry has created for the world was Madea and then he killed her to insert himself as a male in every movie since. That greedy, egotistical and arrogant man controls every single dynamic of his films and it shows.
If you’re defending him right now, it’s because “he made it.”
You see the money he has made, the black characters he features and the studio he has built and you equate that to a “success story.”
I see insecurity at it’s nastiest.
When one truly makes it; when one knows that he has done it the right way and that his intentions are pure – he doesn’t worry about someone taking his spot. He doesn’t worry about other ideas invalidating his false identity.
Tyler Perry Productions is the worst type of business. He packages what he wants, dresses it up nicely, gives you something pedestrian to watch and then assumes you aren't smart enough to detect what’s missing. And he does it all in the name of black productivity.
Yes, Tyler Perry built a table, but he sits in every seat at that table.
