Recently, one of my good friends went to see the new Tyler Perry movie: Madea Goes To Jail. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Madea is a large sassy black matriarch who talks like a Maury Povich audience member reprimanding a baby daddy on stage. The role of Madea is played by Tyler Perry, a black man who clearly doesn’t get that this stereotypical acting was so last century and went the way of the sitcom “Martin.” Quite frankly, I’m not surprised Madea went to jail considering she spends every single movie threatening to “get all up in someone’s ass” or punch out a strumpet. Hell, she’s at least facing aggravated assault charges.
People ask me why I’m not a fan of Tyler Perry’s movies. The short answer is because I have a high school diploma. The long answer is because I’m tired of these tired tropes. See, I used to work retail in a video store where the televisions looped popular videos all day. I had the displeasure of watching Diary Of A Mad Black Woman on loop and it does awful things to your head. I would always be embarrassed when non-black people would ask me about the movie as though I had a connection to it. I mean, if you were using this movie as a way to learn about black culture, you’d think all black men are dogs and all old black women have a 5 o’clock shadow.
Now there are people who can enjoy his movies qua frivolous entertainment, but I’m not easily entertained by a “No she di’nt!” and a finger wag. Honestly, if I wanted to watch a black guy crossdress and fail to make me laugh, I’d go to Eddie Murphy’s house. I can at least tolerate Eddie’s trademark chortle.
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