What Tyler Perry Won't Admit About His Success: His Audience is Desperate.
Last night, Tyler Perry was interviewed on 60 minutes. I must admit I didn’t go into the interview thinking highly of Perry or his work, but I was willing to give Perry a chance to address some of the longstanding critiques I and others have waged against him. I have long found Perry’s portrayals of women demeaning, insulting, simplistic, and highly offensive. In particular, his portrayals of single black women are increasingly stereotypical and reveal some sort of deep-seated belief that men are both the reason for and solution to all of a woman’s problems.
Perry has been lambasted for his man-in-a-dress schtick (as have other male funnymen such as Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy), he’s also been criticized for the low-brow humor and overly dramatic situations in which his characters often repeatedly find themselves.
But those things are the least of my worries when it comes to Perry. What bothers me the most about Perry is the fact that he refuses to seriously consider any criticism of himself. This fact is apparent when he’s asked to respond to the statement of his detractors. It’s also apparent when you look at his work. His movies and his television shows are simply poorly written and directed. Sure, lots of screenplay writers and directors for both television and film are guilty of a bad film or script, possibly more than a few. But I dare someone to name any writer and director in history with a string of poorly executed television shows and movies that has been afforded the level of success Tyler Perry has. White Hollywood must marvel at this sort of black privilege from which Perry benefits. But Perry knows he has a very real advantage: his audience is not just forgiving, they are desperate.
There are very few television shows and movies with predominately black characters. “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Game” are arguably two of the best written African-American comedies in television history, both were recently cancelled despite lots of support from the black community. Yet Tyler Perry’s two television shows “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne” remain on television and have a solid audience. I have seen both shows, neither are even remotely humorous. And even if they were, the characters are inconsistent, ill-conceived, and completely confusing.
For example, the Calvin Payne character on “House of Payne” played by Lance Gross is, at different times, when convenient for the story line a lazy slacker who can’t complete college, a hard-working provider for his new wife, a dork who can’t get a girl, a debonair player, a simpleton, and the only one to be able to figure out a complex problem facing the family. How can one character embody all of these characteristics? One of the first things good writers do is flesh out each character in their script's traits, habits, and relationship to other characters. This makes for believable and consistent situational dynamics. Perry doesn’t bother.
Character synopsis is too stringent for Perry’s rickety scenes. His rickshaw-writing allows characters to become whoever they need to be in the moment, rather than continuing to be true themselves despite the circumstances. It’s almost impossible to connect with Perry’s television characters due to their changeling nature. His movie characters are similarly fated; however, in his films he deliberately leads his audience and the characters through series of more and more unbelievable events in order for the character to come out completely changed in the end.
What’s most perplexing about Perry is that he claims that his stories are derived from his frame of reference, of his life growing up. Perry has spoken numerous times about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. He talks about how badly his dad beat his mom and how he used to hide from his dad’s verbal and physical abuse. But what Perry doesn’t do is explain why, if he is writing from his experience, he doesn’t write about boys who are abused. Why the heavy-handed focus on women, in particular single mothers? Abuse aside, Perry did not grow up in a single parent household. Perry very rarely tells ANY story from the perspective of the male and shies away from any meaningful relationship dynamic that doesn’t involve clear-cut deviant behavior i.e. using drugs or cheating. You’ll never see a couple argue about the laundry in a Perry film, unless the husband ends up slapping his wife and finding her cocaine in the glove compartment of the car as he drives away in a confused rage. Perry is about as subtle as a Bill O'Reilly interview.
In general, Perry approaches male/female dynamics in curious fashion. His portrayals of black men are like that of someone outside looking in, an odd technique for a male writer. The men in Perry’s films exist only as villains and saviors. They are devils and angels…axes of good and evil who, at turns, change women’s lives for better with care and protection or ruin them with selfishness and violence. And while Oprah says that Perry likes to “celebrate strong women” I would argue that he does just the opposite. Madea typically brings the biggest quotient of female strength to Perry’s films. But that strength is delivered by a male in drag, and secondly is mammified and sapphiresque. Madea ‘s character is stripped of all humanity. She has long forgotten any remorse, regret, sorrow, or sexual desire and exists only to assist in the redemption of other, weaker, though perhaps more intellectual or financially successful females. In other words, the female strength we see in most of Tyler’s work is desexualized, defeminized, and provided by someone with a penis. Female strength in Perry's world is largely both mannish and manless.
Despite how Perry likes to sell Madea as a popular prototype of older women in the South, the only characteristic she shares with most of the older black women I know is her weight. I have a hunch that most people in the south remember the Big Mama that used to cook for Thanksgiving and Christmas, that prayed in her rocking chair, went to church every Sunday, and occasionally cursed or played cards and made you turn off everything during a storm to let "God do his work." She may have been brutally honest, but she wasn’t routinely loud or tasteless. And while my own grandmother slept with a gun in her night table, she was also pretty, softspoken, and kept a male "friend." I’m not saying Perry’s Madea doesn’t exist in real life, but she is not the every- woman Perry claims.
During the 60 minutes interview, Byron Pitts questioned Perry about acclaimed African American Film-Director Spike Lee’s criticism of his work. Pitts mentioned that Lee called Perry’s work “buffoonery” that reminded him of “Amos and Andy” and was a “step back.” Perry responded by saying that he’d like to read that criticism of him to “his audience.” Talk about a side-step. Perry knows that his audience would move quickly to defend him by accusing his detractors of trying to "bring a black man down" and prevent him from telling "our" stories. Perry’s audience, as mentioned in the 60 minutes interview, is mostly female, Christian, poor and working class African Americans. This is a group of people who, as Perry likes to say, has been “overlooked” by Hollywood. Perry says that these folks like to see themselves on screen. I agree with his observation and would expand it to say that the ONLY reason that Perry is successful is because these folks do not normally get to see themselves on screen. As far as they're concerned something is better than nothing. But just because your audience will eat anything, doesn’t exonerate you from the responsibility to feed them well. In fact, it ups the ante.
I can surmise that Perry hasn’t done much study of African Americans in cinema and I suspect he never will. When confronted with Lee’s comments, he launched into some sort of pseudo upper crust accent delivered in an effort mock his critics by painting them as Ivy League sellouts out-of-touch with Real America. The same insulting dismissive method people like Rush Limbaugh use to convince poor white people to vote against their economic interest in the name of some sort of ill-placed pride in being uninformed. This is unfortunate because Perry’s audience, which has made his 8 successive mediocre films blockbusters generating $418 million dollars in profits, deserves to be provided with better quality products, even if they don’t realize it. If Perry wants to stick to his overwrought stories of abusive marriages, gun-toting grannies, crack heads and child molesters, that’s fine. But out of respect for his loyal audience he should try to write and execute them better.
Thank you for this. Every time I squawk a criticism of the La Perry I'm told to 'quit hatin'' (okay - just saw your post on the word hate, I'll do better). Anyway, it's his brand of low brow crappola that keeps quality black entertainment out of the mainstream. Why serve us filet mignon when we're apparently happy with leftover Sloppy Joes. Okay, off high horse. Great post.
WELL SAID!
get out of my head!!!
i have blogged before on how much i loathe tyler perry but not as eloquently as this...
i don't feel like he even tries...i can watch a commercial and know exactly what's going to happen in the movie...
the (usually working class) black man as savior with the wealthy black man as the bad guy (unless he's played by tp) thing gets old in all his movies. he says it's to uplift black women but all his movies end up glorifying the good black man who the sister can have if only she got out of her own way.
i watched his tv show once and refused to do so again so i have no informed say on the matter. i'm positive it sucks though.
"You’ll never see a couple argue about the laundry in a Perry film, unless the husband ends up slapping his wife and finding her cocaine in the glove compartment of the car as he drives away in a confused rage. Perry is about as subtle as a Bill O'Reilly interview."
That was my favorite part!
You executed this topic VERY WELL. It's a hard reach considering the numbers he generates per film and just like any ill-researched and poorly educated of what's real in the name of education blended with cinema, the masses will agree that "numbers dont lie". But of course thats a lie. Just look at Weezy. IJS........they lie! lol
I saw the special last night though....and what irked me most was......his poor take on criticism. All things considered, Spike Lee, though he is my fav film director and he is pretty "in your face" with his messages, which could also be harmful when trying to get a point across, he has been in the game WAY longer. As a film director, I feel like he should have AT LEAST given SOME consideration to Lee's critique instead of browbeating him in a near tear fit of anger. Aside from being "not gangsta" (lol), his crumbling persona he pulled off really turned me off from him as a whole as he said "read that to my audience", which was comparable to the street fights before the fight officially started where one said, "say that to my people and see what'll happen". In other words, I totally did not dig...and wished he'd grow up. And out.
While I can say I dont have a problem with TP, I really do. I even wrote it in my blog I wrote when Madea Goes to Jail came out. My problem stems from (as one commenter said), his apparent lack of really trying. As a general rule, I like for people to push the envelope on their craft and talent and reach further into a height than they ever have, not take a story and tell it the same way with slightly different characters and slightly differnt scenes but in the end, the SAME result surmounts. Talk about annoying.
*sigh*
I can go on and on and onnn to a dull drone. But I'll stop here. And write my own blog on this tonight.
Thanks :)
Thanks everyone I appreciate you all reading! I only wish T.Perry would...
Tyler Perry has achieved what we all want to: Maximum output at minimum input. Who are we to blame him? I want a huge house and a lot of money for the least amount of work. You may call it lazy, but you can't call it WRONG.
If people want to throw their hard earned cash at him in droves, let them, I won't be among them, but Im certainly not going to chastise him for taking their money. When/if people wise up to the act and the cash stops flowing he'll change his game up and the whole thing starts again. That's life, and someday, I want that. Im being honest. I want that, now be true to yourself and admit that you want it too.
it is beyond stupid that those who accept the color-line definitions of themselves, then go about demanding that everyone join their borg. who made this one-way 'black' ness and who decides the rules of ruling.
the problem of homosapiens who engage in this non-sense about what is and is not acceptable in front of 'white' people is that they are not coming from a desire to see justice or freedom for themselves.
they are coming from the point of desiring to be the one who determines what is just and free for everyone else.... Read More
spike lee is jealous, as is everyone else who speaks about Mr. Perry's success. for lost in all of this is the fact that all these fewls get paid to put down an entrepreneur whose rise was not dependent upon the media plantaions they slave for.
i would probably think about respecting all of you fewls IF you could have paid your car note this month WITHOUT whupping Tyler for your personal Simon Legree.
and all of this from someone, who only sees him in passing when channel surfing but who has long been aware that he did not come up off massa money.
Which is why, the total bait and switch, ripoff that is viacom's for, by and of 'blacks' teevee is NOT where he had to take His show.
i shudder to think that just not a minute ago Booker T, Marcus and Du Bois, all Learned and Respected Community Elders, with diverging philosophies about what next for the newly emancipated Negro, managed to abide each other's opinions and theories while co-habitating peaceful and expressing themselves from venues THEY owned.
take y'all spikes back to 'black' planet and rule there.
hollah at me, when you 'black' actually OWN something to speak about and from.
Amma go set a reminder for Tyler Perry's television showS.
now if per chance you have some self-respect, i am certain you will show it soon, for Ed Lover's #comeonson is a far superior version of whatever this is.
What about Perry's non-Madea based movies? Do they still fall under this critique? Do you still feel the same about these movies?
"Daddy's Little Girl's" was told from the perspective of the black male, and hte villain was the mother and the drug dealer boyfriend. It was also the strong black woman played by Gabrielle Union who helped the main character out.
What do you think of "Why Did I Get Married?". He portrayed many different types of couples in that film. All of the women represented different characteristics and personalities.
Then there's "The Family That Preys". Women seemed to be the source of power in this movie, and at times, they also played the villain.
I'm just curious as to what you guys think of these movies because I've been hearing different sides of the Tyler Perry argument, and I have mixed feelings. I feel that a lot of what people are saying is right, but as an artist he has a right to put out his pieces of work any way he wants to without personally carrying the burden of contesting every single stereotype of African American culture.
Of course it's sad that these are the only types of movies that are getting even a piece of mainstream success. There are not a lot of movies depicting African American life, so whenever one comes out we want them to be politically correct so people won't look at us wrong.
It's almost like someone would get in trouble for having a black family around the table eating chicken. People might say, "oh they're black, is that why they're eating chicken?". Umm no they're eating chicken because they're hungry and that's what they chose to eat for dinner today. Just because something may seem to represent a stereotype doesn't always mean it necessarily promotes that stereotype.
Where do we draw the line? Are we supposed to never show black people eating chicken, or black people as crackheads, drug dealers, pimps or gangsters? No, because that would just be a lie. They exist!'
The problem starts when these are the ONLY visions that we are seeing on the movie screen. With that being said, check out the local African American film festivals closest to you. There are many excellent movies made by African Americans that never make it to the big screen. Support black cinema whenever you get the chance so that they may have a better chance of being on the big screen.
Blessings
As a member of Tyler Perry's audience, I just wanted to say that I think I'm the exception to your statement, because I am certainly not desperate. For the record, I am EXTREMELY picky about what I support, I don't just accept what's given.
I gotta co-sign with Boogaloo2 and (to some degree) Cindy Adrienne. It's silly and irrational to think that Tyler Perry is only successful because the black people that don't know any better just wanna support the black guy. Comparing him to Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly? Really? Let's be real, that's a very over exaggerated comparison. It's complete bull to say that his work keep "real" quality work out of the mainstream. You think if his shows got canceled it would've helped keep The Game and Everybody Hates Chris on the air? Not likely.
I like fairy tales.My love for fairy tales feeds my love for Tyler Perry's work. Of course, most fairy tales have the same storyline with similar characters. The people are good or bad, the hero struggles through some craziness, then the winners win and the losers lose. I relate that. That's real life for me. I see myself in these characters. And they're black so that makes it even nicer.
You're taking Perry saying Madea is the "every-woman" out of context. He's referring to older black women in his life that looked out for him. You can identify ways in which your grandmother is similar to Madea, so obviously his depiction is pretty accurate. Speaking of women, I don't agree that it's set up for them to have to be rescued by good men from the bad men. I can't think of an instance where the woman had to get the man in order to win. The typical thing that happens is that the woman finds her own way and the marriage is just a consolation prize for the happy ending.
Why is it hard to conceive that his work is inspired by his own experiences? I'm assuming you don't personally know him so you only know what he's told through the media. So you probably know as much as I do, which I know isn't enough to draw this conclusion.
What is this thing about him not "trying"? If it's not clear how much passion he puts into his work you must not know what it looks like. His work doesn't appeal to you, and what you like is "real" quality? Even if his work is "low-brow" is it worse because he's black? White people have been doing it for years and some people actually like them. God forbid a black guy do it, it would make black people look bad.
I love the movies, I think the tv shows are wack because every episode is a stage play tying to be a tv show. Boo. Clearly not his forte.
As for him not being able "to handle criticism," his response to Spike Lee was NOT out of arrogance, he was offended and rightfully so! It's not like he's just doing this for money or just as a hobby, he is just as passionate as Spike Lee about his art. But to hear that your work is undoing progress from a legend like Spike? Not only that, Spike didnt say to TP, he expressed it to the public. And it wasnt anything constructive or supportive. I LOVE Spike, thats my homie fo real, and he clearly has a right to say whatever, however he wants, and thats real. But what else was TP supposed to do with that criticism besides be offended? How could those comments be helpful in anyway? It's not. Honestly, I hope Spike is willing to work with TP for the sake of art since he feels so strongly about it. Spike has the experience and expertise to help him out, what good is bashing it when you're in the position to improve it?
Thank you for writing this!
I've never been a fan of Perry. I think his work is beyond stereotypical. He's turning what a "black person" is into a character and exploiting this character for personal gain. Is it making African-Americans any better as people? No. In my opinion, his work does little to shed light on anything. He says he's trying to show stories that happen to black people but I am a 20-year-old female African student in university and my daily life doesn't consist of drugs, illegitimate children, and adultery, thanks. I see nothing of myself in his movies. He needs to understand that every group of people is multi-faceted and instead of focusing squarely on situations involving drugs, alcohol, adultery, etc, he should focus on more positives; situations that might not be conventional, but still exist. He's excluding a whole group of blacks that don't live the stereotypical lifestyle and, coming from a man who says he's faced adversities to get where he is, I find that very ironic and pathetic.
dear bloggers,
you dumb ass people need to stop hatting on tyler perry. if you took time out to acually read his script then you find that all of mr.perry's plays and movies are based on a soul meaning. he teaches forgivness,happiness, and to love ones self. if you can't understand that then maybe you could take a lesson for mr.perry and learn how to seee the meaning of things....so i say this with great pride and LOVE for mr. peryy as a black women.......keep doing what you are doing mr.perry and i loved madea's big happy family i seen it in nashville and loved every minute of it.
I am completely in agreement with this whole post. I give Mr. Perry credit where it is due: He is successful and has displayed the middle-class black family to White America.
So has Everybody Hates Chris, but in a more positive manner.
People should look deeper when they analyze Tyler Perry's work. It affects African Americans on so many levels in the way society perceives them. I am completely in awe from this post. Good Job JD Strutter.