Why white critics’ fear of engaging Tyler Perry is stifling honest debate

[#1 pick]

I just hope he funds other Black flimmakers. Spike needs to kill the beef and work with Tyler to make good films. Spike is a great director but as a businessman, he sucks.

 

[#1 pick]

I liked Temptation and one other Tyler Perry movie. Most of them sucked or was such c00nery, I didn't watch it. I watched the first Madea movie and never watched it again. Tyler's decent movies don't suck at all. I think Whites think to highly of their shytty movies anyway. Not entertaining as they think. None of TP movies are Oscar worthy but they are entertaining. TP is like the Young Jeezy of movies. He is great at what he does but everyone is not going to like it and his content is rarely above elementary.

 

[big bun]

i bet you watch django unchained tho

Haven't seen it.

 

[Danie84]

Cacs ain't never held their tongue against a minority

 

[Hiphoplives4eva]

Not even close to the same thing. Being a white director is the standard. They are a dime a dozen. So making a shytty movie is inconsequential to anyone but yourself. Being a black director pretty much puts you into the niche director category. HOLLYWOOD RARELY CALLS A BLACK DIRECTOR unless they need a black point of view.

ALL THE better known BLACK DIRECTORS made their bones with black films. SMART black films that may have had a stereotype or two but addressed them and other social issues responsibly (those don't get made anymore). And then those directors would get a shot or two at a mainstream film or blockbuster.

Spike Lee can't even get a film fukking financed for Christ's sake. John Singleton can't get a movie. The Hughes Brothers just shot a short to get buzz going again! And all the lesser known talented black directors are in television and can't get a movie to save their fukking lives. These guys shut down film festivals with great films and then get sent to a life in directing television.

Tyler Perry making shytty movies hurts everyone. Because it assures that the smart black movies and scripts never get made. Why do that when you can make money with Tyler Perry c00nery? Why risk money on another SMART black movie when c00nery is selling like gangbusters?

So Tyler Perry's success assures that we will never see another Boyz In The Hood, Menace II Society, The Wood, Higher Learning, Poetic Justice, Malcolm X, Do The Right Thing or even a Love and Basketball (for the record, never seen it!)

This is nonsense. What the hell prevents someone from making the next Menace to society, regardless of what Tyler is doing. This is a lazy way of thinking and continues the mindset of "we can't do nothing unless white folk allow us to do it" that continues to hold black folk back.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

This is nonsense. What the hell prevents someone from making the next Menace to society, regardless of what Tyler is doing. This is a lazy way of thinking and continues the mindset of "we can't do nothing unless white folk allow us to do it" that continues to hold black folk back.

TP's success is reflective of a change in black values. TP is not preventing the success of such movies today, our aversions to anything thought provoking will. It has nothing to do with what "white people" will allow us to do.

 

[Black Hans]

This line sums up how I feel about Tyler Perry:

"It’s possible to admire Perry’s work ethic, marvel at his success, or be impressed by the way he’s forced Hollywood to bend to him, and also think his movies are insidious."

I respect him but his movies are stupid. I don't blame white people for being afraid to criticize his movies though because black people hate outside criticism. Actually we hate criticism period.

Who doesn't? I remember white people being offended at Jeremiah Wright. And I'm sure we all know about criticizing Jews. Why do black people always have to take "criticism" () on the chin? Most of the so-called criticism is basically "black people need to be more like white people so we can be accepted" and other Tom, sycophantic shyt in the same vein anyway.

 

[Rawtid]

Who doesn't? I remember white people being offended at Jeremiah Wright. And I'm sure we all know about criticizing Jews. Why do black people always have to take "criticism" () on the chin? Most of the so-called criticism is basically "black people need to be more like white people so we can be accepted" and other Tom, sycophantic shyt in the same vein anyway.

You didn't read the article.

 

[Mr. Somebody]

"flopping" is determined by financial success at the box office.

That has NO bearing on the actual content or the quality of the movie.

Thats like saying XYZ artist sold more therefore XYZ artist makes better music.

That just isn't the case.

I think his films can be entertaining. You should watch his entire career and then come back with your thoughts. He has a realistic view on situations and a happy ending for parties involved.

 

[Mr. Somebody]

Part of me hates his guts for his simple simon approach to black film

But the other part of me says if Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen can make the same comedy 5 times in a row he should be able to as well

The thing I've learned about art and culture is that you can argue critical acclaim, you can argue significance, but you cannot argue with what the people like. The people like Tyler Perry, I don't, and I don't see why, but they do and that's their right. Maybe these people don't want a deep movie about something thought provoking. They want Madea's stereotypical ignorance, they want the same old hashed out man/woman themes, and yell-at-the-screen drama.

For so long people have been taking the approach with everything as if we gotta "save the people from low culture and ignorance", that they're being taken advantage of by somebody in it to make money. Nah, I've realized that the same reason people drive through McDonalds is the same reason they listen to what they listen to, and watch what they watch and it's a deliberate choice. You can't argue with choice.

Some of Tyler Perrys stories are pretty deep. Many of them deal with deep seeded issues in the community. The breakdown of the characters and their motivations can be sort of soap opera esq but as a love story(which is what most of his films are) im not sure how deep you expect them to be? What love stories do you find deep?

 

[jadillac]

But the other part of me says if Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen can make the same comedy 5 times in a row he should be able to as well

True, BUT the problm is that Apatow, Rogen, are not the WHOLE of white movie spectrum. There are all sorts of other types of comedies in general outside of those two, and not to mention tons of other movie genres.

As opposed to TP who is basically the only black dude allowed to drop movies these days and he stays droppin the same category of movies every time.

In short, Perry IS black cinema, whereas Apatow, Rogen, Sandler, etc are only one small piece of white cinema

 

[jadillac]

Also, I'm not saying it won't ever happen if the $$$$ is big enough, BUT why has Denzel, Sam Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, or the likes never appeared in a TP movie?

If the product he puts out is so "great", according to most of his fans, then why aren't big name black actors clamoring to be apart of something so great? They've all been in movies from black directors of lesser monetary stature than Tyler Perry.

Why? Because like me, when these guys look at the script or hear the premise of the film they probably give it the

 

[philmonroe]

True, BUT the problm is that Apatow, Rogen, are not the WHOLE of white movie spectrum. There are all sorts of other types of comedies in general outside of those two, and not to mention tons of other movie genres.

As opposed to TP who is basically the only black dude allowed to drop movies these days and he stays droppin the same category of movies every time.

In short, Perry IS black cinema, whereas Apatow, Rogen, Sandler, etc are only one small piece of white cinema

Idgaf just cause he the only one doing it doesn't mean he needs to appeal to everybody. That's usually how your shyt go brick anyway. Think of a hardcore rapper that switches his shyt up completely more times than not he going to get clowned no difference here. Just cause its not many doesn't equal TP should do every type of movie genre out to make y'all feel better in the eyes of white people.

Also, I'm not saying it won't ever happen if the $$$$ is big enough, BUT why has Denzel, Sam Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, or the likes never appeared in a TP movie?

If the product he puts out is so "great", according to most of his fans, then why aren't big name black actors clamoring to be apart of something so great? They've all been in movies from black directors of lesser monetary stature than Tyler Perry.

Why? Because like me, when these guys look at the script or hear the premise of the film they probably give it the

Where have most of his fans said it was great at ESP on here? See this is how cats get labeled as crabs and haters when you spewing negative non sense that nobody even said. Show me this overwhelming support where cats have said the movies were great and I'll apologize cause I'm beyond being admitting I was wrong but you wont find it at least on here in big nuMbers if at all.

 

[JasonSJackson]

A Tyler Perry film has never flopped, ever.

its so demonic, friend

 

[VladTheImpaler]

Part 2:


I’ve sifted through the comments on Ryan’s piece, and it seems as though his caution was unwarranted. Judging from the avatars, there are plenty of black people applauding Ryan’s take, and plenty of others rebutting it, but it’s a lively, informed, interesting discussion, in which not once did I see a commenter try to invalidate Ryan’s argument because he’s white. The comments are largely confined to the merits of the essay, or at least the film. It’s the type of open dialogue I’d love to see happen more often about Perry’s work, and perhaps Temptation will encourage white critics to be more forthcoming about how they feel about Perry without fear of offending the black community.

The truth is, there’s a consensus among much of the black audience that pays to see Perry’s breathless, boiling-hot morality plays that matches the consensus of mainstream white critics: They’re fun, inconsequential trash at best, thematically unconscionable and deeply offensive at worst. It’s been hard to see that before, because a vocal minority of die-hard Perry acolytes has convinced white critics that the black community has formed a human chain around Madea, and white critics, in turn, have convinced the public they might like Perry’s movies considerably more, if only he got better at shot composition. By politely talking around race rather than directly to it, white mainstream film criticism has robbed Perry’s films of what could be their most redeeming quality: Hating them brings us all together.





The free ride is over TP.