Give Tyler Perry a Break Already; And Stop Hating on Him!

Tyler Perry wants to put out great films that do not have your tried and true formula of buffoonery involving the Madea character and audiences never give those films a chance. Essentially, any film of his that does not involve Madea is worth watching. If you are looking for drama, The Family That Preys is an excellent choice. Why Did I Get Married and Daddy's Little Girls are also good films, but audiences do not seem to be interested in them.

Tyler has built a small empire with two television shows Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet The Browns, one of which is already in syndication. Brown is my favorite character from the Tyler Perry plays, but the father figure in House of Payne is the runaway favorite for audiences. Unlike House of Payne, Meet The Browns is a first run series that is not in syndication yet.

You have to give credit where it is due, regardless of what you think of Tyler Perry. There are other film studios, but whereas Robert Johnson, the founder of BET, planned to open up the first African-American owned film studio in 1999 Tyler Perry actually has that distinction. When you count the sequel to Why Did I Get Married, Why Did I Get Married Too, Tyler will have put out nine films in five years. On the other hand, Spike Lee used to put out 4 films a year back in the day.

No Tyler Perry does not shoot or direct music videos. He doesn't release films that cross genre and prefers to work primarily with an African-American cast. He isn't making political statements with his films, is not challenging the status quo and does not create films that are as cerebral and thought provoking of those of other writers. Most of his work revolves around themes that are thinly veiled references to the trials and tribulations that Christians must go through. He isn't recognized by the Academy Awards. But Tyler does create films that are entertaining that the entire family can watch; you may get objectionable language here and there, but it tends to tie into the theme of the message that he is trying to deliver. I have yet to see the use of controversy for artistic purposes.

If anything Tyler Perry reminds you more of Black filmmakers like Robert Townsend, who knew how to use comedy to make you think. What people don't tell you, is that Black filmmakers like Angela Robinson can put out a film about lesbian relationships and "Herbie Fully Loaded" in the same year, neither of which fall into the typical themes of race that you would come to expect from them. In fact I found a nice list of 26 Black filmmakers at Black Voices. So Tyler Perry does not go as far as you want him to go, or would not do it in the way in which you think that he should, so what. There are plenty of other Black filmmakers that do, and you should support their projects as well, or feel free to hate to them ...