Madea-isms: Life Lessons Delivered like Only Tyler Perry Can Do

Tyler Perry's anything-but-feminine alter ego Madea is as funny as she is wise. Madea is blunt enough to tell you how it is, but it is her way of expressing the truth that makes Madea a wonderful teacher.

If it is possible to laugh until you cry, Madea knows how to make you do it. The Tyler Perry plays (that led to a stream of movies including Madeas Family Reunion, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and Why Did I Get Married)all deliver deep and meaningful life lessons wrapped up in an in-your-face sense of humor that is as deep as it is obvious. Some of the titles themselves can deliver a blunt message, such as I Can Do Bad All By Myself.

When you sit down to watch anything by Tyler Perry, you will need a box of tissues nearby and you will come out a better, stronger person. When Madea is involved, you just may laugh until you wet yourself.

Take a quote out of Madea's Class Reunion, where a girl turns to the elderly 'lady' for advice. "How can you tell if your man is cheating on you?"

"Awe, honey, you think your man is cheating on you?"

(The girl looks down, sadly.) "Yeah"

"That's how you can tell."

Tyler Perry is perfect for any occasion. For a social movie night with a group of friends, Madea promises to bring everyone into stitches. Madea is also great for a date night. The messages Madea delivers can motivate you to open up with your partner (or potential partner) and really connect.

(Or, Madea can convince you to get up halfway through the movie and just walk away from a bad relationship!)

Additionally, Madea is the perfect cure for anybody going through a hard time. Whatever your situation is, there is a Madea quote that can cure your blues within seconds. Just open your heart (or she will pry it open) and in the end, it all seems so simple!

Many of Madea's memorable and witty quotes help with specific problems that people face everyday. Relationship problems, like a cheating or abusive partner, are an unfortunately common problem that can always be 'too complex', but Madea has a way of putting things out there so that each situation is the same simple problem with an easy solution.

Following Madea's advice is a good idea to live a happy life. The message is almost always the same: Be in control. It's your life.

Not only can many accurately relate Madea's specific advice to a specific problem in their life, but others can take the same advice and apply it to something else with the same results.

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married offers a new perspective on the issue of loyalty to a marriage. The 80/20 rule is quite simple. The person you are with only gives you 80% of what you need. Along comes somebody offering the 20% you're not getting, and it looks really tempting. You could take that extra 20%, but in the long run you'll lose that 80%, then you're stuck with just that 20%.

While some people claim a marriage should be 50/50, I have always believed that the numbers were wrong and that both partners should be giving100%. Tyler Perry gave a new set of numbers, that matches my own theory perfectly, as well as adding an element of perfect common sense. The numbers add up!

I can not say that I have a favorite Madea quote, because I find nearly everything that comes out of her mouth to be something worth holding on to for one reason or another. However, I would like to share one very lengthy quote from Madea Goes to Jail.

She begins by saying "If somebody wants to walk out of your life, let - them - go!" (Enough said!) The rest can get very deep.

"Some people are meant to come into your life for a lifetime, some for only a season and you got to know which is which. And you're always messing up when you mix those seasonal people up with lifetime expectations.

I put everybody that comes into my life in the category of a tree. Some people are like leaves on a tree. When the wind blows, they're over there... wind blow that way they over here... they're unstable. When the seasons change they wither and die, they're gone. That's alright. Most people are like that, they're not there to do anything but take from the tree and give shade every now and then. That's all they can do. But don't get mad at people like that, that's who they are. That's all they were put on this earth to be. A leaf.

Some people are like a branch on that tree. You have to be careful with those branches too, cause they'll fool you. They'll make you think they're a good friend and they're real strong but the minute you step out there on them, they'll break and leave you high and dry.

But if you find 2 or 3 people in your life that's like the roots at the bottom of that tree you are blessed. Those are the kind of people that aren't going nowhere. They aren't worried about being seen, nobody has to know that they know you, they don't have to know what they're doing for you but if those roots weren't there, that tree couldn't live.

A tree could have a hundred million branches but it only takes a few roots down at the bottom to make sure that tree gets everything it needs. When you get some roots, hold on to them but the rest of it... just let it go. Let folks go."

In the end of this lengthy monologue, which you'll want to watch again and again just to soak it all up, Madea advises that "If you don't know how to be by yourself, what are you going to do with somebody else?"

In summary, Madea teaches that raw emotion is a dominant part of life that should not be swept under the rug... but dealt with. You learn "It's doesn't matter what people call you, it only matters what you answer to". You learn to let things go and that is all you need to know!