Spike Lee has the right line on Perry. Perry is coonery and buffoonery that sets African American culture back at least 30 years. The sitcoms of the 70s were less offensive than what Perry pollutes TV with today. That Prince sees some value in it is amazing to me as he is a very intelligent black man. I can only hope that black people wake up and stop supporting this kind of modern day minstrel show - but it probably will never happen.

[Edited 4/25/11 11:31am]

PicassoFace said:

Well both Tyler Perry and Prince like to wear feminine clothes and makeup, so I can understand the kinship there.

I really don't understand the Madea phenomenon or the popularity of Tyler Perry's films. I've forced myself to watch at least 3 of those Madea movies, and I didn't think any of them were funny at all. Friends of mine who love those movies tell me I don't like them because I must not get "black humor", which is bullshit. I'll laugh my ass off at stereotypical "black humor" when it's actually funny (e.g. I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, etc.) Perry's films aren't funny.


Failed attepts at comedy aside, the Medea films are horrible. They're lazily written and predictable. Plus, they send mixed messages. I forgot which film I saw last, but there was one scene in which Medea was in a car and beat the shit out of a girl in the back seat (which was supposed to be funny). Later, she beat the shit out of a girl on a school bus (again, this was supposed to be funny). The whole time, the same film seemed to also preach against violence against women. So beating women is bad, but beating the shit out of children is totally acceptable (not to mention hilarious and Christian)? And does anyone else find it strange that a man who has spoken publicly about his being abused as a child makes films that find humor in beating children? I'm getting mixed messages here--horribly written, predictable, and unfunny mixed messages at that.

--

[Edited 4/24/11 4:16am]

I was exposed to Madea and Tyler Perry from the stage plays from about 10 years ago... I still prefer the stage plays to the actual movies. You could tell there was lots of improvisation going on and the actors trying to hold it together instead of busting out into laughter when something unexpected happens or is said... Low budget, fun and funny.

2elijah said:

Tyler put the "Madea" character in overdrive. It's time for him to put that character to rest. Tyler is afraid of losing the audience that's been with him from the beginning, when he was selling his "Madea" plays on DVD.

[Edited 4/25/11 6:00am]

Mainly because when he puts out a movie that doesn't feature Madea, it usually bombs at the box office.

lol why do you guys aaalways look so far into stuff? hell, not just you guys.. people everywhere.

its just meant to be funny. if you like it, yey. if not, dont watch it. i thought this was all just common sense? and just because someo ne does like it doesnt mean that theyre pathetic, or they they think everybody should be like Madea... and Madea doesnt make anybody look bad. nobody in their right mind thinks every african american family is like that.. but if you cant accept that some are (to an extent, and thats part of why its so funny), then you need to just stop talking about it. those of us that do like it dont want to hear your nonsense.

dyvrdown said:

lol why do you guys aaalways look so far into stuff? hell, not just you guys.. people everywhere.

its just meant to be funny. if you like it, yey. if not, dont watch it. i thought this was all just common sense? and just because someo ne does like it doesnt mean that theyre pathetic, or they they think everybody should be like Madea... and Madea doesnt make anybody look bad. nobody in their right mind thinks every african american family is like that.. but if you cant accept that some are (to an extent, and thats part of why its so funny), then you need to just stop talking about it. those of us that do like it dont want to hear your nonsense.

It's just television. I could sit here and say that everyone who watches reality shows is an idiot. But I don't I don't watch them because I don't like them and I don't put anyone down that does watch them.

People should be intelligent enough to determine what they want to watch and what they don't want to watch. Just because someone watches something violent doesn't mean they're violent...hello, violence is everywhere and pretty much in everything (music, tv, videos, news, media, magazines, movies, and in real life and in people (what a concept)).

If you grasp on to it just to try to make sense of it within your own life...then you're doing way too much --- it's a movie - get over it!

The fact that Prince 'loves Madea" is not earth shattering... and who cares really? Maybe he likes the fact that the grandmothers of today are not what grandmothers used to be...every family needs a Madea...not one that will knock you in the head but one that will put it to you straight. Good morning, children, take a look out your window ---our world is falling (hmmn sounds like a song)..take head.

Prince loves Madea..and apparently Tyler is a fan of Prince. Awesome !

Two great artists living out their dreams baby!

ladyleap2u said:

People should be intelligent enough to determine what they want to watch and what they don't want to watch. Just because someone watches something violent doesn't mean they're violent...hello, violence is everywhere and pretty much in everything (music, tv, videos, news, media, magazines, movies, and in real life and in people (what a concept)).

If you grasp on to it just to try to make sense of it within your own life...then you're doing way too much --- it's a movie - get over it!

The fact that Prince 'loves Madea" is not earth shattering... and who cares really? Maybe he likes the fact that the grandmothers of today are not what grandmothers used to be...every family needs a Madea...not one that will knock you in the head but one that will put it to you straight. Good morning, children, take a look out your window ---our world is falling (hmmn sounds like a song)..take head.

"take head"?

purplenuts said:

Spike Lee has the right line on Perry. Perry is coonery and buffoonery that sets African American culture back at least 30 years. The sitcoms of the 70s were less offensive than what Perry pollutes TV with today. That Prince sees some value in it is amazing to me as he is a very intelligent black man. I can only hope that black people wake up and stop supporting this kind of modern day minstrel show - but it probably will never happen.

Amen.

One thing I have about TP movies, is his potrayal of black men. When a woman is in trouble, it's always the dark black man perpetrating it, and she's saved by a light-skinned black man. Some people might htink this trivial, but you have to ask, why are most of his black-woman-having-relationship-issues follow this formula?

As for Madea...it was funny the first time, but damn, at some point you have to crate something different. All his movies follow the same formula. He's milking it for all it's worth, and I think he's exploiting the fact that black people are pretty much desperate for movies that feature them without being cast as pimps, ho's, or criminals.

BlackandRising said:

One thing I have about TP movies, is his potrayal of black men. When a woman is in trouble, it's always the dark black man perpetrating it, and she's saved by a light-skinned black man. Some people might htink this trivial, but you have to ask, why are most of his black-woman-having-relationship-issues follow this formula?

As for Madea...it was funny the first time, but damn, at some point you have to crate something different. All his movies follow the same formula. He's milking it for all it's worth, and I think he's exploiting the fact that black people are pretty much desperate for movies that feature them without being cast as pimps, ho's, or criminals.

Actually that's not true. You obviously didn't see Daddy's Little Girls, For Colored Girls or Why did I get married 1 or 2 or Madea's Big Happy Family. They don't all portray black men to be like that. Each Movie has a different message to it. Yeah they can be a bit predictable, but what movie is not? You also have to admit that some of those things happen all the time. I hate movies that portray everything to be peachy and happily ever after. Life is the complete opposite. But everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. Thats my

[Edited 4/25/11 12:23pm]

lPoeticl said:

BlackandRising said:

One thing I have about TP movies, is his potrayal of black men. When a woman is in trouble, it's always the dark black man perpetrating it, and she's saved by a light-skinned black man. Some people might htink this trivial, but you have to ask, why are most of his black-woman-having-relationship-issues follow this formula?

As for Madea...it was funny the first time, but damn, at some point you have to crate something different. All his movies follow the same formula. He's milking it for all it's worth, and I think he's exploiting the fact that black people are pretty much desperate for movies that feature them without being cast as pimps, ho's, or criminals.

Actually that's not true. You obviously didn't see Daddy's Little Girls, For Colored Girls or Why did I get married 1 or 2 or Madea's Big Happy Family. They don't all portray black men to be like that. Each Movie has a different message to it. Yeah they can be a bit predictable, but what movie is not? You also have to admit that some of those things happen all the time. I hate movies that portray everything to be peachy and happily ever after. Life is the complete opposite. But everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. Thats my

[Edited 4/25/11 12:23pm]

The first film I saw, that was the case, and previews of others seemed to follow the same formula. And you're correct, I didn't see the movies you mentioned, because watching one or two is evident of just how predictable his movies are. I disagree that most movies are predictable. I like to be challenged when I view a film, and Perry's movies are the equivilant of watching paint dry. That is just my opinion, of course. Life is complex, and Perry doesn't touch on those complexities at all. In fact, he shines over them and makes things all peachy and happily ever after.

it was 2006

http://www.prince.org/msg/7/175649

BlackandRising said:

lPoeticl said:

Actually that's not true. You obviously didn't see Daddy's Little Girls, For Colored Girls or Why did I get married 1 or 2 or Madea's Big Happy Family. They don't all portray black men to be like that. Each Movie has a different message to it. Yeah they can be a bit predictable, but what movie is not? You also have to admit that some of those things happen all the time. I hate movies that portray everything to be peachy and happily ever after. Life is the complete opposite. But everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. Thats my

[Edited 4/25/11 12:23pm]

The first film I saw, that was the case, and previews of others seemed to follow the same formula. And you're correct, I didn't see the movies you mentioned, because watching one or two is evident of just how predictable his movies are. I disagree that most movies are predictable. I like to be challenged when I view a film, and Perry's movies are the equivilant of watching paint dry. That is just my opinion, of course. Life is complex, and Perry doesn't touch on those complexities at all. In fact, he shines over them and makes things all peachy and happily ever after.

You've only seen one or two films so you can't really speak for "all" of them.

lPoeticl said:

BlackandRising said:

The first film I saw, that was the case, and previews of others seemed to follow the same formula. And you're correct, I didn't see the movies you mentioned, because watching one or two is evident of just how predictable his movies are. I disagree that most movies are predictable. I like to be challenged when I view a film, and Perry's movies are the equivilant of watching paint dry. That is just my opinion, of course. Life is complex, and Perry doesn't touch on those complexities at all. In fact, he shines over them and makes things all peachy and happily ever after.

You've only seen one or two films so you can't really speak for "all" of them.

I clearly stated that this was just my opinion. But based on the shows he produces on TV and the two movies I have seen, I think I can speak for all of them. I mean, it's like reading cheap romance novels. After one or two the formulaic approach is pretty evident. I mean, Madea? How different can the character or script be from movie to movie? I understand that he fills a void, but just maybe once he could direct a film that gave black actors a chance to stretch, to actually act?

BlackandRising said:

lPoeticl said:

You've only seen one or two films so you can't really speak for "all" of them.

I clearly stated that this was just my opinion. But based on the shows he produces on TV and the two movies I have seen, I think I can speak for all of them. I mean, it's like reading cheap romance novels. After one or two the formulaic approach is pretty evident. I mean, Madea? How different can the character or script be from movie to movie? I understand that he fills a void, but just maybe once he could direct a film that gave black actors a chance to stretch, to actually act?

And the whole movie isn't all about Madea.

Madea is like the mother and grandmother from the Nutty Professor movies. Lots of black folk , especially those with southern roots, recognize these characters as members of their own families.

That's really the bottom line. Madea is an outspoken, outlandish, strong-willed, old fashioned matriarch. The subplot of all this is that men like Tyler (Madea) and Eddie (momma Klump) perhaps had more involved mothers and grandmothers than they did fathers and grandfathers. Well....we know Tyler's unfortunate story. As for Prince, well, I think he likes the comedy of it much more than the drag of it. Let's be honest....Tyler is not a good looking elderly woman.

HotGritz said:

Madea is like the mother and grandmother from the Nutty Professor movies. Lots of black folk , especially those with southern roots, recognize these characters as members of their own families.

That's really the bottom line. Madea is an outspoken, outlandish, strong-willed, old fashioned matriarch. The subplot of all this is that men like Tyler (Madea) and Eddie (momma Klump) perhaps had more involved mothers and grandmothers than they did fathers and grandfathers. Well....we know Tyler's unfortunate story. As for Prince, well, I think he likes the comedy of it much more than the drag of it. Let's be honest....Tyler is not a good looking elderly woman.

He he he... ain't that the truth

lPoeticl said:

BlackandRising said:

I clearly stated that this was just my opinion. But based on the shows he produces on TV and the two movies I have seen, I think I can speak for all of them. I mean, it's like reading cheap romance novels. After one or two the formulaic approach is pretty evident. I mean, Madea? How different can the character or script be from movie to movie? I understand that he fills a void, but just maybe once he could direct a film that gave black actors a chance to stretch, to actually act?

And the whole movie isn't all about Madea.

lol man did I say it was? it's funny people get all defensive about a movie or movies that all have basically the same premise.

But she is the main character, and perry certainly make her the centra figure in his "trademark". Thusly, it is certainly within reason to judge him based on Madea and the obvious formula that is central to pretty much all his work.

purplenuts said:

ladyleap2u said:

People should be intelligent enough to determine what they want to watch and what they don't want to watch. Just because someone watches something violent doesn't mean they're violent...hello, violence is everywhere and pretty much in everything (music, tv, videos, news, media, magazines, movies, and in real life and in people (what a concept)).

If you grasp on to it just to try to make sense of it within your own life...then you're doing way too much --- it's a movie - get over it!

The fact that Prince 'loves Madea" is not earth shattering... and who cares really? Maybe he likes the fact that the grandmothers of today are not what grandmothers used to be...every family needs a Madea...not one that will knock you in the head but one that will put it to you straight. Good morning, children, take a look out your window ---our world is falling (hmmn sounds like a song)..take heed.

"take head"?

sorry...juggling act between emails and such...

Jakeasaurus said:

PositivityNYC said:

so, does that change your opinion of Prince?

Prince is just a trend-chaser.

Must totally disagree with that statement.

PositivityNYC said:

Madea is 4 people that have a sense of humor & need a good laugh & need a break 4rm everyday life. People seem 2 4get that Prince has a sense of humor & is very funny himself & likes 2 laugh. Most people on this site take everything 2 seriously sometimes & r 2 uptight.

Tyler has a built in audience if u don't like his characters. Then move on. Don't criticize him 4 trying 2 make a living and make people laugh.

Any doubt that he is not ranking them in @ the Box Office. Read this!

Coming in No. 2 domestically over Easter weekend was the latest offering from Tyler Perry, Madea’s Big Happy Family. The Lionsgate movie scored a solid $25.8 million from 2,288 locations in its debut, and drew a pleasing A CinemaScore.

Big Happy Family posted a per screen average of $11,255, the best of any wide release, and pointing to Perry's core fanbase among African-Americans, who made up 81% of the audience. The film played great in urban markets including New York, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, as well as in the South, such as Atlanta.

"Tyler Perry has such a loyal following," Lionsgate president of theatrical distribution David Spitz said.

So there U have it.........

Jakeasaurus said:

These movies pander to the lowest common denominator and if you enjoy them, that's what you are.

Boy, the stick-far-up-the-ass attitude in this board never cease to amazes me.

Not a fan of Tyler Perry, but your comment has to be one of the most condescending and ill informed statements I ever read from here, and I've read alot of foolishness.

Dear lawd, when he's not acting and just 'being himself' he makes me sweat.

suomynona said:

purplenuts said:

Spike Lee has the right line on Perry. Perry is coonery and buffoonery that sets African American culture back at least 30 years. The sitcoms of the 70s were less offensive than what Perry pollutes TV with today. That Prince sees some value in it is amazing to me as he is a very intelligent black man. I can only hope that black people wake up and stop supporting this kind of modern day minstrel show - but it probably will never happen.

Amen.

Intelligence is why Prince can differenciate between a "sitcom" and "real life."

Prince has loved films/music/entertainment/etc. that combine a spiritual theme within them. This is why he likes Tyler Perry's films, because all of them, or MOST of them always relate back to God in some way.......

If you've followed Prince's likes and interests over the past 20 - 30 years....it is not hard to understand why he fancies Tyler Perry's films.... he's also expressed enthusiasm for (just a few examples):

Kevin Smith's "Dogma"..... (so much so, he invited Kevin Smith to Paisley Park to film for him during the Celebration week when The Rainbow Children was released)

The Wachowski's "Matrix" films....religious ideas throughout

Joan Osborne's "What if God was One of Us" ...remember when he covered it??

Prince being a fan of Tyler Perry is a no brainer to me....you just gotta know his tastes;-)

tyler perry is disgusting! on what planet is this unfunny guy make $100+ million a movie? wow... amazing.

ElectricBlue said:

tyler perry is disgusting! on what planet is this unfunny guy make $100+ million a movie? wow... amazing.

This.

Say what you want about Tyler Perry but Tyler Perry did not start out as a filmmaker nor a television producer. Tyler Perry is a Playwright...first and foremost. It's his plays that put him in the postion of making movies and television shows. Which he hasn't been doing that long enough for people to be talking about "he's setting Black people back 30 years."

October 7, 2008

The House Madea Built!