So, Tyler Perry is someone who I have always had an immense amount of respect for and also someone who in many ways is very disliked by so many people whom I have met, why? I never really get an answer but the ones I have gotten are that they are too wild, too dramatic and the ones from my black friends seem to be the ones that they get tired of seeing the characters always being so downtrodden. Now coming from a world where I myself have been told to be more muted, quiet, less dramatic by people, typically white people -- I always wondered sometimes why, but then I think about things and sometimes I feel like maybe it's a cultural clash. Maybe they can't seem to identify with the issues or something, or maybe the work just isn't being presented as strongly but I have always thought about this: poor people have had less of a chance to learn how to express themselves as opposed to someone who may have had the comforts of being able to fall back on help so therefore maybe sometimes expressing oneself is sometimes difficult to do because in many ways you have to learn how to ride the bike with two lead feet. In many ways depending on what culture you come from, maybe self expression is not something that is taught or promoted. All these are generalizations though, but things I think about all the time when I critique bodies of work.

I like Tyler because he's one of the few directors in Hollywood-who even for all the negative things said about his films- is pushing the views of people not typically represented. His work, even though I do disagree with some of his views, helps people not only come out of the shadows but can become an invitation for a lot more people to make film, to express themselves and feel welcomed by major studios.

We have a ton of crappy movies in the theaters right now but no one seems to bat an eye when Kate Hudson makes another romcom or we get more remakes or we get another movie about a white person making their way through the world, but Tyler presents an overtly melodramatic tale of black people talking about Church, progress, relationships, etc. and suddenly we somehow seem to jump on his film as crap. I personally do not believe in using a color card for excusing poor work, but Tyler is literally one of the few people competing with mainstream movies. Also, why does everything a colored person make  have to be a fucking masterpiece? How many black, let alone colored, films can you name on a week to week basis even being shown at your local cinema? So for all it's worth and for all he is, I'd gladly support his work -- because in many ways, he is introducing the world to real issues that people face and maybe sometimes feel like they are the only ones that are going through them. So like feminism he is also creating an awareness throughout the community that you are not alone and that your neighbors, your family might be going through the same thing and that talking about it is a good thing. And this is not to say all black people are the same, and of course to say that is ridiculous but his work is a start to the future of cinema and like much mainstream work is easily understood.

Ok so now that I ranted over all this, lol, I literally am super excited for Tyler's new film -- For Colored Girls. The NYT reviewed it and liked it! They even gave it a critic's pick, so I read the comments and all the same things I just said were all things that people in the comments talked about. You can read that there but I think what it all boils down to is also the issue I myself have when I see work by George Lopez. I get angry, ashamed and embarrassed to think that mainstream culture seems to believe that what George talks about is the only way that hispanic people live here in the United States. I feel exposed too because as minorities we work 800 times harder to be able to be seen as people and not Burrito Burrito and taco taco, or at least feel like we're not that. But then I think, why should I be upset? He is clearly from a different world and he is expressing his views, his world and the way he was brought up. He is one of the few latino people who is able to be comfortable in talking about their hispanic-ness and not have to fear being branded as a "latino actor" and I find that my anger is actually directed at the wrong person, I should be angry at the movie houses for not allowing more people of color to make movies that appeal to the different sub-cultures within a minority. So with all that, and all the blanket statements I want to say, I like, no LOVE Tyler Perry films and you too should go see For Colored Girls.

"I love Tyler Perry
True comments, Catherine. I am a black woman who has seen nearly every Tyler Perry movies. I think the reason white critics don't "get" his movies is because they do not understand the importance of God in the lives of African Americans. They find the mixture of religion, broad comedy, moral lectures, and sexy scenes to be very baffling when this very true to the African-American experience, particularly the Southern African American experience. I live in Atlanta and whenever I go to see his movie at the theatre, it is truly an experience. People laugh out loud at some of the jokes or murmur in approval when they see an Atlanta landmark come into shot. In fact I see no difference between him and Woody Allen, in terms of mining a very particular type of experience over and over again and people being able to find the universal in the particular. I just think the world Woody Allen inhabits is closer to that of the average white New York critic. I fully intend to see "For Colored Girls" and have a good discussion afterwards with my girlfriends.
– Sally, Atlanta"

Read the NYT review here: http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/movies/05for.html?pagewanted=2

Labels: For Colored Girls, George Lopez, rant, Tyler Perry

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