An Open Letter To Tyler Perry About His Portrayal of Successful Blacks

[blakep267]

I really cant be mad at tyler, even though his film work is very annoying... I'm more mad at the support hes gets compared to black directors like John Singleton and Steve McQueen for example... American mainstream really gets on your nerves sometimes, the masses always seems to support the crappiest stuff or the agenda is just to strong to counteract...

Americans love transformers and comic book movies. Peoples movies likes shouldnt upset you. Somebody like steve mqueen knows what he is. He doesnt do his art to get massive support

 

[dipsetgeneral]

The Madea character is bafoonery to the fullest but he knows his target audience is African Americans. The reason why I don't watch his movies is because the way they are shot and the scenes and lighting just looks cheap. Maybe I'll rent a joint of his when they up the production quality...

 

[thealumnus]

I dislike articles like this with a passion. They add little to a solution. A college student who has yet to graduate from his Ivy League school is telling a successful business owner how to run operations? Instead of dissing Tyler Perry assist him. Fact: Tyler Perry has the money(his own money) to Greenlight film & television ventures. So if his characters have no depth , write a screenplay and pitch it to dude. I would love to see Tyler Perry Produce a movie and have Spike direct it. Or cowrite a series together. Imagine that , all demographics of black people could be reached.Fact is tearing each other down does nothing. We don't have to pick sides all the time we can work together. It's sickening after a while. You can enjoy Madea and Do the Right Thing. It's easy to take shots at people. People are acting like it's a bad thing he's employing black people now? Name another studio in the United States that is black owned and operated and has put out over 5 films each of which grossed over $50 million and were profitable? By attacking the man directly we are in turn doing exactly what the article accuses him of doing in his movies. 

I'm far from a Tyler Perry Stan. I'm not in love with his films, nor content most of the time, but he is no worse than the film or tv industry as a whole.So much energy is invested by us tearing each down all the time in music, film, sports, etc. Let's start providing solutions and not just harping on problems.

 

[bruce negro]

Lol you starting to rage well good you must feel you are one of the crabs and only crabs would feel rage. I stated I don't like his stuff but all the extra stuff some people do is just hating simple and plain. I also don't care about your resume I'm not trying to hire you for nothing. Good for you you doing something positive but it still doesn't make what I said earlier any less relevant. IF IF IF IF IF (had to put it this many times cause you seemed emotional and definitely wasn't paying attention to nothing but what made you act like an emotional teenage girl) you don't like his work COOL but all the extra stuff when it feels personal I'm not with that and I would defend you, or anybody else when its just some ole pure hate stuff. I definitely talking to you and all the other blacks though that yall have to stop feeling inferior to other races. Yall can lie and say you don't but if you didn't you wouldn't be all he makes movies that make fun of us. SO are you like the characters in the movie? I assume not but your worried what the white man or some other person saying about you but your disgusted at me. You should be disgusted at yourself and your parents for not teaching you self love. I don't care if every movie is a clown fest its entertainment but doesn't rep me just because the people in it happen to be black. WE ARE NOT A MONILITH and yall with this thinking need to get it through yalls head and holler at the real problem folks that stereotype you off movies, rap, whatever. You don't disgust me but I do wish you didn't feel insecure. Peace

I won't address all the liberties you took in judging the type of person I am without actually knowing me at all I'll address a few before I get to my main points:

My parents not only taught me love, but self-respect, dignity, and the merits of spreading education and positivity throughout our culture. If you have a problem with any of these teachings, then you have more problems than I can address/help you with in this post.

Feeling inferior to other races and caring what other races say about me-- I am extremely proud to be an African-American and I am inferior to no one. You have me very confused actually.... I don't worry about what white people think about me or my race, but how my RACE views ITSELF. You would be a fool to say that slavery, the media, and the amount of blacks in poverty has not had an effect on African-American's self-identity. I've realized that I am a powerful human being that can do anything I put my mind to, and that's what I want all of my people to believe about themselves. I want my people to believe they can be successful lawyers, bankers, astronauts, etc., without being a sociopath like displayed in TP's movies.

Honestly man, the fact that you've applied so many of your own stereotypes to me with NO basis kinda gives me a better idea of the person YOU are. Go ahead and keep settling man. Be happy that one of your own people is spreading the message to young boys and girls that powerful black men are inherently evil, and that true happiness comes with working jobs that require minimal education and not dreaming too big--I mean hey, he's making a profit right, he's made it! Yep, be happy that he's employing a few hundred, maybe a few thousand Blacks while he's destroying the self-image of millions of African Americans--he's definitely helping our future! Go ahead and do it. I'm no crab, but if you want to be a sheep then all the power to you. I'll focus on helping the youth rather than old dogs looking to settle in their expectations and aspirations for the younger generation.