For those of you who frequently follow my blog on a daily or sporatic basis, you all pretty much know how I feel about Tyler Perry and his horrible movies. I happened to come across this YouTube video where Roland Martin had a discussion with Janell Snowden, Kevin Frazier and Jawn Murray about the absence of African-American nominees at this years boring ass Oscars, the lack of representation when it comes to black cinema, and why everyone keeps hating on Tyler Perry.
I can only speak for myself on this matter, so buckle up as I make you bitches gag for a moment. My issue with Tyler Perry isn't the fact that he is just about the only powerful African-American writer/ producer/ director in the industry who is giving many African-American actors employment. My issue with him is the quality of his work. All of his films border on the lowest of black stereotypes. If he's not making his 90th Madea movie, he's doing serious work like For Colored Girls (which is his umteenth film about black women finding strength after being abused) or man hating (just about every other film he's put out). Or producing shit like Precious, which showcased the worst of black folks you'd ever see in film. No one should have been surprised to see that film get nominated for an Oscar, especially winner Mo'Nique for playig the most evil black bitch in film history. Even though I wouldn't be caught dead watching For Colored Girls, I do feel some of the actresses should have received an Oscar nomination.
For any filmmaker that puts out a film especially when you own your own studio in Atlanta, I was expecting some versatility from Perry but we never seem to get that. Not every black person 'oooh chiles' and 'yes y'alls' while rolling their neck. Where are the action films with a black lead? Where are the science fiction movies on the level of Avatar with a prodominate black cast? How about an all-black horror movie in the vein of Friday the 13th instead of Tales From The Hood? You see, in the black community we tend to play into this slave mentality that has been embedded in our heads from whites since birth. Perry and his good friend Oprah have the reach and power to change the industry but instead people like Perry and Oprah continue to spoon feed their audience with this woman scorned bullshit. I know this for a fact because I have had plenty of arguments with women in my family about this subject.
Another issue I have with Perry is the fact that he's another powerful industry person who continues to hide his sexuality. Last year he made headlines by going on Oprah's talk show to talk about the amount of abuse he received growing up. How he was abused by his father and how he was sexually abused by countless men and women. He also made it seem as if the sexual abuse he received from men was a one-time thing but in fact, since family does know family Perry is in fact a lover of the dick and wants to act like the sexual abuse is the cause of his confusion. With all the power you have Mr. Perry, you need to diversify your creative genes and do your own thing. You also need to work on your writing and filmmaking because both are not that good. I'm sure my opinion means nothing, but if you want to continue making the films you want to make, then that's fine. But as for someone like myself who went to film school and am bursting with ideas, I will take your example of paving the way for giving actors more work and I will work towards opening up my own studio Hollywood be damned!
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