Tyler Perry Does Not Hate Black Women: A Critique On Critics

Tyler Perry for TIME 100 – Paola Kudacki—TRUNK Archive

Tyler Perry hates Black Women. Tyler Perry hates Black Men. Tyler Perry hates Black People. Search any of these phrases on social media and you’ll find a slew of comments, pseudo dissertations, journalist, film critics, and more trying their best to convince people that Tyler Perry’s films are proof that Tyler has it out for us. Tyler’s latest film; “Divorce In The Black” sparked outrage amongst some who watched. After watching, reviewing comments, assessing the nature of the situation, and doubling back on Perry’s extensive catalog I’ve concluded… people love being mob-contrarians.

Obviously Tyler Perry is not above reproach. Tyler is a high level intellect who represents, and has a reputation of having, solid integrity. I doubt even Tyler believes he is above critique, but there’s something to be said for the unfairness he has received especially when it comes to film and television. Social media has bred what I call mob-contrarians or people who, often without realizing it, develop a mob mentality losing their own ability to think, or judge for themselves how they actually feel due to the majority, or popular opinion of those who are often just taking opposing views for likes and engagement versus actual judgement or review.

Don’t believe me? Go to any popular comment section on social media and the evidence of the mob-contrarians will be so clear you would think I planted it there myself!

Yes, people share opposing ideas. Yes, many of us prefer to read the comments and find like minds to heart versus writing what we think ourselves, and yes, more than one person can have the same critique of a person, place or thing, but there’s a difference! Ask yourself, have you ever been persuaded to change what you feel, or think just because what you’ve seen, read, or heard was more popularly received than your own thoughts? If your answer is yes, then my observation is valid. I know what you’re thinking…how does one prove that without being a mindreader? Well, it’s hard, and I don’t plan on proving it. It is however, important to note…not everything you read, see or hear is material fact, a lot of it is based in GroupTHINK, and I find Tyler Perry’s critique’s to be victim to that and to harsh-unfairness.

Tyler Perry has only written and directed about 25 films. Considering the present day critiques sparked after his latest film “Divorce In The Black” I will focus on his films and not his hit tv shows as I believe that is an all together different topic, but one that shares similarities in how people critique and often confuse the two mediums. Of those 25 films Perry has starred in about 18 of them. His films span the time of almost 20 years! Perry’s first film; “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman” was released in 2005, directed by Darren Grant. At this time Tyler was known for his hit stage plays. Much of the community who sold him out play after play was excited for Perry as he’d; “finally made it to Hollywood“. His first feature went on to become a number one box office success bringing in over 50 million dollars against a 5 million dollar budget. But it was critically panned!

PRETTY VEE’S FIRST SOLD OUT SHOW FULL REVIEW

Not only were Hollywood critics calling it a melodrama that lacked a consistent tone, but rotten tomatoes gave it a four out of ten! Even Roger Ebert, God rest his soul, famed critic and journalist believed Tyler Perry’s beloved character Madea was; ‘…not remotely plausible [and] not merely wrong for the movie, but fatal to it’ giving “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman” a one out of five stars. Even with these professional critiques, much of which the general public is still unaware of, the fans, supporters, and movie goers who made this film number one had a completely different experience. Many of them felt seen, heard, loved, and left the theater inspired, and ready to support him again. The latter, which was proven by the almost 1 billion dollar box office accumulation throughout the years, shows Tyler’s work is loved.

Now, to be fair, “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman” started the only critique I often find to be widespread, but also fair…them damn wigs!

Shemar Moore as Orlando

It’s one thing to, in 2005 making your first film with an incredibly low Hollywood SAG budget (~5.5million), not have the proper wig specialist and costume department of say a marvel film, but Tyler has consistently offered to his viewers unsightly cinematic accessories that often take you out of the scene in multiple films. Many viewers have even come to expect this from Perry, and maybe now it’s done on purpose as an ode or insider to his core base. Either way, I find this critique to be fair. I also find critique’s about his lighting choices, sound design or audio, directing choices, speed of dialogue, actor choices, and editing choices to be extremely rare, but often fair. Unlike the latter, what I find to be the issue with Tyler Perry’s unfair critique is the critique of his writing, and the characters he chooses to write about. This is where the mob-contrarians rear their ugly heads.

In the interview above Tyler Perry speaks with actress Keke Palmer on her hit podcast “Baby This Is Keke Palmer”. Keke did a great job of asking questions that span Tyler’s life, reasons why he’s made certain choices, but also softened him up for the questions that many of us had. Around the 30 min mark Tyler began to speak about the critiques he’s had. Tyler mentions how he’s trained writers and directors, and that he has had writers rooms for years. Many speak about Tyler not having a writer’s room, but that has never been true and has been taken out of context as Tyler didn’t always have the budgets and made due.

At minute 34:58 Tyler Perry states; “do the best with what you have, do the absolute best you can with what you have, take the heat, take the hits, and keep getting better and better and better and better, and the great thing about my audience man is that they have been with me day one going; ‘Tyler you need to fix this…Tyler that was good…Tyler we love that…ohh he getting better now ya’ll watch him!’ You know? So I love it man, I love it.”

Many media outlets neglected to show, or even mention the latter part of the interview, however they had no pause at showing a one sided view that was grossly taken out of context that went viral (see below). Again, not everything you read, see or hear is material fact, a lot of it has an agenda and it’s mostly for money. Blogs, media outlets, and even pseudo influencers make money from views on social media. This is the incentive they need to, instead of doing great integral work, have a mob-contrarian approach to their cover stories as it brings views. They want money. The outcome of their greed influences their readers to believe their ill-written, often agenda ridden, click-bait headlines and reviews creating more mob-contrarians, which cultivates a cesspool of idiocracy that can only be explained as GroupTHINK.

Headlines all over social media read Tyler Perry calls his critics uppity negroes. Not only is this not true, it is, as mentioned above, click-bait, and wildly out of context. The average reader or conditioned mind, which in Amerikkka the conditioning that takes place not only negatively affects Black people, but all people, cannot decipher which is click-bait and what headline is trustworthy. The media outlets who often use this technique are keenly aware of that fact and they profit from it making millions off of the ignorance of our people, and yes even our people, and they do not care about that psychological damage. They want money!

In truth, Tyler Perry spoke to director Justin Simien (“Dear White People”) who had critiques about Perry. Keke Palmer shared she loved that they spoke and Tyler, playfully stated, he called Justin and said; “no I called that nigga and told him I was gone beat his ass that’s how that how it started…but no no no but but (laughed). The truth of the matter is, is this, when I think about somebody like him or somebody who has something to say I’m like great, have your opinion”. Full stop. My question to those outlets, where was this in your headlines and click bait posts? Was this not worthy? Tyler goes on to say; “…I live from this seat, tempered, measured, patient, prayerful, and disciplined. I’m always disciplined about everything, I just, I step back I count, I watch, I see which way I need to move I don’t rush into comments… or do anything I’m patient with it, so when I saw that I was sad for him because I think he’s really, really talented, and why can’t you tell a story that doesn’t have anything to do with what your disdain for what I do? Because your disdain for what I do says more about you than me and the people that love what I do. So you gotta be careful when you start talking about Tyler’s movies and shows are this, because you’re talking about a whole bunch of millions of people around the world who don’t just want to see a Spike Lee joint, but they can still sit back and laugh and relax and have a good time watching something like this…”

After Keke Palmer complimented Tyler on not allowing criticism to stop his unique voice, it was this clip (44:23) that media outlets decided to spread, helping to create yet another mob mentality around Perry. “…you gotta drown that out because if you let somebody talk you out of a place that God has put you in, you are going to find yourself in hell. I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing because for everyone who is a critic I have thousands of…used to be emails of people saying; ‘this changed my life…Oh my God you know me…oh my God you saw me, how did you know this about my life and my family’ So that is what is important to me. We’re talking a large portion of my fans who are disenfranchised who cannot get in the Volvo and go to therapy on the weekend. So you got this high brow negro who is all up in the air with his nose up looking at everything and then you got people like where I come from and me who are grinders and who really know what it’s like whose mothers were caregivers for white kids and were maids and house keepers and beauticians don’t discount these people and say their story don’t matter who are you to say which Black story is important or should be told? Get outta here with that bullshit!”

And there you have it folks, true journalism.

Not only did Tyler not call his critics “upitty negroes”, or dismiss their critiques, he simply mentioned two kinds of people: those who look their noses down at others and those who grind, as folks who both have stories to be told, exclaiming to not discount the grinders just because they are not where they (upitty negroes) are. However the headlines, think pieces, tweets, and comments will have you thinking Tyler saw critiques and dismissed them by calling them upitty negroes! What was said, and what people want you to think, are two different things. Now, if after reading, and seeing in full the discussion you gleamed from it that Tyler set out to call people who disagreed or disliked his films upitty negroes then there’s something to be said for that. However, should we be interpreting what someone says and trying to think for them? Or should we hear what they say, and accept what they say as what was said?

Monkey see monkey do! Social media has become the grounds for repeating things that sound clever or make people feel like they have depth when really they’re just mob-contrarians repeating things with an agenda: Likes, views, engagement, the potential to be seen, to be famous, well-known, or “poppin”. Tyler Perry hates Black Women, a phrase that is too often used in person, and on social media with, what I’ve found to be, the most unrealistic reasons!

When the film “Divorce In The Black” premiered on PRIME I asked my audience via THREADS if I should watch the film and review it for them. I often watch films based on how I feel, what my mental health is doing, and if I can handle being in a head space that may worsen my mood. So, when the trailer debuted for “Divorce In The Black” the title, and context of the film made me say to myself, I’ll sit this one out. I wasn’t in the mood for something like that, but when I saw trending topics around the film for two days straight I asked and was told, overwhelmingly, to watch and review. So, I did.

I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars. As stated, the film was good, but missed quite a few pivotal things that made me disconnect from the film. Even though it wasn’t Tyler’s best work, I wholeheartedly believe, it doesn’t need to be. With the understanding that Tyler does not get proper budgets, and has, on several occasions, been known to use his budget to pay Black actors more than they’ve ever made on a film before (Taraji P. Henson & Megan Good), versus spending more on greater sets, location shooting, lights, costuming etc. I think what Tyler is doing is playing chess, not checkers. With that, I have a better understanding for his films as he is, and as he and Keke Palmer stated; “do[ing] the best that [he] can with what [he has]”. That said, the writing of the film, which several Black Women have critiqued in terms of plot, character choices, and portrayal is what many cite when it comes to this outlandish idea that Tyler Perry hates Black Women.

As an actor, journalist, and novice screenwriter myself I’ve found that out of the 25 films that Tyler has written himself (Ive seen all 25 some multiple times), only a few of those films, in terms of writing, fell short for me. The films; “Divorce In The Black”, “Madea’s Big Happy Family”, “Madea’s Witness Protection” (which I believe is his worst film), “A Fall From Grace”, and “Mea Culpa” all failed to either make sense or make me laugh. I found they lacked sophistication, and overall left me wanting what I received from his other 20 films. I may not be a mathematician, but 20 great films out of 25 is an exceptional feat! And while I am no Roger Ebert, I am Tahir Coleman Register and my critique of films comes from a place of unbiased, professional experience in the field, and as a consumer with a degree in Contemporary Arts. So, it’s safe to place your trust in me when I say, the other 20 films, with “Good Deeds”, “A Family That Preys”, and “Madea Goes To Jail” as my top 3 Tyler Perry films, are really great films full of laughter, joy, pain, triumph, beauty, christian lessons, love, and inspiration!

If you have not seen all or most of Tyler Perry’s films you should not fix your lips to speak on his work. Period.

Invalid opinions ruin society. An invalid opinion is listening to only two songs from Doja Cat’s new album and calling the album trash. If you’ve not heard the album, how do you know it’s trash? Fact is, most people who have something to say are often only speaking about one experience, or a few experiences often omitting grace and truth afraid to stand on their singular thought so they apply it to multiple things. It’s okay to not like Tyler Perry’s films, but say which films and stick to those films. What happens now-a-days in this social media society is hyperbole: exaggerated statements or claims not to be taken seriously, that folks often…take…seriously! It must stop!

Now, there are a few who exist above the fold and have enough integrity to have an opinion based in some experience. I call these: valid opinions. While on THREADS I had an enlightening exchange with a budding screenwriter who believes Tyler Perry is secretly disgusted by Women. She voiced that she is not interested in watching “Divorce In The Black” as she; “…[didn’t] feel like being gaslit by someone’s secret disgust of Women”. While there is no data to support her claims that Tyler Perry secretly disapproves of Women, I was interested in engaging this comment to see why she thought that. [see below]

My question to this commenter, and to those who have unfair and harsh critiques of Tyler’s work is… do you go after directors/writers like Spike Lee, Lee Daniels, John Singleton (God Rest His Soul), F. Gary Gray, Antoine Fuqua, Malcolm D. Lee, or even Steven Spielberg, or Kevin Rodney Sullivan the same way you do Tyler for their portrayals of Black Women? Black Women, in the films of each of these directors/writers are often: slaves, ratchet, loud-mouthed, hyper-sexualized, abused, raped, second-class citizens, 1 dimensional, and in insubordinate positions or simply not even written about in full in their hit films. Is it okay that Black Women are seen that way because the films make a lot of money, or because they have a higher budget and the films look better? I wonder why the majority of film writers and directors don’t get the “they must hate Black Women trope”, but Tyler, who consistently places Black Women and Black People in general, in power positions with full character development, at large, in the majority of the 25 films he’s written and directed. What is it? Could it be, as Tyler stated, the actual topics itself? Does the Black community hate the idea that what happens at home stays at home is now on the big screen?

In breaking down her response, I found it odd for a budding screenwriter to say that writing characters based on your experience is an issue. Most writers write from their experience and imagination, it’s how the best work is done, through truth. Can Black Women only exist in film and television if they are perfect or without flaws? Is that what we are calling for? Utopia? What exactly are folks expecting from filmmakers now a days? When she stated; “All Women aren’t the Women he experienced”, I gathered she’d not watch many of his films as there are an array of Women often featured in Tyler Perry’s films in leading, or co-starring roles. Starting with the first film; “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman” the titular character Hellen, masterfully played by Kimberly Elise, married the love of her life, a Black Man, who ended up becoming, through bad choices in life, an abusive cheating husband. In this film, which also stars Madea as a strong-hold in the Black community showing millions of viewers how Elder Black Women are the back bone of Black society, not only takes her in, but inspires and encourages Hellen to love her self enough to accept new love, and forgive the old. Hellen, who is well spoken, beautiful, and later becomes a fierce spirit, falls in love with a blue-collar Black Man who teachers her, through his existence, that she is worthy of proper love.

So, let’s review. In one film we have beautiful, talented Black girls, one even played by singer Tiffany Evans, a strong, hilarious foundational elder: Madea, a well spoken, well kept Black Woman who married within her community (Hellen), which so many of us complain about with interracial relations in film, an addict who gets clean and surrenders her life back to christ (Tamara Taylor), and a bunch of beautiful Black Women all shapes and sizes represented throughout the film and…Tyler hates Black Women? Not to mention, Tyler often casts incredibly attractive Black Men who often marry, love on, encourage, and lead Black Women in what it is they aspire to do. It’s literally what everyone complains about NOT seeing in today’s relationships. So, it’s strange to me that the majority of Tyler Perry films have this exact formula, but the understanding from some is that he hates Black Women? Where?

During Tyler Perry’s documentary; “Maxine’s Baby”, he stated it took him a while to find new motivation when his mother passed as his mother was his motivation. In the comment above, she used Tyler’s quote about him writing his Mother for years as a way to justify his character choices, of which she believes are flawed and full of disgust. She even used her being a Woman as a critical point in her fact checking as she assumed that Tyler has been; “working his shit out through his female characters from the beginning”. If I were to go through each of Tyler Perry films, you will not only see how Tyler absolutely evolves his female characters, but you will never see any trace of disgust, or a working of disdain for Women in his films, but what you will see is the evolution of Women who, yes, may end up down and out making their way to a better place, mentally, financially, or physically. However, they all, as Humans do, will struggle on that journey.

For every “bad” Black Male character, there is an exceptional one there to uplift, encourage, and inspire. For every Black Woman who’s gone through difficulty or lost it all, there are many around her to help her succeed, and she always finds peace in the end. Tyler Perry has never shown anything but love, understanding, support, and 3 dimensional characters for Black Women in most, if not all of his films, never once showing us like; “12 Years A Slave”, that we belong, yet again, in shackles, or like a “Chi-Raq” or “He Got Game” where Black Women were portrayed in a manner that sparked outrage around hyper sexualization and falsehood that withholding sex may stop violence. Or like several of John Singleton films where Black Women are loud-mouth, gum popping, eye rolling and often seen as unintelligent and or hyper sexualized bitches who live in the hood.

The point is. Even those films are valid too! Every writer and director has a right to make the film they want to make. We all have the right to critique it, but none of us have the right to be unfair, harsh, or hyperbolic. Grace is the point. Understanding is the point. Tyler Perry does not deserve your disdain, he deserves your constructive criticism, but don’t just stop at Tyler Perry, don’t just pile on Tyler Perry, have at it with every single director, writer, casting agent, Hollywood executive, actor, and producer out there because no film is perfect, and no project will have everything you like, that’s not the goal of filmmaking. The goal of filmmaking is to tell a story. Some stories we like, some we love, and some we dislike. The greatest thing about films, television shows, and entertainment overall is, the people.

We ain’t gotta watch that shit.