There I said it. I feel better getting that off of my chest.
What? I should elaborate? But if I don't, it would be my shortest post ever. Fine, fine.
I get what the guy does, and I even respect him for making his money. But at the same time, I just don't enjoy all of his work. To be fair, a good deal of his work floats around a genre that I don't particularly enjoy, either. You know the one. That hybrid, traveling comedy show/gospel musical that isn't entirely uplifting. Okay, so maybe it's not a hard and fast genre, but you know what I'm saying.
I completely understand that I'm going onto an island here. Given said shows' success and popularity (they have to make money, or else every second tier singer/actor wouldn't be part of them), I can only imagine that most people do enjoy them. Of course, one could argue that a good deal of Tyler Perry's initial success is based on people's desire to purchase bootlegs, but that's a separate topic altogether.
For me, it's a perfect storm of indifference. I don't really enjoy Madea as a character, so right off the bat we're in the hole. I've always found the "down home" humor that most of his stories carry to be just a hair away from taking a step backwards culturally, but that's just my personal feeling on that. Still, strike two. And then of course, if at any point in time your story(ies) work towards pointing out that either A) black men can be faulty or B) black women can be crazy... well, you've just lost me.
Just for the full devil's advocate on this one, I haven't been horrifically exposed to his work. I've seen a few stage shows, I watched most of Diary of a Mad Black Woman (which somehow made me a pissed off black man), and I somehow got dragged into watching a few episodes of House of Payne (which TBS swears that a ton of people are watching). Like I said, they have their moments, but they just don't grab me.
Which seems like a shame, because Tyler Perry sounds like he should be a cool enough guy. I guess he'll just have to settle for being a cool guy that works in a genre I don't enjoy. Yeah. That guy and all of his fame and money. I think he'll sleep okay at night.
2 comments:
I think Perry might be cool enough. I like the Medea character because it reminds me of someof the women I knew growing up, but not as broad. I don't think that a female could play something as over the top as he has, but if it feels good, I guess keep doing it.
Did I mention that Mr. Perry will be featured in a film he hasn't produced, directed, written or catered? He's in the new Star Trek film this Summer. I shite you not. There is your cool factor.
Yeah, I'd heard about the Star Trek thing. That should be interesting if only to see what it ends up being (I don't think he has that big of a part in it, though).
But like I said, he seesm like a cool enough guy. And enough other people like him that it doesn't really matter that I'm not his biggest fan. And much like my dislike of some things about comics worlds' EICs, I wouldn't exactly turn down a job if he offered me one. So clearly, it's not a heavy conviction of mine.
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