Tyler Perry Is Right and Spike Lee Is Wrong

When I first heard about Spike Lee's attacks on Tyler Perry's films as being on-screen coonery, taking us back to the days of Amos and Andy, I applauded. I'd seen the ads for Meet the Browns and "House of Payne" and found myself headed straight for the toilet. How black people could be portrayed this way in the 21st century, I had no idea.

But I then realized that I'd made the very same mistake I often accuse others of making: I'd judged the book by its cover, and I'd been running my mouth about something I didn't fully understand. Spike Lee might be doing the same thing to Tyler Perry himself.

Not long after hearing Spike Lee's first critique of Tyler Perry, I went to see some Tyler Perry films. I also watched episodes of "House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns." I can't say that I enjoy the TV shows very much, but I loved the films. I also got a better understanding of Tyler Perry while watching his movies and plays. As much as I thought that Perry was using a man in a dress to sell tickets, the truth is that he was also using a man in a dress to sell his ideas. When one watches Tyler Perry movies, you find that the films are far less about Madea (the man in a dress), and far more about lessons in life, love and spirit that affect us all.

What is also true is that even if Perry were not idealistic enough to care about enhancing our spirits, the reality is that he has every right to put comedic characters in to his scripts. The problem for blacks in media has never been that we are being cast as buffoons; the issue is that these are the only roles we get. Black people can be funny, happy, sad, angry, thuggish, intellectual, ambitious and righteous. We are all of those things, but Hollywood doesn't get that (anybody see the "Ghetto girl" in "Couple's Retreat"?). So, for us to presume that the solution for Hollywood is to cast every black person as a Malcolm X or W.E.B. Dubois is both illogical and unrealistic. The objective is for us to have as many diverse images to choose from as the white man down the hall.

So to say that Tyler Perry is somehow responsible for undermining the images of African Americans in media is like saying that the MTV Show "Jack Ass" makes all white people look stupid. While one might notice the image of Madea in Perry's films (who actually is pretty funny), they can also notice the many black doctors, lawyers, pastors, and businesswomen as well. So, I say this to Spike Lee: I love you brother, you know I do. But in this case, I encourage you to do the right thing and broaden your perspective. Tyler Perry is not the enemy - Hollywood is.