tyler perry and spike lee drama

Hard to follow your argument here, and we will certainly have to agree to disagree about Dr. Hutchinson (the man is brilliant and has done A LOT of good in the field of education). Of course bigotry and discrimination will continue to exist in the minds of the ignorant for multiple reasons, what Dr. Hutchinson and others are saying is that we as a people should not glorify, support, or perpetuate negative stereotypes of Black people in any medium, because of the damage it can do to impressionable minds both within and without of the community.

And yes, some problems in the Black community ARE self-inflicted, and to uphold, and promote such behaviors is downright irresponsible and self-defeating.

That is exactly why many people have a HUGE problem with Tyler Perry, he is profiting from and perpetuating such stereotypes when he could be using his considerable resources to shape and promote a much brighter, intelligent, and uplifting message. We as a people need more "Cosby Shows" and less (preferably none at all) Amos and Andy cooning.

 

that lack of balance is not Tyler Perry's fault.

actually believe it or not there are those kinds of characters in Tyler Perry films and TV shows you just want to concentrate on the bad characters.

really...thats funny cuz alot black rapper tend to emulate Italian mafia criminals. Lets not forget young black men's fondness for Scarface. What about those negative influences or are we NOT going to demand that ethnic whites live up to a high standard?

is the issue a lack of balance or trying to eradicate all the negative imagery in black film and tv because one sounds doable and the other ridiculous.

and we're back to square one..

you still haven't seen the movie you're railing against. so you can't have an informed opinion on it. and what exactly is cooning in TP tv shows..name them specifically?

 

I agree with both of you gentlemen.

I've been a Spike fan forever and I enjoyed, "A Family That Preys" and "Why Did I Get Married" movies, but the Madea image and all of his shows comes with a price. He's enjoying be able to finally showcase his craft in a bigger forum, but I think when you're a part of a group who's constantly barraged with stereotypes, "I" think you have to take on more of a responsibility as to how your people are being showcased/viewed. With a such a platform, he can do so much more.

 

This author sums up exactly the kind of stereotypes and cooning I am referring to.


While Tyler Perry’s movies often do include positive messages, they also include their fair share of negative ones. In Tyler Perry’s movies, the black male is often the villain. He lies, he cheats, *sarcasm on *he even goes as far as sleeping with white women (for shame him!) *sarcasm off*. Professional black men are often only guided by material objects and work related goals, and often ignore their significant others. While Tyler Perry had lost me after “Daddy’s Little Girls,” I gave him another shot with “Why Did I Get Married?” only to see Jill Scott victimized by the “evil black man.” In “Daddy’s Little Girls” Idris Elba plays the good black man, however, the mother of his children leaves him for a drug dealer who makes more money (yet still sells drugs on the corner) and eventually forces his daughter to sell drugs for him at school. You later find out Idris’ character has a record. When he was younger he banged a white woman…who turned out to be an underage white girl. As a black person, I can definitely relate to this (not). The Madea character itself is an embarrassment. While these characters do exists in an environment that lacks black diversity (i.e. Keyshia Cole‘s mother Frankie), Hollywood — with the over exposure of these stereotypes and a lack of exposure of “other” types — paints a picture of African Americans to the general public which is clearly a misrepresentation. I won’t even go into the coonish behavior of Mr. Brown from “Meet the Browns.” I’ve seen enough of him in the commercials they air on TNT during basketball commercial breaks. I can’t imagine watching the show, however, *sarcasm on * I’m sure it features positive messages *sarcasm off*.

 

someone explain to me how medea is a cooning character when eddie murphy and martin lawrence and jamie foxx all had career making female/drag characters??

why is tyler perry the only one being singled out??

 

could you PLEASE STOP answering within my quotes its annoying separating out your response from mine.

you missed the point that those images those black people are emulating aren't black criminals but white ones... where's the criticism of that influence?

Okay..lets break this down...

Daddy's Little Girls - all this person sees in this film is a black man with a record and he decides to hold it against the character and the filmmaker.
1. there are black men (a lot of them) that have records and are working to do the right thing. And people tend to hold it against then no matter what they do..sound familiar?

2. Instead of seeing a black man who is doing the right thing by his daughters all you want to see is another nigga with a record..

Why Did I get Married - again viewing with blinders on...All you see is jill scott with an asshole husband but you overlook michael jai white whose wife was the ultimate bitch.. and the other two couples who weren't at those extremes..ALL were professional and middle class mind you but that seemed to slip past your observation.

and again with the complain of imbalance..its hollyoods fault..its tyler perry's fault..somehow its not the blck community's fault..you or someone pointed out how in the mid 80s to mid 90s there was more of a balance and now there isn't..well whose fault is that???

And mr brown is a buffoon in the strict definition of the word: from wiki -Strictly, a buffoon describes a "ridiculous, but nevertheless amusing person." In the more modern sense, the term is frequently used in a derogatory sense to describe someone considered foolish, or someone displaying inappropriately vulgar, bumbling or ridiculous behavior that is a source of general amusement.

 

rayer:rayer:rayer:rayer:

 

Might as well state the obvious...picking one character out of Spike Lee's career as a film maker doesnt get the job done. Spike's argument is that we need diversity. Its 2011 folks. That same old formula was done ad nauseam during that era that 99% of the public seems to forget about.... post slavery and pre Civil Rights era.

If you respect Tyler's art, you'll love this...

[YOUTUBE]rGrqW3nx5HM[/YOUTUBE]

 

Your argument here seems to be, that because TP sprinkles in what you believe (although we certainly disagree) to be somewhat positive portrayals amongst the proven NUMEROUS negative, stereotypical portrayals, usually casting Black men in the role of "evil doer, or buffoon"(glad to see you admit that Mr. Brown is in fact a buffoon, that's just what we need our youth to see on TV, yet another example of a Black man as court jester), that he is not at fault for the harm he does.

Simply put, either you are part of the solution or part of the problem, I have given you multiple examples of how TP perpetuates negative stereotypes rooted in centuries old bigotry. TP sells movies and TV shows that are the media equivalent to cheeseburgers and cigarettes, people may love them, but they are slowly doing them harm.

 

see i can do it too:yawinkle:

 

Hellified, more power to you but...oh well. Let's just say some battles are easier to win on other fronts and this forum is just not one of them. But know that most BM by far do like Tyler's work. My man has taken me to see all of Tyler's movies. He absolutely love his work and I do too. I will never understand the haters but I am glad there's few of them in comparision to the millions who love and admire Tyler Perry.

[HDYT]2C2BBIQ62qM[/HDYT]​

 

I agree the TP (toilet paper) tends to throw BM under the bus to cater to BW

 

Have you seen all of his movies? My sweetheart has never come away with that ideology. But when he watched Jungle Fever some years ago, he did feel that black men were depicted as sex beast out of control. To him that was buffoonery in it's purest definition. I guess it's all in how you look at a thing. I simply don't believe that Tyler is attempting to bring division of any kind within the black race.

 

show and prove

 

no but spike lee is

 

We are clearly going in circles, I have given you plenty of proof of negative stereotypes perpetuated in his various productions, you feel differently and believe his productions are worthwhile. It seems we will not find common ground on this issue. Hopefully you too are an example of excellence and are working to breakdown negative stereotypes within your sphere of influence, perhaps where we can agree, is that doing so is important.

 

I don't think Tyler Perry is a particularly good filmmaker but I don't see any reason to make him public enemy number one. If you don't like what he does because you think its bad..fine. But its not cool or fair to brand him as some kind of enemy of the (black) state.

Does black cinema need more diversity..sure. Is it up to Tyler perry solely to provide that diversity..no. Just as he made it it shows that ANYONE can make it.

 

"New Rule: Tyler Perry has to just go ahead and have the surgery".- Bill Maher