Tyler Perry (un-vetoed)

Even if I had never made up the veto rule at all, my post on Tyler Perry probably would have been short, because I would not have wanted to write everything I actually think about the dude. But since some people (ahem, Sarah) apparently think it's cheating for me to exercise the veto rule, I'll give you pretty much exactly what you would have gotten without it.

Bear in mind, however, that I still reserve the right to veto. The challenge is watching the show, and I will still watch the show, even if I can't bring myself to write about it. I'll decide later if I still have two vetoes left, or just one, after this whole debacle.

Tyler Perry shot to fame because he dressed up as a fat black woman and parodied that character. It's not funny. I have never seen anything even mildly humorous in a Madea movie. I doubt I ever will. The dialogue is incredibly cheesy and ridiculous, and the plots are absurd. And not absurd in a good way.

Tyler Perry started to really take over the world when he made some other movies that were more serious, or at least were intended to be serious. But I laughed out loud quite a lot during the trailer for Why Did I Get Married? and it was never in the supposed comedic moments of the film. The thing was corny and trite and pandering.

Now, I realize that Tyler Perry's programming is meant for a certain audience, and that I definitely do not fit into that audience. It's truly unfortunate that, for whatever reason, black people can't be featured on shows and in movies to the same degree that white people are. But if I were black, I would be truly offended by the stuff Tyler Perry makes.

And here's why I feel I can speak a little bit to this issue: I am a lesbian. There are so, so many terrible, terrible lesbian movies out there. Go watch a movie called Go Fish. Or, for a more recent example, go try to sit through The Kids Are Alright, a movie which basically tells us that all women really just need a little cock in their lives to make things better or to get the attention of their partners.



But I appreciate shows and movies that just take lesbian characters and make them part of the fold. They don't need their own movie that preaches about what it means to be a lesbian. Just make a movie, put in a lesbian character, and shut up about it. The Kids Are Alright seemed like it was doing that, based on the trailer, but the movie took a disastrous turn.

Regardless, I would love to see Tyler Perry attempt that sort of thing. Make a television show, but don't make the main characters incredibly fat (and seemingly proud of it), and don't make one of them a drug-addicted, deadbeat mom. Spike Lee, amazingly, has the same sort of criticism, saying that on Tyler Perry's shows, "...the imaging is troubling and it harkens back to Amos 'n' Andy."

Tyler Perry and Oprah both latched on to Precious so that it could get the hype it rightly deserved before it came out. Good movie. But I find it disingenuous that Perry used the movie as an excuse to reveal his own abuse. The timing was just a little too good, you know? Get on board as a producer, knowing full well that you have an audience that will follow you anywhere, and then really hammer it home by letting them know that you, too, know what it's like to be abused. Clever move, Perry.

Also, Tyler? Stop putting your fucking name at the front of everything you do. Every single project you've ever made begins with "Tyler Perry's..." Okay. So I guess you were doing craft service, and locking up the sets as a production assistant, and running base camp, and designing and sewing the wardrobe, and dressing the sets, and editing the film. You know how hundreds of other people worked on your movies, too? Putting your name in front makes it seem like maybe you don't actually remember those people.

None of this explains what I saw on Oprah on Wednesday, except that I saw a man willing to use his abuse as another attempt to publicize his movie. Why else are he and Oprah doing their very special "200 abused men in the audience" episode on the same day that Perry's next movie comes out? Why not pick a different day, if you're really that interested only in helping all these people who have been abused? It looks incredibly self-serving otherwise, and it's just one more reason I don't think I will ever respect you.

Mostly, while on Oprah, Perry talked about his abuse. And it was sad. And I feel terrible that he had to go through it. Which is why I resisted writing about him, because now I just look like the chick who yelled at an abuse victim. But I refuse to ignore everything else about him that is infuriating, simply because he suffered as a child. He's a grown man now, and he claims to have learned and moved on, and even forgiven the people who hurt him. So although I'll probably take some flak for my opinions, I'm standing by them.

The end.