Who died and made Perry President!?

Tyler Perry is a talented and well-known actor, director, etc. He has blown up the box office on numerous occasions with his movies from Madea and all of her hilarious appearances to the tear jerking story of Precious.  I recently read a post from another blog site (thecolorcurve.com) where the blogger discussed Tyler Perry, his productions and the impact he is having on the black community.  The article basically discussed how we (more specifically black America) has embraced Tyler Perry and his productions as one that strive for "a better black nation," but at the same time we have also made him the President of that nation.  He argued that because Tyler Perry's staple black films are so uncontested among other black directors in his genre, he has inadvertently established for himself a "monopoly" giving him to the power to hold the black image in his hand (to a certain degree.) Regardless of the fact that that his movies are successful in the box office year after year, and usually make a lot of people laugh, a lot of people are disturbed with the fact that Tyler Perry has this much power.  The blog made a very interesting point when it discussed how there are articulate black people who daily fight against the negative stereotypes that proceed them and refuse to play the role of "da dumb black person."  However, for every black lawyer or doctor that Tyler Perry presents, there are an equal amount, if not more, of "loud, ignorant and obnoxious" prostitutes, drug addicts or impoverished characters to compliment it.  This causes a sense of embarrassment for the individuals who combat this image.  The blog went on to state how because Tyler Perry has vertically integrated the production process, he basically runs his own show and doesn't necessarily have to answer to anybody.  Because he is has no real competition in the "family-romantic-comedy-drama" genre, he can pretty much release productions of whatever standard and expect to be successful.

A few things really stuck out to me after reading this blog; especially after seeing Tyler Perry's latest movie production "Why Did I Get Married Too" released just this past week.  When the blogger talked about how Tyler Perry keeps his production process "in house" on his 30-acre studio in Atlanta, GA and by doing so controls his outcomes, immediately I thought about vertical integration.  Vertical integration is when a company, etc. purchases different aspects of the production process so they do not need to pay for outside sources.  When I first learned about vertical integration, I thought it was a wonderful thing- the company is able to cut cost because they supply the necessary goods and services for themselves instead of buying them.  When the blog talked about how Tyler Perry was able to release 10 movies in 7 years because he shortcuts a large portion of normal film expenses, I began to see a virtuous characteristic of not being completely vertically integrated: checks and balances.  A checks and balances system works because it is, at least in part, a type of accountability.  It says that if a certain part of the production starts to slip, it will be "checked" by another part which in the end creates a balanced production.  Because Tyler Perry does not have any such system in place, he can produce films that mold the black image with no one to slow him down or raise flags.  When I saw his latest film "Why Did I Get Married Too," I was definitely offended to a certain degree. Though I laughed at certain parts, I had a big problem with how some of the characters were portrayed.  It seemed as though every upstanding black man, whether he be a lawyer, doctor or just good dude, at some point "snapped" and began yelling at his wife, putting his hands on his wife or even pouring liquor on his wife.  When I saw this, I thought about something else I had recently learned regarding familiar stereotypes.  Since black people have been allowed on the air, they have constantly struggled with gaining interest at the expense of their image.  Usually, instances like this occur when there are white people (typically males) controlling the majority of media.  I have a HUGE problem when Tyler Perry, who is esteemed so highly by much of America, even as one who holds the black image in the palm of his hands, puts his own race down and embarrasses them by enslaving them to those very stereotypes.  Maybe I am being overly critical, but I do not think one can fill a movie with stereotypical roles and have a 3 min. spin for a happy ending at the conclusion of the film and expect the ending to have the dominant impact.

What now America? What now black America? Should we join together and shun Tyler Perry so that he never has a successful movie production again? Or have him reprimanded for putting labels on the black men and women of America? If these actions are illogical, what actions should we take? Should we even take action? Or is there even a problem to begin with? Personally, I feel that Tyler Perry is a very talented artist.  He has a gift and has used his gift not only to be successful in the box office, but also create many job opportunities for [black] workers and actors, make an impact in the lives of underprivileged youth and donate millions to various organizations such as the NAACP.  However, he needs competition.  I believe Tyler Perry needs someone who will PUSH him and CHALLENGE him to step his game up and find a way to be funny and successful without it being at the expense of someone's image.  Would this be hard to do? Of course.  But it would be more more rewarding and it is definitely a plausible goal.

PLEASE share your comments with me! You can find the blog I am referring to throughout my blog at http://www.thecolorcurve.com/blog/theintel/the-problem-with-perry/    THANKS BLOGGERS!

Mike