Tyler Perry

If you do not know who he is without looking him up, you are probably a racist.

I should know......I only discovered him recently.

My point is not celebrity worship. It is cultural differences in America. I only recently discovered his body of work. He has been making record ratings and among the black community they drive his success in Plays, writing, and TV since the early 2000s. He has many critics, and Spike Lee is troubled by his stereotypical black characters, yet the black community drives amazing ratings while 9 out of 10 white people have never heard of this man or seen his comedic work. I do not listen to rap music. I do not watch black tv programs. With all the channels available I have routinely become insular and isolated to many aspects of the American culture. However, his body of work transcends just the black culture and reminds me of the southern culture of my growing up and the always present family conflicts within the context of good church going people acting quite the opposite. I think what I enjoy the most is the tensions in every family and discord. I do not know if his work will transcend his current base.

I saw one of his Madea movies but I just didn't think it was all that funny. I thought he did a good job playing a serious role as a lawyer in the movie Gone Girl.

I just didn't think it was all that funny.

I would agree. It definitely is a cultural difference as black audiences watch to Spike Lee's dismay. I saw a movie of her going to jail, and yes I laughed, but some parts seemed to be stereotypical buffoonery. This has been the target of his biggest black critics. All in all it was a new experience.

He is a talented well rounded actor. Enjoy watching him on talk shows.

2seaoat wrote:I just didn't think it was all that funny.

I would agree.  It definitely is a cultural difference as black audiences watch to Spike Lee's dismay.  I saw a movie of her going to jail, and yes I laughed, but some parts seemed to be stereotypical buffoonery.  This has been the target of his biggest black critics.   All in all it was a new experience.

I don't get any more laughs from Perry's films than I do from clips of Milton Berle from 70 years ago. I really enjoyed Spike Lee's first and third films but since then they have been spotty. It's obvious Lee has studied classic films. Not sure about Perry.

The Medea movies aren't my kind of thing, but I did pick up his Alex Cross movie on DVD not long ago. Haven't gotten around to watching it yet, but hopefully it'll be good.

My mom saw him do some live Medea stuff and was impressed.