Tyler Perry Chitlin or Progressive?

by today's Urban Chameleon contributor

I still don't know how I feel about Tyler Perry. I can't even lie that brotha pissed me and my husband off so badly with the release Dairy of a Mad Black Woman. Just at the point where home-girl Kimberly Elise pushes Steve Harris into the bathtub from his wheelchair as I think I recall it--we got up and walked out. We were done. To this day still can't tell you how that movie ends. Now it might have something to do with the fact that we are totally those snooty people that just because we have a BFA in acting, performed every Shakespeare, Molière, Tennessee Williams and August Wilson play and have mastered the following articulation exercises three times fast:

Which wrist watch is the Swiss wrist watch, this wrist watch is the Swiss wrist watch,

Three free thugs set three thugs free,

Cinnamon, aluminum, linoleum,

Girl gargoyle, guy gargoyle

uuuhm yea, we don't play. I guarantee that you're not just shooting these exercises off at the tongue all like that my friend. Ok so maybe we're a little deep but to go from this serious and intense kind of acting training to watching Black people draaaaaaaag each other across the floor--- we were really on some Tyler Perry you chiltin' m*thafucka.

Then about a few years later we found our selves at the movies with no other choices other than a white boy comedy, an under whelming drama about white people or a Tyler Perry movie (interestingly enough same choices years later)-- we opted to watch Black people just 'cause sometimes you need a break from alllllllll the stories about white people. The Tyler Perry movie at the time was Why Did I Get Married and we actually were pleasantly surprised on some, "Ok Tyler, Ok." But then two weeks ago he fucked our heads up again after Netflixing Meet the Browns starring a miscast Angela Basset and that horrible Latino sidekick. We were back on some Tyler you chitlin' m*thafucka! Now you might say to us- two out of three stop hatin' on this Black man and move on from him if it's not your cup of tea but WHAT OTHER OPTIONS DO WE HAVE!? All the progressive and emerging Black filmmakers from the 90ties have either gone chitlin' (cough cough Eddie Murphy) or AWOL after years on the battlefield trying to convince Hollywood that there are other kinds of Black people besides drug dealers and basketball players. Eddie come back to us honey! Boomerang?! Coming To America?!

But then Tyler Perry flipped it back on us with the other Netflix movie in our queue , The Family That Preys. We were thoroughly impressed and had to commend him on actually showcasing four Black women four different ways in the same movie. Not to mention extra brownie points for not overwhelming us with the presence of church (Black people do actually sometime solve problems with out prayer- although yes we are very spiritual). So the verdict on Tyler Perry movies is we are staying away from the ones with Madea-- can't handle her, oh god and this latest one that stars Rudy from the Cosby's looks like an atrocity. I saw one shot of her in the trailer playing what appeared to be a hooker/crack head and said, "No." But if this it to mean that a progressive movie is to follow then I say bring on the chitlin' grease that the masses seems to like to bake more of the chicken that people like us can digest.

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