February 11, 2009
First of all, why was it so difficult for me to find a large enough photo of Tyler Perry’s Madea character online? That’s probably another discussion, and not one that I feel comfortable initiating. But what I wanted to get at is that I don’t understand the phenomenon behind Tyler Perry, and why anyone finds him to be a creative and/or ‘good’ filmmaker. I tried to watch one of these things once and I just sort of sat there, stonefaced, completely in awe of the material. It was not funny. It was not endearing. It was not interesting and quite frankly, it was not bearable. It’s impossible to leave race out of this because while I haven’t had a significant conversation about Tyler Perry or any of that genre’s other examples, I have at least overheard my (markedly and unavoidably) white friends discussing how they too have trouble understanding its appeal. Is it racist for me to simply not understand the humor behind Tyler Perry? I listen to, dissect and enjoy rap music in a similar way to rock, but ‘black’ film and television doesn’t make sense to me and it doesn’t resonate like a good hip-hop song does. Can someone explain this to me? Preferably someone who enjoys Tyler Perry’s work? UPDATE: In response to shiningstar, there are certainly exceptions to the rule. Where I believe programs like The Cosby Show (characterized by a wealthy black family living in a world better known by white people at the time) and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (which is essentially a slapstick-based bastardization of The Cosby Show) demonstrate the crossover potential of black TV, their placement as well as the inherent comedic methods of those shows represent something more universal than Perry’s shows do. Where prominent black filmmakers like Lee and Singleton use their product to bring race relations issues to light and—though Lee may not admit it—attempt to blur lines between white and black, I do believe that Tyler Perry might just be funny to a certain group of people, though I don’t know how else to categorize them as black, middle-class and moderately traditional in upbringing and practice. It’s not a bad thing, and I recognize its relation to so-called ‘black’ shows like those you mentioned, but there is a difference between black humor and white humor that either be embraced or ignored; and it appears to me that programs like this—and their white equivalents—do not possess that same crossover potential because of some cultural misunderstanding that I personally do not know how to describe. Also, I have seen plenty of black film as well, and I don’t think I was clear enough in saying that Tyler Perry is not necessarily the focus of my argument but rather a vehicle that is relevant to use when trying to explain that I don’t understand the genre.

First of all, why was it so difficult for me to find a large enough photo of Tyler Perry’s Madea character online? That’s probably another discussion, and not one that I feel comfortable initiating.

But what I wanted to get at is that I don’t understand the phenomenon behind Tyler Perry, and why anyone finds him to be a creative and/or ‘good’ filmmaker. I tried to watch one of these things once and I just sort of sat there, stonefaced, completely in awe of the material. It was not funny. It was not endearing. It was not interesting and quite frankly, it was not bearable.

It’s impossible to leave race out of this because while I haven’t had a significant conversation about Tyler Perry or any of that genre’s other examples, I have at least overheard my (markedly and unavoidably) white friends discussing how they too have trouble understanding its appeal.

Is it racist for me to simply not understand the humor behind Tyler Perry? I listen to, dissect and enjoy rap music in a similar way to rock, but ‘black’ film and television doesn’t make sense to me and it doesn’t resonate like a good hip-hop song does. Can someone explain this to me?

Preferably someone who enjoys Tyler Perry’s work?

UPDATE: In response to shiningstar, there are certainly exceptions to the rule. Where I believe programs like The Cosby Show (characterized by a wealthy black family living in a world better known by white people at the time) and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (which is essentially a slapstick-based bastardization of The Cosby Show) demonstrate the crossover potential of black TV, their placement as well as the inherent comedic methods of those shows represent something more universal than Perry’s shows do.

Where prominent black filmmakers like Lee and Singleton use their product to bring race relations issues to light and—though Lee may not admit it—attempt to blur lines between white and black, I do believe that Tyler Perry might just be funny to a certain group of people, though I don’t know how else to categorize them as black, middle-class and moderately traditional in upbringing and practice.

It’s not a bad thing, and I recognize its relation to so-called ‘black’ shows like those you mentioned, but there is a difference between black humor and white humor that either be embraced or ignored; and it appears to me that programs like this—and their white equivalents—do not possess that same crossover potential because of some cultural misunderstanding that I personally do not know how to describe.

Also, I have seen plenty of black film as well, and I don’t think I was clear enough in saying that Tyler Perry is not necessarily the focus of my argument but rather a vehicle that is relevant to use when trying to explain that I don’t understand the genre.

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