The feud between Tyler Perry and Spike Lee gets Ugly. Fed up with Spike Lee's criticisms, Perry says that "Spike Lee can go straight to hell".
Tyler Perry Spoke in Response to Spike Lee's attack
This is where the whole Spike Lee [thing] comes from -- the negativity, this is Stepin Fetchit, this is coonery, this is buffoonery, and they try to get people to get on this bandwagon with them, to get this mob mentality to come against what I'm doing. I've never seen Jewish people attack Seinfeld and say 'this is a stereotype,' I've never seen Italian people attack The Sopranos, I've never seen Jewish people complaining about Mrs. Doubtfire or Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. I never saw it. It's always black people, and this is something that I cannot undo. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois went through the exact same thing; Langston Hughes said that Zora Neale Hurston, the woman who wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God, was a new version of the darkie because she spoke in a southern dialect and a Southern tone.I was ready to go full throttle at Spike Lee. Not because I jump the gun on these types of things but because I was going by the typical arguments against Tyler Perry. Most people attack Tyler Perry in a broad way. They don't distinguish the many different ENERGIES his movies offer.
I am so glad that I put away my distaste for Medea and gave his other movies a chance. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the variance in characters his movies offer. I particularly like "The Family That Prey's Together", "Why did I Get Married" and "For Colored Girls". All of those movies had a array of characters and one did not overpower the other.
We all know that Medea overshadows everyone and everything. lol Just another case of a Black man dressing up like a Black woman and playing out his subconscious view of a Black woman's ENERGY.
Back to Tyler and Spike Lee
As I said I was ready to attack Spike Lee not only because I like some of Tyler Perry's movies but because I'm sick of Black men fighting each other. It seems like Black men cannot come together, but instead would rather succeed and brag about it.
Or in this case, if I thought Spike Lee was being unreasonable it would be another example of a Black man tearing down another when they obtain prestige.
However in this case Spike Lee is right. For those who don't understand, Spike Lee is not attacking Tyler Perry's movies so much, particularly outside of Medea. He's attacking his T.V. shows.
Yep, that's it! He's offended by his T.V. shows
And Gosh darn it! so am I
When I first saw a clip of each show, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the most stereotypical thing I've seen in a long time. Both shows have two loud, fat Black people. One of the shows even has a wig wearing sister who the brother in law cracks on.
House of Pain Video Clip
Meet The Browns Video Clip
Maybe these shows would be funny if they where old syndicated shows and not new ones created in this day and age. I only question how much Tyler Perry stands behind these shows. Are they simply designed to draw in money? It's fair to question that because T.V. is a different ball game then movies. When a movie is made it's made. On the other hand syndicated shows survive based on their ratings. A T.V. show can be canceled at any time.
This could have subconsciously caused Perry to lower his standards and stick to a formula that gets results. After-all Black people love and support Medea and his T.V. shows. This fact is yet another opportunity to realize that Black people are dividing more and more each year. Many Black people will speak out against Tyler Perry as if we are being attacked by some strange force. When in reality Black people are simply drawn to what represents their character and the character of those they know.
Of course I must end this article by saying, though Spike Lee has a point it's very disturbing to see Black men argue before the world when this race is not in a position of self-sufficiency. We need many Black people in the position of creating. We need many Black people who have economical power and we definitely need those who are willing to help give other Black people a chance to succeed as Tyler has. Men of other races come together and pool their strength and money in order to build. Black men seem to build turn around use what he has built to brag, destroy and feel a sense of dominance over his brother. It's no wonder we have not built our "Emerald City".
I will continue to ignore Tyler Perry's Medea movies, but I am always interested in seeing what he might come up with next. I like the power Tyler Perry has accumulated and the last thing I would due is try to destroy this despite my not agreeing with all that he does.
