Tyler Perry, who the hell are you?

[Adam Altmann]

Mr. P,

Your name is on every god-damned thing, and I have no idea who you are or what this should mean to me. I am not joking, sir. I see, hear, or am otherwise bombarded by Tyler Perry's Something-or-Other at least three times a day. That's three times more than just about everyone else.

Who are you? Why is your name on everything? I can only assume that "Tyler Perry's -" is meant to entice me in some way, but I'm afraid that's just not working out. I need frame of reference, additional information. Just what is it that you bring to the table?

Thanks.

[CLWheeljack]

He's a black transvestite movie / playwright.

Sort of.

[Sarkus]

Tyler Perry started out as a play writer who wrote stuff aimed at the African American community. He has since branched out to doing movies, with some popular recurring characters he plays himself, and those movies have done reasonably well among a wider audience and have consistently done better each time. They are basically family dramedy films.

His approach is somewhat formulaic, but it's a formula that appeals to a niche segment that doesn't feel that Hollywood does a lot for them.

[Tom Chick]

Dude, wrong forum. Tyler Perry is the lead singer of Aerosmith. Or is it Journey? I get confused.

-Tom

[kerzain]

For a couple weeks I wondered why anyone cared so much that the guy from Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyro's was making a movie.

[AndrewM]

I actually read a recent column over at The New Republic that is a good intro to who Tyler Perry is.

[Tyjenks]

I have tried to watch bits of his movies and TV series, but it was painfully unfunny to me. I mean, I am hearing the joke and relatively sure I am "getting it", but I am not seeing where it is much different than stuff that was done 15 or 20 years ago on sitcoms reflecting African American families. However, many sitcoms are formulaic reincarnations of 20 year old shows. Pretty sure, however, I skew outside of the target audience.

[Aleck]

Painfully unfunny pretty well describes how Mr. Perry strikes me, too. However, he's obviously got an audience.

[Bahimiron]

Honest question here. How many of those who have, thus far, made fun of Tyler Perry or indicated that they don't know who he is or think he is extremely unfunny are not black?

I think the guy's about as funny as a flat tire, but several of my black friends (especially the three from the south) think he's unbelievably funny. They say that his characters are just like people in their family and that the wacky situations are very familiar to them.

[Tyjenks]

Not black and I am sure that could be part of the problem. Culture differences and the like. And no, no one in my family is quite like that. It could be that sitcoms centered around white families are similarly unfunny due to the same cultural differences going the other way.

Trying to remember if I know of any black friends that liked Roseanne or Everybody Loves Raymond.

EDIT: That said, I know there have been sitcoms in the past centered around black families and cultures different than mine that I have found funny. Does Good Times or 227 count?

[alexlitel]

Union-buster.

[Hugin]

I'm Black. I've never seen a Tyler Perry movie or show, but I have seen a few other off-Broadway Black theater or "chitlin circuit" productions.

They're generally dramedies or melodramas, usually with gospel influenced musical numbers. They tend to be relatively social conservative, in that they usually tell a moralistic story about various temptations and bad choices that lead people away from, and eventually back to their families and churches and communities after various hardships and lessons learned. The humor is broad, the musical numbers are usually pretty kickass, in that Aretha Franklin or Patti LaBelle shock and awe kind of way. They're not subtle, but they can be emotionally genuine in a way that's effective, and a lot of talented black performers either started or went back to this kind of stuff.

They're not really my cup of tea, but they have value for a chuchgoing, conservative (in terms of personal habits more than political stances) working class-to-middle class black audience that is pretty underserved by mainstream Hollywood and Broadway. I reckon they're no worse than other broad family comedy fluff like My Big Fat Greek Wedding or Mamma Mia, and markedly better, frankly, than the kind of stuff other niche production houses are churning out for example, for hardcore white evangelicals, with their apocalyptic rapture porn.

I think it can be hard for some white people to really grasp how sometimes it feels like mainstream entertainment (which I and most other blacks consume in large amounts anyway) can veer between more or less ignoring the existence of black people and putting up images that middle aged middle class types just don't relate to much at all (gangstas and rappers). It also reminds me of just how badly 90 percent of mainstream media missed the point when Dave Chapelle decided to stop doing his show, when almost all the black people I talked to about it got it immediately.

[Alan Dunkin]

I thought everybody just knew him as being the admiral in Star Trek.

--- Alan

[Tyjenks]

I'm Black.

[snip]

I think it can be hard for some white people to really grasp how sometimes it feels like mainstream entertainment (which I and most other blacks consume in large amounts anyway) can veer between more or less ignoring the existence of black people and putting up images that middle aged middle class types just don't relate to much at all (gangstas and rappers). It also reminds me of just how badly 90 percent of mainstream media missed the point when Dave Chapelle decided to stop doing his show, when almost all the black people I talked to about it got it immediately.

Can you watch and report back? ;)

I completely see where you are coming from. Every time Friends would include some one episode character or a mailman or a cab driver that was black, I thought, "Man, this show is friggn' white". I wish I knew a good solution. Spmetime it seems gays have broken into mainstream media a bit more than African Americans. OF course, I am not gay, so I may be missing the boat on that one too.

There are good shows that try, but there is certainly never an even mix. Of course, should it be even or just broken down by percentage of the population. And where are the Mexicans?

I dunno, I really don't know what I think.

Wait, are you telling me all families do not resemble the Huxtables? ;)

[Cornbread]

It also reminds me of just how badly 90 percent of mainstream media missed the point when Dave Chapelle decided to stop doing his show, when almost all the black people I talked to about it got it immediately.

This is off topic but can you take a few moments to explain the Chapelle thing? I didn't really follow it at the time but I'd be interested to hear why he left all that money and fame on the table.

Tyler Perry seems like a genius to me. He identified his audience and he serves them something tasty several times a year in the form of movies and TV shows. TBS bought 100 episodes of that sitcom (the first one he made) at $2 million a pop. That's good business. His movies almost always open at number one and double their opening weekend box office before the run is over. They're don't do crazy numbers but they don't cost much either. The man makes money hand over fist. He's made enough money that he plans on buying a private island for his 40th birthday.

[Bahimiron]

Basically, Chapelle left because he realized that white people were laughing at him, not with him. Too much laughter, too often at the wrong part of the joke.

[Hugin]

Basically, Chapelle left because he realized that white people were laughing at him, not with him. Too much laughter, too often at the wrong part of the joke.

Yeah. He was really struggling with whether he was, on balance, revealing anything meaningful in his comedy, or whether he was just doing modern minstrel. He's a guy who could probably get into the kind of trouble psychologically and lifestyle-wise that many other hot comedians have gotten into over the years, and I think he just wanted to take a step back and think about what direction to take his life in.

[Moore]

Yeah. He was really struggling with whether he was, on balance, revealing anything meaningful in his comedy, or whether he was just doing modern minstrel. He's a guy who could probably get into the kind of trouble psychologically and lifestyle-wise that many other hot comedians have gotten into over the years, and I think he just wanted to take a step back and think about what direction to take his life in.

I think I read he lives pretty normally with his family in Ohio or some shit now. Good for him.

[nijimeijer]

I've watched most of his plays (on DVD) and the movies. The movies are pale shadows of the plays. The plays are primarily worth it for the comedy, not the drama (to me). I also, admittedly, fast forward all the singing bits.

Really, though, some of the recurring characters (Mr. Brown, Madea herhimself) are quite funny. The plays are worth it because a lot of what happens on stage is unscripted, the actors are really interacting a lot of the time, and they're not afraid to break character and just laugh when one or the other does something funny. They're very appealing in that regard.

That said, I've found the television shows and movies to be really, really poorly done. Without the spontaneity of the stage work, everything falls extremely flat.

[Adam Altmann]

Honest question here. How many of those who have, thus far, made fun of Tyler Perry or indicated that they don't know who he is or think he is extremely unfunny are not black?

I think the guy's about as funny as a flat tire, but several of my black friends (especially the three from the south) think he's unbelievably funny. They say that his characters are just like people in their family and that the wacky situations are very familiar to them.

I'm not black. I started the thread because dude's name is all over the place, and I had no idea who he was. I've seen one movie preview (over and over) with Madea in it, which I assumed was him, and which looked liked any Martin Lawrence or Eddie Murphy dude-dressed-up-like-a-fat-lady movie. I wondered why this particular guy has is name on everything where others do not.

The guy has got to be making money hand over fist, but shit, pace yourself! It seems like he's flooding his own market.

[madkevin]

Really, though, some of the recurring characters (Mr. Brown, Madea herhimself) are quite funny. The plays are worth it because a lot of what happens on stage is unscripted, the actors are really interacting a lot of the time, and they're not afraid to break character and just laugh when one or the other does something funny. They're very appealing in that regard.

No offense, but that sounds terrible. That sounds like a stage full of Horatio Sanzes.

[nijimeijer]

No offense, but that sounds terrible. That sounds like a stage full of Horatio Sanzes.

How would that offend me? :) I find it funny (sometimes), but that's what I like. People like what they like, heh. I'm never afraid to admit to my tastes, whether they're good or not. People telling me they disagree with my tastes doesn't offend me, and I'll may argue the point, but that's me arguing my opinion; I don't actually think someone else's opinion is necessarily wrong when it comes to personal taste.

For instance, I also love the movie The Convent (terrible terrible terrible horror film) and hate Napoleon Dynamite.

[CLWheeljack]

I've seen one movie preview (over and over) with Madea in it, which I assumed was him, and which looked liked any Martin Lawrence or Eddie Murphy dude-dressed-up-like-a-fat-lady movie. I wondered why this particular guy has is name on everything where others do not.

You may actually have seen many previews for many different movies with Madea in them. As people have stated, his material is all very similar, and he seems happy to have Madea show up in almost everything.

This impression may be skewed living in New York, there's enough small theaters and a large enough black population that we get full media blitz on everything he does.

[Major Icehole]

This is off topic but can you take a few moments to explain the Chapelle thing? I didn't really follow it at the time but I'd be interested to hear why he left all that money and fame on the table.

If you haven't already seen it I'd suggest to watch Bamboozled, a Spike Lee Joint, it'll give you some insight into some of Chappelle's motives for quitting the show.

[Argh Im A Pirate]

You cant watch BET for a day without seeing at least 3 of his shows. He even has a talk show now.

My wife is black, and shes all over it. So Iv seen a bit too.
Id agree that his plays are better then the movies, and for a sit com meet the browns has some funny parts.
He likes to have to completely seprate plots going on in his movies. I think he takes out a lot of the singing from the play, realises its only 45 minutes long now, and ends up writing a whole new movie then just throws them together.

In Madea goes to jail it will switch from ha ha funny, to "you left me with all this men and they raped me!' Didnt work for me.

Tho his latest movie 'I can do bad all by myself' was a lot better then his previous ones. It was a lot more focused.

[Bill Dungsroman]

Basically, Chapelle left because he realized that white people were laughing at him, not with him. Too much laughter, too often at the wrong part of the joke.

Not to start an utterly pointless argument, but FWIW not all of us were laughing at him! I thought he was funny as hell (I became addicted to his show after watching one episode at random, having never seen his standup nor films) and I always appreciated the way he seemed to convey that the viewers were always in on his jokes. It's a shame he thought otherwise over time.

I think part of it also (from what I have heard locally) was that standup had lost its thrill for him because all the audience did was yell catchphrases from his show over his routine. I mean what the fuck, really?

[Christien Murawski]

Not to start an utterly pointless argument, but FWIW not all of us were laughing at him! I thought he was funny as hell (I became addicted to his show after watching one episode at random, having never seen his standup nor films) and I always appreciated the way he seemed to convey that the viewers were always in on his jokes. It's a shame he thought otherwise over time.

This.

I think part of it also (from what I have heard locally) was that standup had lost its thrill for him because all the audience did was yell catchphrases from his show over his routine. I mean what the fuck, really?

I would imagine "I'm Rick James, Bitch" pretty much did it.


-xtien

[John Sansker]

Mr. P,

Your name is on every god-damned thing, and I have no idea who you are or what this should mean to me. I am not joking, sir. I see, hear, or am otherwise bombarded by Tyler Perry's Something-or-Other at least three times a day. That's three times more than just about everyone else.

Who are you? Why is your name on everything? I can only assume that "Tyler Perry's -" is meant to entice me in some way, but I'm afraid that's just not working out. I need frame of reference, additional information. Just what is it that you bring to the table?

Thanks.

Basically Tyler Perry is kinda like a new Eddie Murphy, but with only about 1/10000th the humor or talent.

[Nawid A]

From what I understand, Chappelle saw the cards on the table and just backed out. I don't think he did it because people laughed at him (maybe some stuff but not his general persona). He did it because that $50 million carried the guilt of being a catchphrase machine and selling out. I mean did you guys see the Lost Episodes? They're TERRIBLE. Except for a skit or two (the Tupac one comes to mind), if you watch those skits you kind of figure out that if we did get a S3 of the Chappelle Show, it wouldn't really be Chappelle's show.

[Ryan Markel]

From what I understand, Chappelle saw the cards on the table and just backed out. I don't think he did it because people laughed at him (maybe some stuff but not his general persona). He did it because that $50 million carried the guilt of being a catchphrase machine and selling out. I mean did you guys see the Lost Episodes? They're TERRIBLE. Except for a skit or two (the Tupac one comes to mind), if you watch those skits you kind of figure out that if we did get a S3 of the Chappelle Show, it wouldn't really be Chappelle's show.

It was all downhill from the Wayne Brady guest spot anyway.

"White people love Wayne Brady because Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X."