But Tyler Perry did work his ass off to get where he is…he rode in on the back of the huge popularity of the gospel play. He’s no dummy and he saw how many black women responded to that sort of message. He gave the majority of us exactly what we showed we wanted.

We’ve never spent the sort of money we spend on gospel play/Tyler Perry sort of stuff on colored girls sort of work.

So, looking at us as a monolith, it’s our own damn fault. But we are no monolith, there are voices of all types out there. There just isn’t enough of them. Money drifts toward those whose voices are the loudest.

P.S. If you write an AA niche book with religion, high drama, hot sex and touches of comedy in it…you got a niche bestseller, damn near guaranteed if it’s even halfway decent. Unlike the white Christian fiction niche which would froth, break out into a cold sweat and faint at many of our gospel books, we love some religion and sex and soap opera together.

I have mixed feelings about TP–on one hand, his movies and plays are funny, but on the other hand, I do recognize the concerns many people raise as well as having my own (much of his writing repeats itself because he uses it as catharsis rather than art). However, the one major thing I have to disagree with his detractors over are the claims that his popularity has made Hollywood want to make copies of him and only see his sort of movies/plays as the ONLY black narrative. Why does Spike Lee not get this rep? Or John Singleton? Both of whom had their stint as the “black voice” of Hollywood.

The industry is hard, yes, but I think much of the criticism falls in the same category as seen from black writers commenting on street lit–looking to the white majority to validate their voice. TP is where he is because he hustled his ass off–the same as street lit writers. And guess what? All the black writers in the history of American literature have hustled to get their work out there. It’s the nature of the entertainment game. Now, the colored girls play has been in existence for thirty odd years–there was nothing to stop any black female writer/producer/director from hustling to obtain the funding for the rights and production costs–especially since the play apparently has a major significance to black women–in the years between then and now. Mixed feelings are valid, so is criticism, but I can’t jump on the “why Tyler Perry?/Hollywood needs to stop turning to Tyler Perry as the only black filmmaker” bandwagon. It smacks of nothing but self-serving smugness and excuses.

I am so stealing this, Vanessa.

Ditto. I think it’s fantastic he’s accomplished what he has done, and at the same time given many great black actors/actress from yesteryear and new an upcoming ones great starring roles.

But the man wouldn’t know a nuance if it was tied to an anvil and dropped on his head. (He’d get the anvil, though, but the poor nuance would slide right off).

I have friends who are big fans of his work, but for me he’s just okay. His movies have their odd moments But they’re extremely uneven and *obvious*. Strictly wait for cable for me.