Just watched the Tyler Perry movie, For Colored Girls… and… well, that’s two and a quarter hours that I will not get back. What can I say? It was… well… a Tyler Perry movie. Aren’t they all? I have been watching Tyler Perry productions since he was a little known playwright/actor/drag queen back in the day. You see, back in the day, before his plays were strewn all over Wal-Mart and grocery store kiosks, before he was making cameo appearances on Star Trek movies, being made fun of on The Boondocks (season 3 episode 8 entitled Pause, it’s so funny and accurate it’s scary!) animated series, or denying rumors that he is gay (which we all pretty much know is just a denial and not a rumor), Mr. Perry was some crazy dude running around in drag as an old stereotypical Black American woman full of insults, street-wise advice, a bad temper, and the uncanny ability to misquote and thus misapply various Bible verses (oh yeah, she also carried a handgun in her purse). These plays would revolve around this ridiculous character, Madea, and her interactions with friends and family members who themselves were an assortment of buffoonish stereotypes and dimwitted caricatures of Black America. At this time, these plays were mainly obtainable only by viewing them on pirated DVD’s/VHS tapes—or as we say, “bootlegs.” Usually, a person’s first exposure to one of these plays was at a friend’s house. Yes, the first time you watch one of his plays you will laugh out loud at the combination of the silly dialogue, the simplified plot, and the assortment of exaggerated typecast Black American characters. The comedy in these productions is real—I’ll give him that. If anything, Tyler Perry IS funny. His plays (and his movies and TV shows for that matter) are filled with a bunch of slang using, gospel music singing, smart mouthed, jive talking, hair-weave shaking, teeth sucking, eye-rolling, Black women that are juxtaposed with your array of either fat, goofy, rock-headed, slow, dumb, Neanderthal-ish men or muscle clad, singing, smooth talking men who just happen to be draped in some tight spandex shirt, a “wife-beater,” or no shirt at all. Simply put, the depth of the characters and the material as a whole goes no further than the depth of a teaspoon. However, in this particular movie the only thing missing was the incessant gospel singing and the silly buffoonery displayed by Black American stereotypes. Yes, there were lots of hair weaves present too. Somewhere there is a corral of horses with nubs where their tails once were—poor things. Also, there are plenty of scenes where the men are conveniently shirtless.
The usual band of characters in Perry’s productions are:
1. the crazy uncle who does not know how to dress but thinks he is the epitome of fashion, all the while his highly inaccurate use of the English language and constant need for attention keeps him as being the butt of many jokes and insults
2. the assortment of overweight, loud, bad attitude driven Black women who always have something bad to say about men and of course can cook and sing, this stereotype can be seen in so many Black American films and is probably the most recognized one
3. the woman who has been hurt by her man and is usually rescued by some other guy who she spurns at first
4. the “uppity” black woman who has “made it”, by this I mean that she came from this family of dysfunction but one day got a job as a doctor, accountant, lawyer, etc. and now looks down upon her relatives and never surpasses any opportunity to show them how far from them she is
5. the other hurt woman—she is either a drug addict or alcoholic and many in the family are ashamed of her and don’t trust her, sometimes she tries to steal another family member’s or friend’s man
6. the crazy aunt—this woman is more of an attention junkie than the crazy uncle and stops at nothing to outdo him to get it, of course she, like most of the other Black women in these productions, she is loud, ignorant, and quick-tempered
7. the slick preacher occasionally shows up, he is an all-time favorite stereotypical character, he is supposed to be the source of piety and all things holy, yet he is crooked, corrupt, greedy, and always willing to give a “sister” private, hands-on ministry
8. the fat dumb husband is a staple in his productions, he is sometimes also played by the crazy uncle, but usually this guy serves as the butt of most jokes and can be found in front of the television eating the high caloric food prepared by his equally big wife, she talks down to him, insults him in front on everyone, and generally does all that she can to degrade him and other men—regardless of their worth
9. the abusive husband/boyfriend is another common character showing up within his plots, he is controlling, mean, and violent and is often confronted by one of the neck-rolling, finger snapping, weave shaking “sistas” or Madea herself, of course his victim is either rescued by the nice (often shirtless or tight shirt clad) guy who either just divorced his wife or is a widower
10. the cheater… this is a guy who like the abusive husband/boyfriend is another means Perry employs to victimize one of his stock female characters
11. Big Momma is similar to the aforementioned loud, negative dispositional, overly defensive Black women except that she is also a source of wisdom and sometime peacemaker, she is highly religious and is often the leader of the family because—of course—in Black families--the men are sorry, absentee, and weak, so Perry (a Black man himself) just reinforces this absurd idea by making Big Momma the authority figure and the glue that keeps these dysfunctional and otherwise fragmented families together
12. The village idiot sometimes makes appearances in his productions, most of the time it is a man (of course) who is never part of a serious scene, he is either mentally ill, hooked on drugs, or is old and suffering from bouts of senility—either way, none of these social conditions are really anything to laugh at when you think about it
13. The good guy is usually one of the main characters and rescues one of the hurt women who initially does not receive him very well because (of course) she has “trust issues” (such a cliché term nowadays—right?), he is patient with her constant rejection and in the end there is usually some melodramatic moment where they both reveal their feelings to one another with her finally collapsing in his arms, this guy is usually dark-skinned and muscle-bound in the plays where he also sings but in the movies he is usually light-skinned (i.e. Rick Fox and Shamar Moore), no matter what skin tone he possesses, he is always very handsome
14. The horny old lady is another funny character in his repertoire of rejects, she is an elderly woman who never misses an opportunity to flirt with any young buck with looks and/or money
Again, this collection of clowns is what usually makes up his productions—be they cinematic, theatrical, or on TV. Let me preface the rest of my piece by saying this: I am in no way “hatin’” on Mr. Perry. I love to see success stories. This guy built an empire by himself using his creativity, perseverance, and knowing when to make the right moves. I love the fact that this man, this Black American man, can stand as a testament of someone who used what they had to make their dreams come true—and some could argue he may have even surpassed them. I aint mad at him. I want him to make money, movies, and memories. He has found his niche—black women, gay men, and well… everyone in between. But personally, I am tired of his formula just being rehashed and served to us. It’s not that we keep eating chicken every night, it’s that we keep eating a different form of fried chicken—three times a day! This movie was actually adapted from a play written by Ntozake Shange in the mid 1970’s. Yes, this is a movie he actually didn’t write—however he directed, produced, and wrote the screenplay for it. Being a play that focuses on a bunch of hurting Black women who have been victimized by… guess who? Yep, a bunch of Black men; it was right up his alley. So, I guess he could not resist making this award winning play, which is about four decades old, into a film. Once you watch it or if you have already watched it, you will easily see why sometimes great plays don’t always translate into great movies—not even good or even watchable ones. But if anyone knows how to take a play, pandering to Black women by showcasing their victimization “issues” created by Black men, and make it into a movie--it’s Mr. Perry. Here's another interesting note; the play the movies is based on revolved around seven women. However, in this movie, there are nine women with "man issues." Perry didn't think seven was enough? He felt the need to kill us with his emotional overkill?
I am not going to rehash the plot here. I’m sure you are ready to get to the end of this piece anyway. I just want to go over a few things about the movie I did actually like and others I found interesting (not necessarily in a positive way). This movie like pretty much else everything he makes has a plethora of hurt, bitter Black women which are of course paired with your usual bunch of Black men with issues. These include a cheating liar, a married closeted homosexual, an abusive alcoholic veteran just home from the war, a child molesting father/grandfather (talked about but not pictured), a smooth talking rapist, and… I think that’s enough. In this one movie it’s like we get a feast of Tyler Perry subject matter. He must have gone crazy to have an opportunity to be involved in a movie that deals with all the major female victimization themes: rape, child molestation, teen-age pregnancy, abortion, a cheating partner, a cheating spouse, the man that beats his woman—and her children, the woman who uses tons of casual sex to cope, the extremely religious mother-figure who uses her holier-than-thou attitude to cover her own hypocrisy, the woman unable to have children because of an STD given to her from a past boyfriend, etc. etc. etc. I know—enough already! Yes, there’s more, but why continue? Yes, Mr. Perry tried to fit all this and more in the movie. It was like meshing all of his plays, TV shows, and movies that pander to Black women into one production. The movie is filled with a God awful amount of these teary-eyed dramatic moments where these women reminisce about their traumatic past or deal head on with equally horrific moments that scar them—to include a woman who gets infected with HIV from her secretly homosexual husband, a woman who witnesses her drunk boyfriend drop her two small children from a window to their deaths, a woman that gets brutally raped in her own home by a man she’s on a date with, and a teen-ager who decides to get an illegal abortion from alcoholic woman using whiskey to clean her instruments. Yes, there’s even more—but again, why go into it? To make matters worse, these scenes are all interrupted by these women quoting poetry that sounds like Shakespeare speaking gibberish. This “poetry” kills most of these touching moments and serves to further tarnish this ridiculous movie. OK, enough about that. I want to now analyze some of the dialogue that I found interesting.
Remember, the overarching theme of this movie is the victimization of (Black) women—by (Black) men. However, there are times when Perry seems to make these characters look at (but not quite examine) the concept of “personal responsibility”—yes ownership in terms of some of their problems. Here are a few examples:
In one scene, a middle aged lady, Juanita, who is ever chasing the man she knows is nothing but a liar, Frank, believes that he has left her for the same woman--again. At this point she becomes fed up and says, “Why do I keep doing this s*** to myself?” I like that part. Here Perry moves away from the usual “blame the Black man” game and points the finger where it belongs—the woman who has allowed Frank to continually mistreat her.
In another scene, far more serious, Gilda (the ever present matriarchal figure) has a serious talk with Tangie, the sex addict who has just had a confrontational meeting with her mother. In this scene, Gilda moves past the attitude that Tangie constantly gives her and tells her like it is—with a sense of tough love; “Sleepin with all these men. You think it’s just sex. It aint just sex honey--it all has a root. And you got to find that root—to pluck it.” I really love this particular scene because the truth here is so raw and universal. Everything in our lives, whether positive or negative, has a root or roots. We cannot just pick the fruits from the tree as a way of dealing with the issue. We must find the root of it all and “pluck it” in order to rid ourselves of the problem(s). But picking fruit is easy. All we have to do is reach up and pull. This is akin to dealing with our challenges by using quick fix (albeit temporary) solutions--because there are more fruit to pick. And even if you are able to pick them all—they’ll grow back. Only when you can uproot something, will it finally lose its power in your life. We just don’t want to put forth the effort to find the root. Finding the root takes digging, and digging, and more digging. We are afraid of what we will find as we sift through the dirt. But when we dig and reach that root, we can finally take control of our lives and not be subject to something else any longer. Here is true freedom.
Another scene of interest is the conversation had between Gilda and Crystal concerning the tragic murder of Crystal’s two young children by her boyfriend. Crystal is severely depressed and here is where Gilda gives her some straight talk about how to pick up the pieces and move on:
Crystal - “I tried to stop him…”
Gilda – “You had to stop him long before he got to that window.”
Crystal – “Are you saying this is my fault?”
Gilda – “You gonna have to take responsibility in some of this. How much of it you take is up to you, but you got to take some of it. Until you do, you just gonna be livin’ to die… I know it hurts, but you gotta get up from here… There’s too much life wrapped in your voice, you gotta get up from here.”
This is my favorite scene from the film for a number of reasons. First, this character is confronted with her part in the tragedy. Yes, her boyfriend killed the children. But she allowed him not only to beat her over and over again but also permitted the children to be exposed to this abuse. She knew he was mentally unstable and an alcoholic, yet, she continued to take care of him and make excuses for his behavior. Gilda was not trying to make her feel guilty. She was trying to help this poor woman move on with her life. No matter how terribly tragic an occurrence may be in our lives, we must realize that the world still spins and life goes on. What we do at the moment dictates whether we recover and grow or we wallow in self pity and die a slow death. The very thing that we usually want to avoid dealing with is our responsibility within an issue. People skip the initial step of taking responsibility and facing issues--then they get stuck there. You can’t move on without facing it. Facing it is the first step—and first steps can never be skipped. Fearing it, avoiding it, and drowning it in alcohol, casual sex, partying, drugs, or other risky behavior only temporarily submerges it. Over time is takes more liquor, more dope, and more random sex to numb you from what you see in the mirror. Fun and pleasure are no substitutes for therapy and healing. One is a natural process the other is a terrible alternative that in the end you will pay for with your health, sanity, and self-respect—even the respect of others that love you.
The next scene of interest takes place between a wife, Jo, and her secretly gay husband, Carl. She just found out he gave her a STD and confronts him about his sexual habits. She knew he liked men but kept quiet about it. She actually says, “I know I ignored everything in me to be with you.” It seems like here she takes ownership of her part, but later she rants on and on about how every man in her life was “sorry” and how apologies are now worthless to her—dragging her back into paying the victim card again. If she suspected her husband was gay, she should not have waited until he infected her with HIV to finally deal with the problem. This displays stupidity and stubbornness on her part—not love! A rather amusing line he says when she asks him if he is gay is when he outright denies being gay but then says, “I am a man that enjoys having sex with other men.” He continues on about his masculinity and manliness in spite of his homosexual desires. To me, this is rather ridiculous. That’s like me saying, “You know, I am not a thief. I do not steal. I just enjoy taking things that don’t belong to me and keeping them.” Or even better, “I am not a cheater. I do not cheat on you. I may have sex with other women, but I make love to you. See the difference? I am faithful to you. I just enjoy sexing other women.” Furthermore, this scene ends with another silly moment. Jo hands Carl her wedding ring and her HIV test results and says defiantly to him, “I want you gone and take your HIV with you!” Now how realistic is that?
Finally, there is the last scene when all these women with issues are gathered on a roof top and one of them says, “I am having so much fun and there is not a man around.” Wow! I was immediately irritated by the blatant last minute example anti-male bashing that Perry had to fit in here. I will end now. I am getting irritated again just recalling it.
In conclusion, I don’t think that Tyler Perry is a bad film maker. I rather enjoyed his films, The Family that Preys and Daddy’s Little Girls. These were excellent. I also liked Why Did I Get Married (although unlike those other two, this one really fit his usual plot mold). I just think that when I do decide to view something of his, I have been so inundated with his usual stuff, that I will approach it with a bit of skepticism. But Tyler, keep doing your thang boy!!!
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