It’s Like a Bad Date That Could’ve Been Better…

                I really want to love Tyler Perry movies. I do. I love that we have a brother in Hollywood, well…actually,  Atlanta, making moves and giving a lot of our favorite stars a lot of work. I really, really love Tyler Perry the man…but he’s gotta stop making movies for black women.

                I would even go so far as to say he should stop writing movies for women. Tyler Perry’s latest work, The Single Mom’s Club, could’ve been so much better. He had really, really good actresses in the lead parts. Hat’s off to Nia Long, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Zulay Henao, Cocoa Brown and Amy Smart for doing the best they could with such a horrendous script.  I wanted to feel something except anger and frustration with their characters. Each one of the parts was a canned formula that played on all of the worst stereotypes of black women but two were painted white and one was latina. Let’s see there’s a Mammy, a Sapphire, Goldigger, Jezebel and the all suffering yet saintly Madonna. See why it’s so frustrating? These women have been reduced to nothing but air. I love the actresses but their parts were terrible. 

                Shamefully, I now must skip all of the male characters because they pretty much are just there to embellish the flaws of the females. Tyler Perry, of course, takes the best male role for himself and, of course, he is the romantic interest of the Madonna character, played by Nia Long.  It’s almost physically painful to watch him try to pull off this part. What can I say? His wig was bad. His acting was bad. That surprise kiss he gave to Nia Long was really, really bad.  I don’t know. Without coming off as catty, I just wish someone else had played the part. Just like I wished someone else had played the lead in Good Deeds. Great cast, good story but …his ego ruined it. I wanted to cry.

                This is my suggestion.  It would be awesome if he hired a team of innovative and exciting screenwriters, maybe even have a contest open to the public like a contest or something to find them, to write ten new screenplays. They would vote to produce the top three and BOOM.  New material that women and men want to see on the big screen and it’ll be something everyone can enjoy.

                I mean, all jokes aside, we love the fact that Tyler Perry makes movies and gives good people, good jobs. But wouldn’t it be nice to see a good movie come from his company? Black people want something that we don’t watch due to some sense of warped black guilt. Heck, isn’t that what everyone wants from a movie, to enjoy it?

                I want the next date with this movie maker to go well. I fully expect to walk into a theater, buy my ticket to the next Tyler Perry film and walk out satisfied. If not, I will end our relationship.

On the spot.