Since this is about the 4th venue in which I heard the charge recently that "THEY" are always dressing up Black males as women in order to emasculate Blake men - I thought that it was a good time to make note of this growing controversy.
It is clear, however, that "THEY" also includes "US" - particularly the Black Actor that agrees to put on the dress.
Yes, Madea is headed to the slammer, the joint, the cooler in "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail." And her arrival to lockup and to the multiplex is likely to be met with avid fan fondess and critical trepidation.
As popular images go, Madea (and the writer-director-actor's success with his bold creation) tends to vex folk schooled in spotting stereotypes, caricatures, buffoons.
One prominent African-American film director calls Perry's representations of black life the new, old version of blackface — a modern- day minstrel show. Ouch. Others take a more charitable view, still tinged with ambivalence.
Take, for instance, a snowy-night gathering of the Tattered Cover's race-dialogue group at the United Methodist Church in Park Hill. This month's challenge: the vertigo-inducing tango of popular culture and images.
"The thing that has frustrated me so much in our movies these days is black men playing oversized black women," said a soft-spoken member.
"By the time Eddie Murphy came out with 'Norbit,' I was ready to break the theater down.
"Why is that funny?"
3 comments:
Tyler Perry is not good. If Oprah endorses you you are without a doubt going to ride a wave of publicity. But unfortunately all Tyler Perry can do is perpetuate Black stereotypes, just like BET. I'm white and all I see is the perpetuation of black stereotypes by other black people, give me a damn break.
"Why is that funny?"
A better question is, "why do you keep buying tickets for something that isn't funny?"
I don't see the appeal either. But, I don't fund it. Perry does it because he makes a lot of money at it (and presumably enjoys doing it.) Lots of white actors spent a lot of time in drag -- Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, hell, the entire cast of Monty Python. (But at least MPFC was funny.)
There are excellent post.
Millionaire Maker
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