Comments on: Class Solidarity and the Universality of Artistic Gesture

By: ceejeemcbeegee

ceejeemcbeegee — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:06:31 +0000

No.

Just… no.

Perry is NOT the right choice to make this flick. It probably couldn’t get made without his “clout”? Maybe. Flicks like Akeelah and the Bee lead me to believe otherwise. He employs a lot of Black folks who probably wouldn’t ever work? Yeah, but he pays them worse than any TV production company in history. He knows how to write Black women? ::blank stare:: Are you sure you’ve seen a Tyler Perry movie?

The bottom line is… Tyler Perry can’t write a decent screenplay and he can’t direct worth shit. I don’t mind if his production house foots the bill, but for GOD’S SAKE let someone else write the adaptation. And FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST please let someone else direct.

Talk about employing more Black people… how about you spread the wealth a little, hmmm TP? See, when you hire a qualified director, said director hires a cinematographer he trusts, and said cinematographer recommends a 1st AC and 2nd AC and so forth and so on. But when it’s just you doing it all, you take jobs away from experts who need the work, too.

As I said elsewhere, I can give you a list of Black female directors I’d rather see adapt this PHENOMENAL play… Kasi Lemons, Julie Dash, to start…

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:41:14 +0000

Not to be a total Tyler Perry apologist but…well, this white chick is going to be a Tyler Perry apologist for a sec here.

I don’t think there are nearly enough movies/tv shows that send the message that black women deserve love, fidelity, respect and a partnership of equals. Tyler Perry, for better or for worse, actively evangelizes that message, albeit in simplistic, cheesy, fairytale-ish way. His whole “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” attitude towards abusive relationships, playas and the breakdown of the family is worthwhile, IMHO. His first few plays also openly and unashamedly tackled the issue of child abuse at a time when it was not discussed in the black community. I don’t really like his movies, but I like the message he’s putting out there and given the way people respond to it, I think it’s clear he’s hitting a nerve and serving a purpose that no one else is.

That said, I don’t think he’s the right person to make “For Colored Girls.”

By: SarahMC

SarahMC — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:37:56 +0000

…on the other hand, I can see why this might be a case of – if he won’t do it, nobody will. It could be a positive thing, if the alternative is nothing at all.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:24:14 +0000

The problem is, mainstream movie studios have little interest in movies that feature marginalized groups. Movies that feature PoCs, or women always take a back seat to whatever film Brad Pitt is starring in. Now add the two together- a movie featuring black women- and the only way this movie is being made in the mainstream is by attaching a well-known successful director/actor to it.
This is the problem most minorities (including women) face. We must always find a compromise. We can get good representation, or more representation, but never both- and even getting just one takes a fight.

By: pedimd

pedimd — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:16:56 +0000

“Write what you know” does not equal write ONLY what you know. Why couldn’t an extremely talented white person write well and movingly about being a black girl in America? With enough talent, it could be just as deep and relevant as Zora Neale Hurston, just in a different way. Isn’t the artist’s role to imagine and transcend?

I can think of other good reasons that Tyler Perry shouldn’t direct, but I’m uncomfortable saying he shouldn’t direct solely because he’s not a woman of color.

By: Pilgrim Soul

Pilgrim Soul — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:13:40 +0000

Oooh, mischiefmanager, I shudder to think.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:07:05 +0000

I heard about this via FB, from a friend of mine who, as an African-American actress who works in film and tv as well as theatre, has a vested interest in this project. She was mortified, to say the least.

I’m with SarahMC; I don’t consider TP terribly lady-friendly. I almost wrote my dissertation about his early stuff–”gospel plays” AKA the “urban theatre circuit.” I also agree with mkp about his role vis-a-vis employing POC. I just wish he gave them better material.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:58:24 +0000

I remember being mortified, as a Jew, that Spielberg had the chutzpah to make that movie.

Think Perry will play all the parts?

By: cf4

cf4 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:45:48 +0000

You all might be too young to remember this, but in 1984 this EXACT discussion took place regarding the decision to have Steven Spielberg direct The Color Purple. And before you say “Tyler Perry is no Steven Spielberg”, consider that the Spielberg of 1984 was famous for Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, and Poltergeist. Anybody remember Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? The plucky Asian kid with the funny accent? The blonde damsel in distress whose only job was to scream “Indeeeeeee”? Yeah, Spielberg wasn’t viewed as having a great deal of sensitivity to minorities and/or women. But the movie turned out well and would’ve won Best Picture were it not for Robert Redford being dreamy.

But I digress. The point is that, as Spielberg learned, do your money-making movies FIRST so that you’ve got leeway to make arty stuff later. Like him or not, Tyler Perry is no dummy.

By: mkp-hearts-nyc

mkp-hearts-nyc — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:34:09 +0000

one of my college roommates introduced me to the Tyler Perry oevre (with Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which I think is a cut above most of the Madea-centric vehicles) and I think the stories of women in abusive or powerless relationships who rise above and rebuild themselves have merit. Also, I don’t think the benefits of employing POC in front of and behind the camera in a wide variety of roles (from the comic to the heroic) can be overstated – but they’re about as nuanced as the average romance novel. I’d much rather see a film like this in the hands of someone like Mira Nair (anyone see Mississipi Masala?)