Perhaps the multimedia producer Tyler Perry was a brutal White slave master in his past life. The reason for my tawdry assertion is that, for the life of me, I don’t know what on earth he has done to attract the ongoing vitriol and enmity he routinely catches from various segments of the Black community. Please feel free to correct me if you believe I am wrong. I don’t think there is a film producer in America or worldwide whose films, plays, and television programs are projected, dissected, objectified, personified, and vilified as much as Tyler Perry’s are.

A recent Black-orientated podcast, one of many that love to target Tyler Perry, debated and discussed the virtues and problems that supposedly haunt many of his projects. As I listened to the arguments, I concluded that much of the commentary was deeply rooted in subjectivity and personal life experiences as opposed to any genuine quantifiable or reliably objective analysis.

The Black blogger sphere and social media outlets are anything but safe spaces for Perry supporters. Rather, they contain densely acerbic, abrupt, brash, and fiercely hostile commentary where verbally jousting, roasting, and lambasting Perry is the norm. The arena serves as a reductive forum where detractors seldom forego an opportunity to employ and hurl raw, rabid, and ribald homophobic and other sorts of demeaning comments specifically targeting his sexuality, manhood, and anything else to prove they are the men that everyone thinks they are. Indeed, the recent lawsuit against the mega producer has whipped his most strident detractors into delirious spasms of euphoria. Remarks such as “I told you so,” “the truth is finally out,” and other assumptive commentary have dominated many segments of Black social media.

As it relates to Tyler Perry’s sexuality, I couldn’t care less! It is none of my business nor anyone else’s. Indeed, it is perverse schadenfreude. Then, of course, you have the supposedly racially conscious brothas and sistas who never miss an opportunity to hit those keyboards to levy searing critiques of Perry under the guise of keeping it real and Black consciousness. Indeed, when it comes to Tyler Perry, things can get quite HEAVY!

The indisputable truth is that throughout American history, media depictions of Black people have often been tainted, exaggerated, and mischaracterized. From the early years of the 20th century, the film industry has promoted retrograde stereotypes of Black people as juvenile, primitive, wanton, and animal-like. Uncle Remuses and Stephen Fetchit’s populated the silver screen. Later mid-20th century depictions of maids, butlers, and porters were a diminutive improvement. There were a few progressive images of Black masculinity and femininity during the 1950s–60s such as Sidney Poitier, Eartha Kitt, Leslie Uggams, James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll, and Lloyd Haynes, yet such images were few and far between.

By the late 60s and early to mid-70s, the Blaxploitation era dominated the world of Black cinema and much of Hollywood with movies such as Shaft, Foxy Brown, Cleopatra Jones, Superfly, and Blacula, with their indelible and unremitting images of pimps, thugs, prostitutes, sassy vixens, and drug dealers. Goodness only knows what impact such disturbingly culturally retrograde depictions of Black people had on a society that was still intensely hyper-segregated. In fact, this trend continued right up until the late 1990s.

Some of the most trenchant criticisms of Perry are.

· ·his films rehash the same old themes,

· ·his movies lack any level of growth,

· ·the Black women in his films are always suffering,

· ·he routinely promotes negative portrayals of Black people, and

· he emasculates Black men.

Indeed, more than a few Black people assert that our stories deserve telling with depth, dignity, and strength rather than with long-held, historically reinforced caricatures for tawdry laughs or predictable drama. Real, authentic storytelling doesn’t just display Black faces on screen - it humanizes us, challenges narratives, and uplifts our culture. People of color deserve a more dignified portrayal.

The fact is that Tyler Perry is a producer! Moreover, he has the right to produce and present the TYPE OF STORIES he chooses! An artist’s first priority is to be true to their own vision. For example, directors and producers such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Stephen Spielberg, Lee Daniels, Spike Lee, and the late Robert Altman each demonstrate distinctive styles and genres as they relate to the types of films they produce. It is interesting that you hardly ever hear anyone attack, criticize, denounce, nitpick, and complain that Scorsese, Spielberg, Altman, or Eastwood make films that portray violent rogues or tend to portray White men and women, Jews, Italians, and LGBTQ+ people as trauma-induced, overweight, intensely neurotic, uneducated, low-income individuals, and too elf and dwarf like (sarcasm for the last two examples). Let’s be honest. How many films have chronically portrayed Black people in the regressive manner that many of Perry’s detractors accuse him of doing? Why hasn’t there been the same identical level of ample criticism and outcry directed toward these White filmmakers?

Let’s not even get started on Madea! Lord knows I have never seen such an obsession over a character wearing a dress in my life! News flash! Tyler Perry is NOT the first man to wear a dress on screen! Others who did include Jonathan Winters, Flip Wilson (his character Geraldine Jones was wildly popular), Martin Lawrence as Sheneneh, Tom Hanks and the late Peter Scolari in the late 1970s ABC comedy Bosom Buddies, the late Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot, and Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. Audiences loved each of these characters, but Tyler Perry produces a female character, and all hell breaks loose! I could go on and on. My point is I find it odd that Perry has received heavy attention and criticism for pretty much everything and anything he does, while his critics seemingly remain silent on similar antics that others perform. With Tyler Perry, it seems to be a double standard! The situation is similar to the same jaundiced type of scrutiny Oprah Winfrey (a major Tyler Perry supporter) encountered when her critics looked for, conjured up and hurled any sort of criticism they could despite the rabid pettiness of the majority of their complaints.

I realize that none of us, including Tyler Perry, is above criticism. However, as I see it, the intense and ongoing vitriol directed toward Mr. Perry reflects JEALOUSY and PLAYA HATING! Let’s KEEP IT REAL! The crabs in the barrel syndrome is very much at play. Sad to say, there are quite a few Black folks (not all) who love to tear other Black people down. Perry is the real-life version of Horatio Alger. Born into abject poverty and a broken, dysfunctional home, Perry had an abusive father and survived homelessness. He has helped countless others, donates millions to various charities and other worthy causes, and has single-handedly made more Black people millionaires than any other person has. For many of his critics, he is living out their dreams right in front of their envious eyes. Additionally, many of his works hit too close to home for his critics. Rather than do some serious self-reflection, these naysayers have decided to project their own resentments and insecurities onto his work. My advice to them is to TAKE A GOOD LONG LOOK IN THE MIRROR!