madea goes to the bank...
so, i went ahead and saw madea this weekend. i'm hosting a panel on black film archetypes this week, so the film is actually timely. i, as you've read before, have mixed feelings about tyler and his productions. on one hand, i respect his business sense and his ambition. on the other, i am disappointed in some of the choices made in terms of his content.'madea goes to jail' is not awful. if you've seen any of the other madea movies, it pretty much follows the same formula. the one striking thing about this film though, is the tone. in the past, his films seem to jump from melodrama to comedy in a way that makes me feel that two different movies are combined into one. this film follows the same formula, but it's even more jarring than the previous efforts.
jumping back and forth between madea shuffling and the prostitution, rape and drug addiction subplot was too much. in previous efforts, the dramatic components were so weak, that you could almost ignore them. in this film, derek luke, viola and lil' rudy huxtable give great performances adding some depth to the film. you end up sitting there wondering why viola and madea are in the same movie.
'madea's family reunion' dealt with domestic violence and molestation, but those elements were so poorly written and acted that it was like watching 'generations.' it was almost easy to swallow jumping from a scene where a woman reveals that she was forced to have sex with her stepfather for her mother's personal gain, to a picnic scene where it seems that that revelation never happened.
dare i say it, this film was better written. at least the parts that involve real actors were written fairly well. it's almost like he cheapened the effort with madea's storyline. the truth is, the film really has NOTHING to do with madea going to jail. it wasn't even necessary except for...
we saw the box office receipts for 'daddy's little girls.' it didn't do well. madea wasn't in it. sure, madea wasn't in 'why did i get married', but janet jackson and jill scott were. two superstars.
the film made 41 million dollars this weekend. madea filled those seats. not viola davis, or derek luke, or even tyler perry for that matter.
i've read that tyler and oprah have joined together to promote lee daniels' film that won awards at sundance. folks are already talking an oscar nomination for mo'nique. when i see tyler participating in a film like this, it lets me know he's aware of the kind of work he's doing with his own films. it's almost like he's taking a carbon neutral approach to film.
you know what carbon neutrality is. you drive a gas guzzling tank as your personal vehicle, but then you plant a tree to offset the damage to the environment.
there's room for tyler. he has an audience. but will we never see black artistry in commercial film again? that isn't tyler's issue. he isn't the one buying films in hollywood. but really, are the days of a "do the right thing" just completely over? do black filmmakers have to go to dvd and the internet to get distribution? i think it's great that oprah and tyler are promoting lee daniels' fim, but they can't and shouldn't be expected to support EVERY black independent film.
where are we headed?
