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| Tyler Perry, must Black female empowerment come at the expense of Black men? |
This past Friday I went to see For Colored Girls. If you've been under a rock it's Tyler Perry's adaptation of Ntozake Shange's play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf". Let me preface this post by saying that I'm not a Tyler Perry fan but I don't hate him. In fact I appreciate his movies. My biggest beef with him is Madea, mainly because I don't find the character funny at all. But it seems like the thing for educated negros to do is hate Tyler Perry. Especially if you went to one of them fancy schools. I'm actually convinced that not everybody dislikes TP as much as they say they do, they just ride hard against him cuz that's what educated niggas are supposed to do. But that's another issue for another day. Let me also state that I'm not a movie critic/buff. I really just enjoy the experience of a movie theater. In fact my favorite movie is Mission Impossible:2 which also stars a main character from FCG: Thandie Newton. So take all of that into consideration as you read further.
Now on to the movie...
I actually thought this was Tyler Perry's best work to date. In contrast, I saw Madea's Family Reunion this weekend also. And if one were to deny the vast improvement in TP's work, they're either blind or a flat out hater (which are not mutually exclusive). My only real complaint with the film was that the poetic soliloquys kinda came off as bad acting. Sometimes TP tried to integrate them naturally into the scene and other times he didn't, the inconsistency wasn't that big of a deal if you knew it was a play adaptation, if you didn't well I imagine you were thrown off.
But this being Tyler Perry there was one thing that didn't change: He hates niggas!
I mean niggas as a colloquial term for Black men. (I'm sure those pro-black negros are gonna say something about me referring to them as niggas, but this is my blog, i do what i want!). No matter the film, TP will make sure there's a slew of no good niggas. I guess that makes sense considering his recent confession that he was molested and abused as a child. Sidenote: It seems like a lot of black stars were abused/molested as children, shit maybe i'll end up famous afterall! Ok so considering Tyler's affinity for casting ain't-shit niggas...For Colored Girls was right up his alley. One of the criticisms of the play and why it never blew up big time was the light in which it depicted black men. And if there's one thing Black folks won't stand for, it's picking on Black men. Somehow Tyler Perry has managed to make a career out of it. That has to be why he's cast so many attractive men who all happen to get naked to half-naked at some point in his films (with the exception of Precious), yanno to get the audience's mind on something else.
Watching For Colored Girls will definitely leave you hating black men and well the movie certainly has it's gripping moments. I knew it was going to be that way based on the nature of the play. But all the men in the movie weren't bad, there was after all Hill Harper. I liked his character, dude was the understanding yet strong man that Black women want right? So why the EFF did Kerry Washington have to go in on him in the final scenes? All the "colors" were gathered around in this final kumbaya moment (one of the few happy moments in the whole movie), then the queen of "sad shit is always happening to me- i made a whole acting career out of crying on screen" Kimberly Elise went and ruined it. But it was cool cuz yanno her dude was utterly reprehensible. But Kerry Washington who had the best man in the film was talking about the way he says sorry. So even though you might've wanted to leave the movie thinking all niggas aren't ain't-shit-niggas she has to go and sully Hill Harper... If Hill Harper were light-skinned this wouldn't have happened...cuz Lord knows Tyler Perry LOVES the light-skinned savior! That is all.
P.S. I wouldn't recommend going to see For Colored Girls in the middle of the day unless you're headed straight to a happy hour. Too many emotions to not be followed by at least 5 drinks.
Just curious (because lots of men are saying this)....does TP hate niggas...or does Paulette Williams (Ntozake Shange) hate niggas?
ReplyDeleteAlso do they collectively hate niggas because they chose to tell the stories that we don't always hear from women. Or the stories that, when we do hear, are in the context of a news report or a mother begging her daughter not to make the same mistakes that she made?
Just questions...
Not all niggas in TP films are bad, people seem to forget about The Family that Preys. All the black men in that movie were great. I think TP has an issue with SUCCESSFUL & RICH black men. All of his movies portray the blue collar black man (or latino man if you saw I Can Do Bad All By Myself w/ Taraji) as the savior for the successful black woman.
ReplyDeleteI think TP has issues with successful black people, period. He always makes the successful black woman an evil, heartless bitch that must be saved by the working man and Jesus. Even if she had Jesus before she met said working man, she can't truly have Jesus until her scruffy laborer with a terrible cornrow wig attached to his head comes in and shows her the way... but I digress.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm abnormal, but this film didn't leave me hating black men - it made me think about the things that women, especially black women, have gone through that is often overlooked... these things have happened to them at the hands of all kinds of men, NOT just black men, but maybe because I'm multiracial I think about this differently.
and on a side note: isn't Hill Harper lightskinned-ish? he's not that much browner than I am is he? lol
Shantel--since when are you brown? Knock it off lol
ReplyDeleteanyway. I am so proud of you, Jeremy!
wait. i guess i need to say something about this post/the movie....
I can definitely see how one can walk away from this movie thinking TP hates nig nags (you know i can't say that word!) and I agree with the contention. I'm sure it has something to do with his history of abuse/molestation/confusion when it comes to his own sexuality.
But to address a point Little Miss Living Out Loud made--I do not think Ms. Shange "hates niggas" and that one can even pose this question based on the movie is my beef. You walk away from the movie feeling like TP hates men and frankly feeling depressed. That is absolutely NOT the tone of the original play. You walk away from the play feeling uplifted and connected with other women. TP only used 40% of the play. What he took out was the pure bliss and joy of being and becoming a woman. What Ms. Shange merely suggested, TP beat you over the head with rather melodramatically. Sure, she mentioned men in a roundabout way, but they and their abuses were not the FOCUS of her work. That is one of the instances in which I think TP did the play a disservice.
I also think that a lot of people's issue with the movie has to do with the creative liberty that he took in making the movie which was an adaptation of the play. No it wasn't verbatim, and yes he made it a point to bring out the men that were mentioned in a roundabout way...but having faces along with the stories may have made them more personal for some of the audience.
ReplyDelete