Tyler Perry's not letting anyone tell him which stories matter ... firing off a few shots at "highbrow negroes" ... who think only certain Black stories should be told.
via: The Root
Prolific filmmaker and billionaire mogul Tyler Perry is hearing all of y’alls comments about his films and his treatment of Black women as characters in his stories, and he is not playing around about his art.
In an interview with Keke Palmer on her “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast, Perry talked about his humble beginnings—from playing Madea on stage to becoming one of the most powerful Black men in Hollywood. But when Palmer brought up recent critiques about his film “Divorce in The Black,” Perry was frank and revealed a side of himself people don’t usually see in his interviews.
“If you let somebody talk you out of a place that God has put you in, you are going to find yourself in hell,” said Perry listening to criticism. He went on to say that he knows “for a fact” that what he is doing with his movies is “exactly what I am supposed to be doing.”
He added, “For everyone who is a critic, I have thousands of emails from people saying this changed my life ... So that is what is important.”
Perry explained that a large portion of his fans are disenfranchised and do not have access to resources like therapy, and their stories are often discounted.
“So you’ve got this ‘highbrow negro’ with his nose up looking at everything, and then you got people like where I come from who are grinders and really know what it’s like,” said Perry. “Who are you to say which Black story is important or should be told? Get outta here with that bulls—t.”
No one is saying that stories regarding black women shouldn't be told. What people are saying is that for someone who is one of the most influential and powerful moguls in black entertainment is that you should creatively diversify your portfolio.
Tyler has been giving a specific black audience Lifetime movie of the week quality films for over two decades, and if that's your niche then that's fine.
What people are saying is that tonally you continue to give audiences the same type of film. The only difference is you just swap out the actors and the wigs have gotten slightly better.
There's nothing wrong with hiring other writers and directors, and using your studio to create black horror, comedy, sci-fi and action movies.
Not all black people are interested in seeing their trauma repeatedly played out in cinematic form.
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