Madea's Got it Goin' On!

"TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S FAMILY REUNINON" is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. It's also one of the most melodramatic, preachiest, and holier than thou-est movies, too. But that's just fine with me.

Mr. Perry and his character Madea have bought chitlin's to the screen. Having started out writing and producing plays that would appeal to an audience predominantly made up of African-American Christian women, Mr. Perry knows his audience well. He knows what works, what makes them laugh, what makes them cry and above all, what puts their mostly ample bottoms in the seats. So, all of the 'Joseph Campbell/Writer's Journey/Robert Mckee Story Structure' rules and requirements can just back off. Mr. Perry's got the magic stick, and he's casting glorious spells.

Watching his films, "DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN" and "MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION" you are bombarded with issues, humour, music, big time melodrama, and an enormous, crazy, funny, dangerous Black grandmother known as Madea (a contraction of the southern endearment 'Mother Dear'.) This type of production strikes chords with it's audience of mostly working class women and men who turn to the Lord for comfort and salvation.


There are several archtypes in Mr. Perry's productions:
The 'New Woman' who had lost her way but is seeking to redeem herself by becoming and living a Christian doctrine which always includes no sex before marriage.
The 'Good Man' always a blue collar brother with rippling muscles and a killer smile, who is also a Christian and has to convince the woman through abstinence that he wants more than a slice of coochie pie.
The 'Villain' almost always rich, greedy and abusive to 'New Woman', this character is depraved and must be exposed for what he is - Dick Dastardly without the black cape, top hat and handlebar moustache.
The 'Bad Parent' who is the reason 'Good Woman' went bad in the first place. This character has made awful decisions usually because of how she was treated as a child and finally comes to her senses in a 'let the cycle be broken' denoument.
Then of course there is Madea, the no nonsense matriarch we all feared when we were younger, but look back on with fondness.
Also on the sidelines are the greek chorus which includes Madea's flatulent brother, the only one who can stand up to her, a bunch of horny old men, and the kitchen clotch of old women who sweat wisdom and smell of bacon grease & yellow cake.

"Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion" opened without screenings for critics. This usually means the studio thinks the movie is a turkey and wants to get the unassuming butts into the seat over the first weekend before the film can be panned by critics on Monday. This time, I think it was a smart move.

When "Diaray of a Mad Black Woman" opened last year, the critics lambasted it, saying the movie was a mish-mash of styles and genres, confusing and inept. Well, Mr. Perry got the last laugh when his movie opened to over 22 million dollars at the box office and went on to generate more than 50 million. And when it came out on DVD, it sold 2.4 million copies the first week - HELLO!!! Why open a movie for critics who don't get it, when the audience does? This film is ethno-specific, it's going to the heart of an audience White critics can't affect or understand.

This is not a new phenomena. India has their booming, wildly successful "Bollywood" films that appeal directly to their culture. Latinos have "novelas" that have just as many archetypical characters and storylines as Madea's stories, and they are just as popular.

It's funny, but not unexepected, how Hollywood is now jumping on the novela bandwagon and have yet to realize they are riding ass backwards. They have set about watering down the genre to make it appeal to the widest demographic possible, (meaning White people) and they are hiring writers they are comfortable with, like Jackie Collins, to create the stories.

The first test will be "Ugly Betty" taken from one of the most popular novelas, "Betty la Fea." Even though it is being produced by Salma Hyek, I can't wait to see how they water it down, sanitize it and watch it go down the tubes. They don't get it. Still, it's won't be the first time they've raided the vaults of another culture and put their self-satisfied versions out for the mass media, giving nothing back to the culture or community they stole from. Havemercy don't let me go there!

One of the most wonderful things about watching "TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION" is how many times you see his name at the beginning of the film. It's a co-production with Tyler Perry Films, written by, produced by, scored by, starring and directed by Tyler Perry! Hello! I know some of the millions have got to be going into this brother's pockets and I'm happy for him. He has learned through his own drive, mistakes and triumphs what works for his audience, and if Hollywood wants to share in the bounty, they have to take a backseat to him. Good for you, brotha, good for you!

Still, by Monday morning when the box office results come in, and Madea is at the top of the heap again, the leeches in the studio offices will be looking for away to tap into that bounty and cut out the middle man. They will hire some of their "approved" Black writers with the intention of constant intervention, and get them started working on a story with their eyes targeted toward a larger market. Therefore they will insist on storylines that include White characters and everyone will have to be politically correct (no whipping children the way Madea does!) They will hire Queen Latifah to play the lead and come up with another hot steaming pile of cow dung like BEAUTY SHOP! And the the target wider audience and the original Black audience will smell the funk of inauthenticity, and stay away in droves! LOL They think they know everything, but they don't know what Mr. Perry knows, and that is HIS audience.

Black, white, brown, green, or whatever, get off your butts and go pay a visit to Madea. If you're out of the circle, you may not get all the jokes and innuendo, but you will most definitely be entertained.