Monday, October 26, 2009

Spike Lee ain't feeling Tyler Perry


Spike Lee had some words for Tyler Perry, check out this clip

Tyler's upset, but does Spike have a point?

Of course folks like Medea and House of Payne, but seriously, it's not cute.

For me, Perry's work is a bit too much. It's always, God will save that lonely and warned down woman with the country family with a crooked past.

And that statement about "people like this exist", yes they do, I just don't want to be reminded of that.

Thoughts?

11 comments:

Forbidden Light said...

Spike has a point, but I also see where Tyler is coming from.

Sometimes you have to coat pungent medicine with sugar...but then again there little nutritional value in Perry's work.

Daddy Squeeze Me! said...

Im having more thoughts than ever about there being no hope for black people. They are truly one fucked up race of people and its getting worse and worse and worse. They loooooove madea. Just loooooooove it. They go to see her act up and ive seen so many black grandmothers that just love calling themselves the real life madea.



Its so discouraging to most because the rest really like behaving this way. Hollywood does not do a lot of black roles and there are hardly any black television shows......but Tyler Perry can change that....a whole show without the extra and brown and all that....but ....i guess he sees things differently and does not plan to change.

Prince Todd said...

LOL@people like this exist", yes they do, I just don't want to be reminded of that.

LMAO no you didn't! ROFL! I apologize but that had me CTFU!

Anyway, I agree. Tyler Perry is a hack who has found himself a legitimate hustle. I don't mind the idea of him telling these stories; however, his writing stinks. The plots are more transparent than saran wrap. The only reason that African Americans go and see his movies in droves is because we are so starved for "positive" images of ourselves that we'll fall for the okie doke...which is Tyler Perry.

Seriously, the scripts that Tyler Perry writes were probably concieved on his way to work. But why does he need to improve on his craft when he's doing gangbusters by playing on the sensibilities of old church going black women?

Like that last hot MESS he made, "I can do bad all by myself." That wasn't nothin but a Mary J. Blige/Gladys Knight concert. Perry just phoned that one in and still made a lot of money.

I agree with Spike COMPLETELY. Atleast Spike lee never sold his soul for box office. Spike has films that will stand the test of time. Perry is just gettin in where he can fit in.

Kyle Leach said...

V, Spike Lee has a very valid point.

I enjoy Perry's stage plays, but much of that has to do with the music and singing. I like his movies less, but I do still enjoy them. They are not substantial and they are based on very thin, often stereotypical material, like most films covering minorities.

I do like the fact that he has expanded the film market for a minority and perhaps he deserves more credit simply for doing that. I also feel like he creates a separate, but equal film system, much like the GLBT film industry has, which I'm not entirely sure is a good thing.

Stan said...

Yeah the god BS and religious crap really gets my goat!
How could people be that naive and fall for that shit?

Anonymous said...

I love me some Madea but it is becoming tooooo much! People are thinking that acting like that is actually a good think. It is not so hot.

WilsonW said...

Films are just like paintings, music or books. Lord knows there are many artists that I consider to be exceptional talents whose work speaks to me on a deep and meaningful level. Sad thing is that those artists very rarely sell a million plus copies. The same goes for artwork and movies and any number of mediums.

I may not like Madonna, but I gotta give it up to the woman. She is a master at what she does and knows how to work her craft and give her public what they want. And she's continued to do it for what seems like forever! I can't be mad at her because she doesn't use the sway she has to speak to issues that I think are important to me. That's my job.

While Spike may not care for what Tyler is doing. Tyler is not Spike, and he's not supposed to be. We all have unique voices. The people that Tyler reaches are different than the ones that Spike may. We don't need Tyler to be like Spike. We need even more unique voices from within the black community to come forward and give their visions of our community and what they've experienced.

If Spike doesn't like what Tyler is doing, that's fine. But then he just has to step up his game and get his vision out there more or help find and mentor African American voices that he belives in and thinks the community needs to hear. What does he accomplish by tearing down someone for not doing what "he" thinks they ought to be doing. While some may find his opinions valid in regards to Tyler. It's just that, his opinion.

Spike has the same opportunities that Tyler does. He could have a studio and lots just like Tyler does. He could create his own sitcoms, just like Tyler does. He could help produce and distribute movies like "Precious" like Tyler does. I think Tyler has a lot over the hill that we haven't seen yet. Precious being a good example. Because that feels like a movie that Spike would do. But now Tyler will be able to use his name to pull his audience(all dem church folk) into a movie that they may have never given the time of day before.

Spike himself knows how it feels to be hated and disregarded for the content of the movies he produces. Lest we forget the riots and things that arose from "Do The Right Thing." Or how much hoopla and hate was thrown about over School Daze. But I do believe that we definitely felt an evolution and growth in Spike's work that, for me, culminated with his movie "Malcolm X". I have yet to see that same growth in Tyler's material. I'm hoping he will take a page from Spike in regards to that.

But until then Spike needs to let the bitter grapes go and continue to do his own thang, which would be the "Right Thang!" The last few times it seems I've heard about Spike it's him criticizing how someone else is making movies, Clint Eastwood comes to mind. You keep making documentaries Spike, I'll keep watching them. (But you make another "Miracle at St. Anna" and I'll have some bad words for you myself!!! Whew!) Both of them have a lot to contribute so stop throwing poo across the aisle. We get enough of that from the rest of the world.

It's not like Tyler made "Soul Plane" if you need something to REALLY be mad about!! Now that was some damn "Coonery"!!!

Unknown said...

"It's not like Tyler made "Soul Plane" if you need something to REALLY be mad about!! Now that was some damn "Coonery"!!!"

Mighty Kwan, you made my night.

So Mr. Perry makes movies Church Ladies enjoy? I'll take ten TP movies over fifteen minutes of Lil's Wayne on SNL.

You want to pass judgement, judge those "artist" who have reduced the contibutions of Black culture to the "chunck cup".

Prince Todd said...

Why does Tyler need to make Soul Plane? House of Payne is syndicated and runs everyday on TBS

spatter said...

I blogged about this also, siding with Tyler Perry on this one. It's not that I expect Spike to agree with or even like Tyler's work, but I do expect him to be respectful in his criticism.

Let's remember that Tyler is not just Madea(who I enjoy) but also "Why Did I Get Married" and Spike is not just "Malcolm X"..,,he's also that trash called "Crooklyn". Tyler and Spike both make valuable contributions to black cinema. Spike Lee needs to climb down off his high horse and apologize to Tyler..

www.SPATTERBLOG.com

Lang said...

Lee's Miracle at Santa Anna came off like a corny Dizney film (It was a great story - it just didn't come off that well in film). What happened to the old Spike Lee with grit? Steven Spielberg ruined his Schindler's List with a soppy, Dizney like ending as if you have to explain things to dumb America. I liked the ending of Daniel Lee's Precious - just stated how it is. Monique and all the others were sublime. Perry, Lee, Daniels are all great in different ways but Daniels' film Precious was moving, unpretentious, uncompromising,and will probably revolutionize Hollywood, Bollidwood, and Blollywood. Lee and Perry can make films this great again - all they have to do is be their most authentic selves - the rest will follow.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.