This weekend another Tyler Perry movie, Why Did I Get Married Two premiered. I have seen most if not all of Perry’s films and in almost all of his films there is some form of domestic violence. It is either used as a comedic device or it is used by some long-suffering character who by virtue of that state has a right to inflict violence on another character. So I have come to call this Perry’s signature move. You know its going to creep into the film you just don’t know when. You also wonder how will the audience react? If it is the long suffering character doing it their actions are generally met with cheers. When you watch the audience you have to believe they really don’t recognize the actions they are witnessing as domestic violence, but why do I still go to Perry’s films? I go because Perry is the only black filmmaker making major films. Spike Lee was the guy in the 1980s, John Singleton was Mr. 90s, and Tyler Perry is our guy for the millennium. There ware really no options if you want to see films about the black experience. Perry has the clout to get a film made, and I used to say he could do so much more, but why should he. It is easy to criticize his work and say he should be doing more of this or that, but he is living his dream. He does not have to alter his dream to please any of us. He has a formula that works. This Saturday the theater was packed with black people who actually applauded at the end of the film. Perry’s films are dessert they are not meant to be nourishment, they are not meant to be thought-provoking they are simply meant to appeal to a niche market, and Perry knows what the people want, and he gives it to them. Spike Lee called Perry’s work “coonery and buffoonery’, but that is simply unfair. I go to see Tyler Perry films for one reason despite their flaws they do entertain.
