I am not a fan of Tyler Perry and never have been. However, it is presumptuous on your part to assume that my dislike or non appreciation of him as a talent is due to some deep rooted black on black hatred. I am quite capable of liking and disliking any artist based on the quality and character of their works without it being deemed as, “hating” just because of skin color. I also find it disturbing that you are implying that because someone is black, we are automatically supposed to accept them and appreciate their works? And if we don’t then we hate our race? That is an communistic and leninistic mentality. You are implying that we do not have the luxury to make choices for ourselves to interpret art, music, and theater the way we see fit according to our own likes and dislikes. I do not love everything black simply because it’s black. If I do, then i am a product of conditioned collectivism. That simply means, I am conditioned to follow the leader. I normally see this type of behavior in religion. Your parents are Baptist so by default you’re Baptist and you never question it, you just go with it.

You speak of black and white issues. Racism requires pro active work. Social problems cannot solve themselves. It’s time for social change and social change first begins with, “perception” and how we as black people are perceived on the world stage. We are not in ancient Greece my brother, so your point of men playing a cast of alternative characters (male and female) is outdated and not applicable in 2009. The modern black film world as well as black stage has done more to lampoon and stereotype blacks whether it was whites in black face or blacks in black face during the Civil War. This behavior has evolved and has become what it is today. Minstrel shows have created black characters that displayed us as lazy, ignorant, buffoonish, trifling, easily frightened, superstitious and always ready to shuck, jive talk, and flat dance for a laugh. Not so far removed from Tyler Perry’s works. And I am supposed to support this form of black art? Give me 20 black films over the past 20 years and perhaps 15 of them involved gangs, gangsters, drugs, death, murder, food, infidelity, emasculation, or blacks just acting a fool.

Since you are discussing history, such black artist as Chuck Uwiji, Adrian Lester, Lennie James, Martina Laird, David, Oyelowo (in which I’m sure most blacks have never heard of including yourself) were all black Shakespearian actors that took center stage to perform some of the most dynamic and heart gripping performances you will ever see, and without the coonin and emasculation that typically takes place with Tyler Perry. Perry is no Spike Lee by any stretch of the imagination. Not all blacks share the same cultural upbringing as Perry suggest. He does not offer a broad scope of Afrocentrism but a very secular viewpoint of black people in this country and most of his secular views are dysfunctional in nature.

I feel that you have spent too much time creating a genre for Tyler Perry and finding a place for him that you ignore the very fact that he has help to dysfunctionalize black America in many of his films. Not to say that it translates into everyday black life, I won’t go that far to suggest that, but on film – he has not presented us historically in a memorable fashion. I am well aware of what a melodrama is and so you need not to copy and paste a long drawn out explanation of it from Wikipedia to prove your point to me! No one is debating the etymology and definition of the term. Nor is anyone debating if it’s an art form or not. Of course it is. You are arguing a point that was never an issue in the first place.

My problem with your response is that you feel that I am not free to choose what I like or dislike because I automatically should support black art whether it’s good, bad, negative, positive, practical, or impractical. Is this your argument? Not everything black is right for us my brother.

No one is denying his contributions to charity and not once did I speak on that. You seem to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel to justify his works. One has nothing to do with the other. I don’t enjoy Jay Z’s music. I think it’s demeaning to black women but I do respect the fact that he donated large sums of money to the families of 911. That doesn’t mean I have to support his art. And the moment us black people start thinking for ourselves without feeling obligated to support the next black person solely based on skin color, we will be one step closer to true independence. But if we keep allowing 88% of our thoughts and actions to be guided and misguided by the thoughts and actions of others, we will never evolve any higher than the next person.

If you enjoy Tyler Perry and you feel he is a great source of inspiration and you find no wrong in what he did, then more power to you. And by the way, I have spoken numerous times on the board about the legal aspects and ramifications of copyright infringement. Perhaps you failed to read those inputs? To the couple of people on here using the proverbial “Crabs in the Bucket” argument. Crabs are in the bucket because they are about to get cooked and eaten. Now if you don’t understand that – YOU look it up!

I think black people who just plain dislike Mr. Tyler Perry should ask themselves a deeper question. Has any white people ever did what Mr. Tyler Perry did and how did the Caucasian race perceive it? I have even a better question; do you hate your black race And/Or The Arts? So many people think it is so wrong for Mr. Tyler Perry to dress as a woman and portray a woman. This is where we do our research; in “Ancient Greek Theater”, all of the actors and playwrights were men, because women were not allowed to participate. Wow, I wonder did the people of Ancient Greek thought the where “stereotyping White Women”, or “emasculating” there women? Keep in mind in the first theater-plays ever, all characters where played by men. White people enjoy the theater; they support the theater, and were very entrained by it. Therefore, why as fans of black entertainment, when we enjoy something, our whole entire race get stereotype as, loving anything that makes us “shuck and jive, laugh and show our teeth”?

I think the type of plays and/or movies, Mr. Tyler Perry does are, The theatrical genre of “MELODRAMA”, Research time. In film, the term ‘melodrama’ denotes a subgenre of the drama film, which generally depends on stereotyped character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. Melodramatic films tend to use plots that appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience, often dealing with “crises of human emotion, failed romance or friendship, strained familial situations, tragedy, illness, neuroses, or emotional and physical hardship.” Film critics sometimes use the term “pejoratively to connote an UNREALISTIC, pathos-filled, campy tale of romance or domestic situations with stereotypical characters (often including a central female character) that would directly appeal to feminine audiences.

Wow, so Melodrama, is actual a TERM, a ART-FORM, and a TECHNIQUE, that began in the 18th century? Melodrama was a technique of combining spoken recitation with short pieces of accompanying music. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Pygmalion, with music by Horace Coignet, is generally regarded as the first example of the form. This was a monodrama, written for one actor in 1762 and first staged in Lyon in 1770.

(So Melodrama’s )
1. Generally depends on stereotyped character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. WOW

2. Melodramatic films tend to use plots that appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience, often dealing with
a. crises of human emotion,
b. failed romance or friendship,
c. strained familial situations,
d. tragedy,
e. illness,
f. neuroses,
g. or emotional and physical hardship.
B. In addition, all of this was going on way back in 1762, WOW.

So why as black when we do melodrama’s, it is not consider a art form, stereotyped are a part of melodrama’s, and we are not the only race and sure, not the first race to have done this art form before. So, why as a black race do we dislike this art form when no other race of people is complaining about this art form?

Now that you read my take on this, why when blacks do something, we are stereotype for doing something that white people do all the time. Blacks are taught Even if we invent something or discover something or keep a tradition alive, to feel ashamed of it. I have a saying about Blacks And Whites it goes like this. White will only stab you in the back if they can progress to that status, and black will stab you in the back even if they have no chance to get to that status.
Say you on a job, and a white person want a new position that just open up, but you have to have a bachelor degree, whites will stick together to help one another, get that position, if they are not qualified, but if both white have bachelor degrees then it is a doggie, doggie world to the top.
Black-People, and yes this is a stereotype, but so true, Say you on a job and you are black, and a new position comes available, and you need a bachelor degree, to even be consider for the position. What I find disturbing is, black people, will do and say anything to keep blacks from advancing even if someone only have a GED, no chance of getting the job, because you need a bachelor to be consider, black people will say and do anything to stop any other black person from advancing, not all but ALOT.

Bottom-line is Mr. Tyler Perry is providing a Form of entertainment, which is meant to be everything that it is, suppose to be. Oh, andone last point, as a community, Mr. Tyler Perry has done us a big favor by Donates $1 million to NAACP and $150k to Atl food banks. So blacks can go to college and read what is in hiding from us in the books and eat while we are reading those hidden things they try to hide from us, Yes people Read but Read more than what is convenient .

No family is perfect but damn! I know quite a few families that had some hard times, but nothing to the extreme that is always explicitly illustrated in his plays/sitcoms/movies.

Bottom line he should have received permission, therefore, suffer the consequences. Oh and I am sure, if the woman was still alive she would make another song… LOL! No Crabs in a Barrel, he just was caught with his pants down and now he has to pay the price.

Another thing that I get sick of Christians doing is playing the christian card in a situation like this. That is to say, they talk about how it is suing is not the Christian thing to do, how money is the “root of all evil”.

First of all, if you are going to point a finger at someone, remember that there are three others pointing back at you. Secondly, if you’re going to talk about what is the Christian thing to do, then you need to be incrimminating Perry for theft (“thou shall not steal” is one of the ten commandments–and anyone using someone’s property is just that, theft.) Also, stop misquoting the Bible. As 100th pointed out, it is the LOVE of money. It irks me how people pick and choose verses from the Bible to fit their needs or just don’t even have a clear understanding of the text.

The fact that other people use Bertha James’ song (or any other artist) in church is not the issue. Yes, there are several churches that do this, and some don’t even bother to purchase the actual music to the song. However, unless that church has a recording of that song–especially one that it is selling for profit–it would be hard to track down every single violation, as many people have pointed out. THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION IS BEING CONDONED! Thing of it people who sell illegal drugs: doesn’t mean that selling drugs is right because a bunch of other people are doing, does it?

Lastly, as I mentioned before, why does this have to be about black people pulling other black people down? Why is it that if there is a dispute amongst black folk, the rest of us get up in arms and call the complaintant a “hater” or “crab in a barrel”? Please! You are going to have to come better than that weak argument because this is about money and about doing the right thing. Why can’t people see past the issue of race–within our own community–and see things objectively?

Aside from Perry emasculating black men, stereotyping aged black women, creating the idea that most black families are dysfuntional . . . Perry has not done us as a community any favors. And his “Feel Good” movies are riddled with confusing pilfering (he will quote Mahalia Jackson in one breath and Lil Wayne in the next.)

Perry used Bertha James “entire” chorus, not just a line. Is that not wrong? When Biz Markie lifted Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Home Alone” as a sample, he got sued. Dr. Dre for “Addictive” was sued by an Indian music company because Dre didn’t go into a license agreement for the sample. Joe Satriani sued Coldplay for just using just his melody. Prince has been sued, Marilyn Manson has been sued, Lil Wayne, Trina, Redman, Eminem, Whitney Houstan, Public Enemy, Jim Jones and hundreds of others have all been sued for, “lifting” other people’s material. Why? Because it’s ILLEGAL people! And why we feel that Tyler Perry is beyond reproach and doesn’t deserve to be sued simply because you like him is ignorant and just damn goofy!

I agree with Amazon Honey, if you like Perry’s material and it puts a little love in your heart and makes you smile, then by all means – continue to enjoy it. But, don’t be so blinded by fandom that you can’t see that he should have protected himself. And protecting yourself involves getting permission. The man is not stupid, he’s a business man. He’s just gotten away with it up until now. Now, you will either see a decrease in song quoting in his movies or he will start applying for the copyrights.

Read my black people – READ!!!