Tyler Perry and Spike Lee continue raging at each other over "Black" film
By David WarnerApril 20th, 2011, 12:54 pmComments (23)
The endless feud between filmmakers Tyler Perry and Spike Lee resurfaced yesterday, when Perry, fed up with criticism from Spike, exploded at a press conference. The two have been going at it since Lee attacked the Madea-series creator for producing work Spike described as "coonery and buffoonery." After years of downplaying the situation, Perry lashed out:
I'm so sick of hearing about damn Spike Lee. Spike can go straight to hell! You can print that. I am sick of him talking about me, I am sick of him saying, 'This is a coon, this is a buffoon.' I am sick of him talking about black people going to see movies.... Spike needs to shut the hell up!
Tyler Perry has a right to be angry — Lee is an asshole, sometimes, and often crosses the line. When you sift through the tough-talking, name-calling, and chest-puffing, there is an actual debate at heart, though. Through the years, "Black" movies, for the most part, have devolved into long "you-know-you're-from-the-hood-when" jokes, instead of, you know, actually using the African-American experience as a context for the movies' actual plot and message. I mean, movies like The Cookout, The Wash, etc. (I know you haven't seen them, but bear with me) don't even really have plots aside from "funny things black people do." And however smart Perry is in real life, his Madea movies do lean a little closer to that than to more substantial social commentary.
I think the two need to start an actual discourse about African-American cinema (if that should even be a distinct category), instead of arguing over the quality of Perry's work. Whether or not Perry is a good filmmaker compared to Lee, he has equal power in the media to change things. For the record, though, Perry is losing by a country mile. His Mrs. Doubtfire act is old. Plus, Robin Williams did it better — a sentence that will probably never be uttered about anything, ever again.
Commentarium (23 Comments)
Spike Lee also just loves stirring shit-remember when he sued Spike TV, claiming they infringed on his trademark?
Don't you get tired of seeing the same old six foot drag queen being the protrayed as something good. Just because it is profitable? The same plot line of strong black women overcoming the villianus black man. Same old thing every time. Somebody needs to make a comment. "Meet the Browns", stereotypical characters. Perry has so much talent, why keep selling the same plot line?
Probably because it continues to sell.
Tyler Perry's 'Madea' type work is not just exploitative: it's terrible. He should be embarrassed to attach his name to it.
Spike Lee, on the other hand, is just an outright racist, who can't seem to get past whatever racial slights he suffered in the 1980s. However, his politics didn't stop him doing the utterly insubstantial 'Inside Man' in 1996.
They're both as bad as each other, but at least Perry has 'Precious' on his resume in recent years; Lee hasn't done anything relevant since Malcolm X.
"They're both as bad as each other, but at least Perry has 'Precious' on his resume in recent years; Lee hasn't done anything relevant since Malcolm X."
*applause*
*applause*
1. Inside Man was 2006, and a pretty good movie
2. Lee has been relevant since Malcolm X; the 25th Hour, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anne, When the Levees Broke were all after and all very good.
3. Perry had almost no creative impact on Precious
hence, you're argument is invalid. take that!
Aren't opinions great? Everybody has his or her own unique one.
And for the record, I am not an argument, but thanks for playing!
No kidding.
Opinions are great. They should also be based in something. To say Spike Lee hasn't been relevant since the early 90s is patently false, Perry really DIDN'T have much creative influence on that movie, and Inside Man really was in 2006. Those are all facts. The fact that I made a grammatical error (that obviously didn't cloud your understanding) doesn't change the fact that you're not right.
No sweetie, you still don't get it. See, you can disagree with me, and state your reasons for doing so, that's fine. Encouraged in fact. But telling me my *opinion* is wrong is just ludicrous. I personally haven't found Spike Lee to be relevant since Malcolm X. I agreed with JD when he (or she, sorry) said as much. My opinion is based upon the fact that he hasn't crossed my own personal radar (except the occasional hate-filled rant) since MX. YMMV, that's fine. You obviously have a different set of parameters than I do. Great, everybody's different, it makes the world go round, let's all sing Kumbaya. But please, don't try to tell me that my OPINION is wrong.
You're absolutely correct; the fact that you made a grammatical error (as you put it) doesn't cloud my understanding of your statement. But it certainly clouds my opinion of you as a serious debater.
Wondering if Spike also thinks the Medea films are sexist? Don't see him complaining about that. I was a few years ago on a ferry between Trinidad and Tobago. I was one of the only Whites on the ship. They showed a Medea film during the trip. The audience was in absolute hysterics. I hear what Lee is saying, but the fact is that the audience for the Medea films are mostly Black. I don't think for a minute that they have internalized racist images. Can a working stiff laugh at the Honeymooners? It is a complicated question.
Spike doesn't see sex or anything else. All he cares about is skin color--specifically, BLACK skin color.
My issue with both of these guys is that they appear to be trying to make good "black-movies" as opposed to good movies that happen to star black people. But that's an issue I've had with a lot of people who try feature a black cast in the past 10 years or so. It's as if the fact that the cast doesn't look like the rest of the movies out there is supposed to be a gimmick. A selling point. Even thought Why Did I Get Married was pretty damn good, and not entirely set up on race.
Hell, for my money, Ice Cube's Are We There Yet did more to further the ever mythical "The Cause" than either of these two since you could have stuck anyone in those roles and the movies would have been just as awful and not culturally awkward. Now that's progress.
The Medea movies are for a particular segment of the population who may not be looking for plot and character development. I've seen a few of these films and the main conflict boils down to: hardworking people are the salt of the earth, and affluent people are out of touch with their race and themselves. Everyone must believe in God and have a spiritual center, or be lost and empty until they find God. There is never any nuanced characters with shades of gray everyone is either good or bad, rich or poor. Boring. He has created an empire being a transvestite and good for him, but it would be great if he could develop his storytelling and moviemaking abilities.
On a loosely related note, I am a former Borders employee and they shelved both Toni Morrison and that series called "Every Thug Needs a Lady" under African-American Fiction and it always irked me.
All I know is that when I watched "Do the Right Thing" in a mixed theather crowd, I was laughing half as much as some other members of the audience. I wish there had been "honkey cliff notes" for it, so I could have joined in the fun. So yes, I do believe there are such things as "black movies." And that's ok.
I'm not a fan of Spike Lee, but Tyler Perry is seriously making caricature films. And unfortunately that's made him a millionaire (thanks moviegoers), so he's going to keep doing it.
I have ALL my eggs in Spike's basket on this one. And I do think he's an asshole/used-to-be-brilliant filmmaker. Tyler Perry ought to be ASHAMED of himself. As a lifetime black filmgoer/screenwriter and film enthusiast I flinch every time I see an ad for a Tyler Perry so-called film. Sadly, he is laughing all the way to the bank on extreme mediocrity. Actually, to call his films mediocre is an insult to mediocre films.
The true question is "Why should we all talk about movies that we are not getting paid for? If you don't like him (Tyler Perry) ask your self why ......he never did any thing to anyone but make movies that do have and over the years have great hard working people of many different racial back grounds.. So, everyone needs to get a life and stop talking about others because yes, that do include me....we are not getting PAID FOR THIS....At the end of the day we are not to judge.....tp you keep doing your thing...no matter what others say......you keep my family of all race entertained.......
Stillstanding11, I'm confused, you only do things you get paid for? You won't have a discussion unless you get paid? BTW, your grammar sucks, maybe you should pay someone to tutor you in english "that do include me" As for the topic, Spike Lee is a racist, he doesn't like white people but tolerates those that agree with him or support him, he must have learned from that famous racist Jesse Jackson. I would love to see a white producer/director make a movie like the Madea movies, man than you'd hear every black person complain about racism and probably picket the movie, than burn down their own homes, gotta love that.
STOP BITCHING....IF YOU DON'T LIKE DON'T GO! IF YOU DO ENJOY IT AT THE END OF THE DAY TYLER AND SPIKE CAN CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY!!!!
I'm not a fan of Perry's films at all, but Lee lacks consistency in the quality of his films. After Malcolm X he hit the creative feature film wall. With the exception the documentaries (4 Little Girls and When the Levees Broke), where has his creativity been? Girl 6 sucked. It wasn't even quality to put on film. The 25th Hour was good directing, but could have been more solid. I say all this with love for the dude. He has to shut his mouth, stop going after Perry and Tarantino (n-word), and get back to focusing on the masterpieces that he is capable of. He's not too old either. Look at Eastwood.
Now you say something