Things were very awkward at NBC Unversial when Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien started making swipes at each other (but mostly at their common employer). And now things are just as awkward at Turner Broadcasting, where Aaron McGruder, creator of the animated show The Boondocks on Cartoon Network, has taken on Tyler Perry, the creator of two TBS scripted shows (House of Payne and Meet the Browns).
Perry is furious with McGruder! He’s angry at Turner! He’s thinking about suing!
All because The Boondocks featured a cross-dressing religious character named Winston Jerome, and Perry thought the character might somehow, possibly, just maybe be based on him. (It was.)
After seeing the spot, Perry got on the phone with Turner to complain and go off about how he might have to “rethink” his relationship with the company, says the LA Times.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
In all likelihood, everybody will calm down, Perry will return to this closet, McGruder will be given a slap on the wrist, and the episode “Pause” will never re-air on any Turner network ever.
Hilarious
Well I don’t understand why people attack Perry’s sexuality first and foremost. Are you psychic? Seems like the same homophobic comments people aim at us coming from gays and people who claim to be gay friendly.
Since when is being closeted a crime?
Now that that’s out of the way I find both Perry and McGruder to be rather homophobic. One episode or two I’d write his gay comedy off as satire, but this has been happening every single season. Perry also had a very homophobic episode of The House of Payne that I couldn’t even sit through.
So since they both seem like homophobes to me I’m going to side with Perry just because McGruder really does seem like an immature sack of shit judging by the Boondocks. His little cartoon serves no purpose, takes very biting jabs at black men who fought tooth and nail to get where they are today, and throws opinion around as fact through the rather obnoxious character Huey.
McGruder’s obvious self-hatred shouldn’t be given a platform to air itself.
While Perry seems to think gay men are light in the loafers he isn’t throwing that opinion in my face in everything he does. In fact I’ve really only seen it once from him. He also doesn’t bash other people into the ground at every turn. I really don’t even understand why anyone rides him so hard. I’m no big fan of his work, but he worked hard to get where he is, and I don’t understand why so many are trying to tear the man down. Don’t like his stuff? Then stop going to see it every time it comes out. Simple as that. The people who ride him the hardest are the first ones in line for tickets to say how terrible and unoriginal his work is. Give me a break.
dellisonly
Please remember that imitation is the sincerest form of………… Who am I kidding?!?! Tyler Perry needs to be honest with the world and honest with himself. That does not mean he can’t still make his boring cookie cutter movies. After-all art is about exploring the human condition. Even if it is from a self hating perspective.
Syl
How does he keep making movies? Are black audiences really that stupid and/or desperate for “black” movies that they’ll watch Perry’s drivel?
OrchidIslander
@Syl: Now there’s a comment entirely without merit and without any thought whatsoever. While Perry is not exactly Academy material, would you really like to compare all the “drivel” movies made by/and for whites – to the relatively paltry few made by/and for blacks? I’d match you a racial based suctard movie to suctard movie. Who would win would be a no-brainer; exactly like your comment.
Hilarious
Wow, silly McGruder fans thumbing down comments without absorbing the message.
He’s laughing at you, not with you. He makes fun of gay men regularly. It’s not satire.
When no homo becomes “pause” and all the straight men watching the show start mocking you even harder than they are now remember you support that bullshit.
You can flip the fuck out because Family Guy poked fun at transgender people, but McGruder gets a pass for multiple seasons digging at anything even remotely gay because?
Feel free to tell me what the hell his show is even about anymore. The first season tried to have a message, but in my opinion it fell very flat. McGruder speaks about things he knows nothing about and it’s obvious to anyone black watching his show who doesn’t harbor self-hatred.
Watching the show it’s very clear that anyone who’s black and doesn’t act exactly like Huey is beneath him. You can’t have brown skin and be yourself according to McGruder, that’s the message of his show, and that’s why it’s a bunch of bullshit.
Ask yourself why no other “race” has to worry about the garbage he puts on his show. If you watch BET you’re an N-word, if you’re married to a white woman you’re an Uncle Tom(and if you think he named the man Tom for no reason you’re a jackass), and anyone black who has problems in America deserves to be spat on.
Oddly enough my reality fails to appear on his show at all. I’m a black male from a wealthy family, I don’t watch BET, I don’t have N-word moments, and I’m not what he would call a “sell-out”. Where do I fit into his show? Oh that’s right I don’t exist, because according to him black people only fall into one of three molds. Huey, sell-outs, or N-words.
Keep sucking McGruder’s dick, it’s rather amusing because he’s spitting on you too for being gay.
Next time you think about showing affection to another man you better “pause”.
Oh yeah but I forgot Perry’s the devil because he’s religious. Nevermind that he’s not the one spreading hateful messages about you or anyone else.
David Ehrenstein
@dellisonly: ”
Tyler Perry needs to be honest with the world and honest with himself.”
Yeah like that’s gonna happen.
Taylor Siluwé
No. 5 HILARIOUS
Unfortunately, I have to agree with everything you said. I’ve loved both men and their work for a long time; but sadly, after allowing certain annoying things to slide, I see now that Perry and McGruder are both guilty of ‘phobic crimes under the guise of satire.
I thought “Pause” was hilarious, and that it was also about time someone blew Tyler Perry’s wig off. But slowly the laughter turned to something else, something more thoughtful. Was this episode not only dissing Tyler, Jesus pimps and easily led evangelicals, but was it also dissing black gay men, too?
Is this the same ol’ homophobia, in a different, more insidious venue? By the time the episode ended, I’d stopped laughing a long time ago. And that other episode which no one is talking about, “A Date with the Booty Warrior”, well, suffice it to say a certain message of protect one’s booty hole at all cost could be surmised.
What are the typical homo-haters and bashers out there going to take from this episode? Are they suddenly gonna feel all warm and fuzzy about the gay thing? And considering the target audience, African Americans, will this beloved show send the wrong message about black gay men in general?
Funny as the Madea parody was (and I’m no Tyler Perry defender by any means, though I did give his film, “The Family That Preys” a rave review on Amazon), but for the very first time I’m left with a foul taste in my mouth by this favorite show of mine and am left wondering what exactly is the Boondock’s creator, Aaron McGruder, trying to tell the world?
Because clearly there was “no homo” love, or, “can’t we all just get along” in this episode. Black gay men have been climbing up from the lower rung on the social totem pole for a long time. Dissing Tyler Perry is one thing, but doing it in a way which some in the black community (especially Perry’s churchy audience) will further extrapolate to be representative of ALL black gay men is troubling. ~
hannah
wow. Is Tyler Perry a little sensitive or does he just have a big ego? I don’t watch Boondocks very often, but I know they are very controversial and typically focus on issues/people in the Black Community. I don’t think Robin Williams would be so upset if the Boondocks had a character like Mrs. Doubtfire. I don’t even think Martin Lawrence would care if Big Mama was on the show.
That being said, I don’t support McGruder’s work on the series. It just seems to be over the top. I liked the comic strip, but the show has just gone off the deep end. I think the show is trying too hard to compete with Family Guy, South Park, and numerous other “adult” cartoon shows. It’s just too much.
hannah
@Syl:
I don’t know. I can’t stand his movies. They all seem to be based on the same theme about black people getting together as family. I feel like after I see one, I have seen them all. I guess this provides something to counter other representations of the Black Community in media. But it gets annoying. I can’t watch romantic comedies either. They all have the same formula. I just stick with documentaries, foreign films, some indie flicks, and a few action movies.
counterpoll
Mr Perry was the subject of a recent profile in the New Yorker magazine, written by none other than Hilton Als, an out Black Gay man.
Mr Als covered many of the positive aspects and some of the ‘blackwashed’ details of Mr Perry’s films, and spoke in no uncertain terms of how Perry’s movies depict several day-to-day realities of urban African-American life, while reducing those same realities to some unfortunate stereotypes.
What Mr Als failed to address was the truth, suspicion or hearsay about Mr Perry’s own homosexuality, bisexuality, or his own role in perpetuating silence on the issue.
I have zero inside info on Mr Perry’s private life, but I think ignoring the topic speaks louder than a clear statement on whether Perry is, isn’t, or might be a gay man. Or Transgender. Or asexual, questioning, genderqueer, or bisexual.
james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
@Hilarious: You’re defending a man who’s made millions off of the backs of Black people (and especially Black women who are the ones who go see his crap) being the new Amos and Andy. His movies and to a lesser extent his tv shows, are nothing but modern day minstrel shows. Please go rent or buy Spike Lee’s Bamboozled; when it came out in 2001 I remember seeing it with friends and we all thought it was kinda far-fetched but no…just a few years later here we have a modern day Stephin Fetchit….if you’re Black and defending him, you should be ashamed of yourself and if you’re White, you’re ignorant about the kinds of movies he does and their historical precedents. Perry is as loathed in the Black community as he is loved, because many have woken up to the ridiculous, over-the-top stereotypes he indulges in for his “movies”.
One more thing: while he’s not the first Black man to put on a dress, does anyone wonder why putting Black men in a dress is one of Hollywood’s favorite pastimes? Well, obviously because it sells, big time. Nothing emasculates a big, scary, black guy quite like a dress so you can laugh at what you’re scared of. And no one is quite as willing to go back to that emasculating well like that modern day Uncle Tom Tyler Perry. Being in the closet is the least of this guy’s psychological problems.
Chitown Kev
@james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge:
Thank you.
Revemupman
Even Kanye blew off the “Gay Fish” episode of South Park. Tyler has to be a queen for this stunt here.
Revemupman
“Nothing emasculates a big, scary, black guy quite like a dress so you can laugh at what you’re scared of”.
Exactly, throw on a dress and hollywood gives you tons of money. Its completly insane, and yet black people swallow up these sterotypes and complain when someone perceives them as that. Did you see that horrible movie “Cop out”?
Nuff said……
Hilarious
@james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge: Wow.
That’s total bullshit.
So when Robin Williams did it he was a minstrel too? Do you have any idea how many white men have put on dresses for laughs and no one has said shit about it?
Why do white men get to enjoy all these freedoms yet if a black man does ANYTHING someone has to shit all over them?
And your first sentence is completely idiotic. You make it sound like he’s running a slave trade. The man has opened up MANY jobs for black actors.
It’s people like you who destroy everything for us. We take 2 steps forward and you try to convince us it’s terrible so we take 10 steps back.
If you don’t like what Perry’s doing then shut up and do better yourself through actions rather than words. What’s the name of your production company so I can view your works?
Oh, yeah, that’s right you don’t have one.
I’m glad McGruder fans are a small minority of idiots just like the morons who take huge dumps all over everything Perry does because at the end of the day nothing you say matters.
The man has made huge strides for black actors and black movies in general.
People like you want to keep throwing Spike Lee’s name around, but his movies are very film school and artistic. Hardly something I’m going to watch when I want to let go and relax.
Because of Tyler Perry one of my favorite movies of all time was created “This Christmas” and while he didn’t make it he created the competition that drove it’s creation.
See it doesn’t matter if you like him or not he’s proven that black people matter as consumers and we now have studios considering making major motion pictures for us when before they were not.
I never once said I agree with everything the man has said or done, but the bullshit you’re pulling is the same time of garbage people listened to with “blaxploitation” and the next thing you know we disappeared from the movies altogether.
Seriously if you’re pulling minstrel show from anything Tyler Perry has done then it’s because it’s what you want to see, not what’s going on in front of your face.
Oh and lets not forget that films like Rocky Horror picture show aren’t considered “minstrel” films but great works of art. Though the lead is white so he can wear all the women’s clothing he wants.
Race race race race race. Black people aren’t allowed to do anything so says the almighty invisible force of racism. Fuck off.
Hilarious
@Chitown Kev: I thought you were smarter than that. Seriously.
john dough
I’m sorry but as far as Mcgruder goes, forcing black people to face up to the latent homosexuality in our culture isn’t homophobia.
Taylor Siluwé
No. 11 · james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
I agree that “Perry is as loathed in the Black community as he is loved,” except I doubt one can get that big without amassing strong conflicting feelings. Same can be said for Spike Lee. So that doesn’t move me.
Neither does asking “does anyone wonder why putting Black men in a dress is one of Hollywood’s favorite pastimes?”, when Tyler slipped into his dress long before Hollywood even knew who his ass was. I have issues with Tyler, but I’ll never try to belittle his talent and accomplishments – Hollywood neither gave him the dress nor made him a mogul, he did. His films aren’t exactly Hitchcock, but not many are, certainly not Spike’s.
Tyler Perry’s arrival in the film world has been a boon for black actors, some great ones who haven’t worked in years. Hollywood hasn’t exactly been knocking on Cicely Tyson’s door to put her in the next Harry Potter flick, so thank the gods for him.
Madea is a character we all laughed at. I still do. Yes, she’s many terrible things, but we all know there are some real life woman just like her. There are those who panned Precious for similar reasons, even though there are many girls in the world just like her – who may or may not have jacked Kentucky Fried for a bucket of chicken.
Ugly truths are hard to take. McGruder’s satirical ugly truth apparently hit extremely close to home with Tyler. While I probably should take my own advice and see McGruder’s ugly portrayal of predatory, damn-near psychotic black gay men as specifically meant for just Tyler, I can’t.
Maybe they have more in common than we know, since it seems they have issues with both blackness and what it means to be a man.
Chitown Kev
@Hilarious:
Tyler Perry IS a minstrel. It is blaxploitation for the 21st century.
“that black people matter as consumers and we now have studios considering making major motion pictures for us when before they were not.”
And those will be more minstrel shows, it seems.
Sorry, I have a visceral dislike for Tyler Perry and his movies.
“So when Robin Williams did it he was a minstrel too? Do you have any idea how many white men have put on dresses for laughs and no one has said shit about it?”
The history of a straight white man and a straight black man in this country are totally different and, therefore, two different kinds of spectacle.
At least Martin Lawrence’s Shenene was funny.
Hilarious
@Chitown Kev: So where was your hate when the Wayans Brothers were the new IT thing?
You think Perry is worse than them? Really?
I’d call the Wayans crap minstrel shows long before I’d go harping on about Tyler Perry.
The only thing you really have to hold on to is Madea who he’s said he’s removing from any future films because that’s all his haters ever do is hate on that one damned character.
None of you comment on anything I said about McGruder because you know every word to be true, but you can type paragraphs about Perry because he dared to wear a dress…oh no.
Now I ask you was every man in every one of his movies wearing a dress? No. Were all of his movies comedies? No. Has he put an effeminate spin on the face of every black man? No. Are all of the characters he himself portrays in his own films wearing dresses? No.
Are his movies negative? No. Do they put across positive messages to black people? Yes.
What exactly are you mad about? Just a dress? Is there something more than that?
And your only reason for that is because his skin is brown he’s not allowed to wear a dress because black people and white people are different in your opinion…really?
You’re not going find everything funny. I found both Shenene and Madea funny in different ways. But then again I’m not sitting around worrying what white people will think of me after seeing Tyler Perry in a dress.
Are you also afraid to eat fried chicken in public or be seen dancing by white people because someone might accuse you of shucking and jiving?
Seems to me like you’re putting yourself in a new form of slavery. Too afraid to do what you want because of what someone might think.
If white men have the freedom to cross-dress and be effeminate whenever they damn well please why the fuck doesn’t Tyler Perry?
Please answer the question with more than white men and black men are different because that’s total bullshit.
Yet Another
@Hilarious:
Without even touching the issue, I take offense at your classification of Boondocks fans. Those are such crass generalizations I don’t know how you expect anyone to take your opinions seriously when you wrap them in as much hate and vitriol as you clame McGrueder does. It’s pretty preposterous that you would boil down people as either Tyler Perry supporters or a small minority of idiots that support McGrueder. They have both done good work and both had misteps. Neither of them are an elected official so they have no interests to serve but their own.
I am a fan of certain works of both men and I’m intelligent and mindful enough to see the merits and problems with what they produce.
Hilarious
@Yet Another: That’s funny, you didn’t actually touch anything I said about him. All fluff, no content in that post.
Did you sleep through him saying that Obama wasn’t black because he wasn’t a descendant of American slaves?
Do you ignore his passive-aggressive hatred and creepy jealousy of white people, specifically white men?
Did you miss the subtle ignorance of naming the character Tom as in Uncle Tom who doesn’t act black enough for McGruder and married a white woman?
What about his sweeping generalizations that you aren’t remotely bothered by?
McGruder’s “work” is that of an immature child. It’s not satirical, it’s not well thought out, and it’s usually downright crass at best.
His sweeping judgments hit everyone BUT himself. They hit you too McGruder fans, that’s why I call you the things I do.
He is Huey, everyone else is a jackass in his little world, but him. That’s the overwhelming theme of the freaking show and hardly anyone seems capable of understanding that.
You all watch the show and think to yourself “Hmm, I’m Huey.” “Huey represents me.”…No, you asshole. Huey is McGruder, and you’re one of the random characters he’s making fun of on his little obnoxious ass show he uses as a vehicle to throw his ridiculous opinions around as fact while laughing all the way to the bank.
You have to have a serious fear of living your life as a black man to literally be the character Huey, the only character on the show who is never portrayed in a negative light.
Literally anything you do as a black man is viewed as wrong by McGruder. Watch BET? You’re wrong. Like white people? You’re wrong. Don’t do things that are considered “black enough”? You’re wrong and called an uncle Tom. Are you too black and/or “ghetto”? Then you’re his stupid family he puts up with but never agrees with.
Are you afraid to sway too far to the left or right because people may view you as a nigger or an uncle Tom? Then okay you’re Huey pat yourself on the back for being a robot who’s enslaved in his own personal shackles.
McGruder is an idiot.
Some of his opinions had warrant until you take a deeper look at his overwhelming message and see how horrifying it truly is.
Beyond that I’m amazed that on a gay site he’s being hailed as some great creator when his homophobic views are highlighted more than ever this season. He doesn’t even like you so yes you are a moron until you wake the fuck up.
Let me know when Tyler Perry shows gay men attempting to rape straight mens “BOO TEE”s. Until then nothing is changing about my opinion.
I also don’t feel as though Perry hates himself or an overwhelming majority of black people. McGruder on the other hand has a superiority complex so thick it rivals that of the KKK, yet he still dares to call himself a black man, and pretends he doesn’t envy white people when his portrayal of them says otherwise while at the same time hating them.
Lets not forget also that in McGruder’s world everyone is white or black. No one else exists. Whites versus blacks, versus blacks who don’t fit his perfect mold.
What a wonderful world.
Hilarious
@john dough: What the hell is that comment even supposed to mean?
Are you saying people with brown skin are all born with latent homosexuality? What?
I swear there must be some required mental retardation to be a McGruder fan.
james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
Hilarious, you idiot, Tyler Perry is running a modern day minstrel show not just because he put on a dress but because he portrays Madea as a loud, finger-snapping, purse-to-the-head walking stereotype of a black woman. It’s not difficult to figure out if you would think instead of reflexively defending him. I’m biracial and the man and his retro bullshit offends me to my core. Let’s see the lovely things he portrays in his “films” that you’re defending:
1) Almost every black woman in his movies is either loud
or vindictive. Only Janet Jackson’s character has ever come
across well in his films.
2) The aforementioned head-rolling, finger-snapping minstrel show
he puts on with Madea.
3) The men and women in his films all hate each other
(as I said, the women are loathsome but the men,
no matter how rotten the behavior they engage in, like
cheating or stealing, are the victims. Always.) Plus Perry
has no idea how to write love scenes or dialogue between
heterosexual couples!! I know that’s not exactly a
big surprise but it makes his movies unrealistic, repetitive
and downright insulting to black couples.
4) Every movie has a Black man that’s a sexual stud, out for one
thing only. Of course, this allows Perry to engage in his
favorite past time. A shirtless, muscular black man is
portrayed lovingly in every one of his “films” (and this
I’m not complaining about.) I’m sure,as he’s said, this
is because he’s telling women’s stories
and he does this for his female audience. Sure.
5) This one isn’t really related but the man can’t write or
direct at all. The tone in his films shift from comedy to
tragedy abruptly in a way that makes no sense and takes
you out of the movie. And the dialogue is just awful.
Love or hate Spike Lee but the man knows how write
and direct…Perry is an amateur in every way.
In short, the man is a mess. He’s internalized every ugly stereotype about black women and puked it up on screen under the guise of “telling our story”. The man may have been raised by women but it’s clear he loathes them to his core.
Yet Another
@Hilarious:
You’re doing nothing but proving my point.
As I said in the first line of my last post, I’m not going to touch the “issue,” as it’s really a non-issue. One side arguing their interpretation of “art” versus anothers. It’s all subjective and I appreciate your perspective and opinion on the matter while still maintaining my own.
Meanwhile, your crass condemnation of others who don’t feel the same way as you sounds identical to the attitude you accuse McGrueder of having. In this case, you are “Huey” and anyone who doesnt agree with you is an idiot, a self hater, or a moron.
The only reason I’m actively engaging you is that I’d like you to make your point without appearing as hypocritical as you are. Why? Because I’m a Boondocks fan who somehow inexplicably enjoys dissenting opinions and tasteful discourse. Go figure.
james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
@Taylor Siluwé: It is great that he employs so many Black actors. But that doesn’t mitigate the damage he’s doing to Black women with his vicious portrayals of them.
Oprah Is Responsible
@Hilarious: Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman did not make a living playing those roles. Their cross-dressing was done in context to the movie, not for the sake of putting on a dress. When Tyler headlines a movie with him portraying a male, it doesn’t make as much money as when he plays the Madea character. Tyler has shown up as Madea even in his tv shoes and also on Orpah. He lives in the Madea character; unlike his white counterparts. I don’t blame white people for this, because most of Tyler’s movie are seen by blacks – who are the lost souls of the world.
Hilarious
@Yet Another: No I called you idiots because all he cares about is race and all you and @james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge: seem to care about is race.
Perry hardly mentions race in any of his films. It’s all McGruder goes on about.
Aaron McGruder is a racist and by default is ignorant so therefore all of his fans are racist idiots.
Not only is he racist but he hates any black people who don’t fit his mold.
You keep missing that point or you’ve gotten it and are too stupid to realize it.
@james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge: The shit you wrote isn’t even worth touching. You’ve clearly never seen any of his films if you believe any of that. You just read some weak ass review and nodded your head.
He’s trying to show people how not to be and highlights that with messages throughout the films.
I don’t agree with everything he says, but there’s no one on the planet I’ll agree with 100% of the time.
You really don’t even seem to have anything to say you’re just mad because I called you an idiot so you’re fishing rather hard to stay relevant in the conversation.
If you think head down and soft spoken characters are how ALL black women should be represented then you’re part of the problem not the solution.
The point everyone who’s disagreeing with me has missed over and over and over is that people with brown skin should be free to be whoever and whatever the fuck they want to.
There’s no wrong way or right way to act just because your skin is brown.
Everyone should have the freedom to come as they are. Perry at no point in time wags a finger and says “NO! You are wrong and you are wrong!”. He just shows actions and consequences.
McGruder on the hand just adds drool to the side of your mouth in a mocking caricature and calls you an asshole for existing.
So yes you McGruder fans are still idiots until you wake up on top of being blind to his not so subtle and highly hypocritical racism.
Yet Another
Well, we didn’t even need Jason this time.
james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
@Hilarious: Wrong as usual. Don’t you ever get sick of being wrong in thread after thread Hilarious? To paraphrase Animal House, wrong and stupid is no way to go through life son. I’ve seen many of his films…I would never, ever pay to see them in theatres but I’ve seen them on cable. I get through most of them except the ones starring Madea…I can’t even look at his idiocy as Madea for a minute. But I’ve seen most of the others and I get from our conversation that you, like Perry, are probably a self-loathing walking stereotype.
Hilarious
@james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge: Yeah sure. You don’t even comprehend what you claim to read.
I’m no big fan of Perry and I think he’s a homophobe.
But riddle me this if he’s so terrible why is he such a force in the industry? Everyone but you is just too dumb to get rid of him?
If McGruder is so great why are his rating tanking? Why’s he going away?
Yeah keep posting your bullshit, but at the end of the day one will be gone and not remembered. Hint: It won’t be Tyler Perry.
Hilarious
Oh and PS @james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge: : Before you start with your bullshit about white people putting Perry where he is today let me stop you right there.
Tyler Perry got where he is due to black people, his fans, who have been watching his stage plays long before white people even knew who the fuck he was.
So if his work is so offensive why isn’t anyone offended but McGruder fans?
Why do so many black people hate McGruder’s cartoon if it’s so great?
More racist white people watch The Boondocks than black people. Care to comment?
james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
@Hilarious: Why do so many Black people hate Tyler Perry’s work if it’s so great? Why does every Black gossip site I go to, every single one, despise Perry and his minstrel show? Why do most people on those sites and most Black men in general despise him and his minstrel show? Church going black women go to his movies (read: uneducated; sorry but it’s true) and that’s enough to make them hits…black men aren’t falling for his racist bullshit. And since you acknowledge the homophobia and ignorance in his movies, I have to wonder why you are expending so much energy defending a self-loathing homophobe? Is it because you identify with the self-loathing, you poor thing? Anyway, congratulations; you’re defending a homophobe while being gay and defending a perpetrator of a modern day coon act while being Black; you’ve hit a double whammy. I crown you the gay Uncle Tom of the Decade!!!
Taylor Siluwé
No. 26 · james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
So, you’re saying that every female character to grace a Perry flick is a “vicious portrayal” of some sort? Every one?!
Hate Madea all you want but don’t drift into hyperbole. The fact is many actors who weren’t employed before are now. None of them would agree with your point, and would probably tell you to sit down and STFU.
And say what you will about the quality of his films but comparing them to Spike Lee is unfair. Spike’s been around for a minute; his films have come a long way. So will Tyler’s. I still think The Family that Preys was his best flick to date. But of course, you can extrapolate a stereotype if you try hard enough, and you can fuck up a film if you focus too much on avoiding them.
Oh, don’t make the evil bastard a dark skinned brother, people will talk. Here’s one I hated in “…Preys” but didn’t let it ruin the movie for me — the person of faith who loves herself some Jesus (Alfre Woodard) ends up the happiest and with all the money. Yeah, okay, whatever Tyler, we know you gotta throw the church ladies some red meat so they won’t feel stupid for tithing so much of their little incomes to the pastor.
Still, it was a great film and a glimpse of the great film-maker to come. I can understand why Spike hates on Tyler, but the rest of you I don’t get.
I didn’t start out to defend Tyler, but this irrational trashing would be hilarious if it wasn’t so blind to a black man who’s worked his way up from nothing. Is anyone but me and Hilarious seeing crabs in a barrel?
Sexuality and religion issues aside, Tyler is a self-made mogul and for that he’ll always have my respect.
Yet Another
@Taylor Siluwé:
Don’t sell yourself short. Your argument is far more compelling than Hilarious’s.
OrchidIslander
@Hilarious: How true and well-said! LOL!
OrchidIslander
@Yet Another: Sorry, my response was meant to be a shout out to Yet Another….
james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
@Taylor Siluwé: C’mon Taylor…the man deals in stereotypes and nothing but. Doesn’t it get old, especially since it’s mostly really ugly mammy-type stereotypes? You’re right about a lot of really good actors getting roles but he doesn’t know what the fuck to do with them. His movies are an embarrassment…sorry, but that’s how I feel. He may legitimately feel like he’s doing good work telling untold stories but he’s not. And it is a sad state of affairs when even someone like me who loathes him and his work watches some of them (when they come on cable) because yeah, no one else really tells African-American stories out of Hollywood, at least with the frequency he does. But don’t throw your support blindly behind this man like Hilarious has. Supporting Perry is like cheering on a little boy who thinks he’s the only one who’s ever pooped, ever. It’s kind of gross and sad and it needs to stop so little boy Perry can mature and stop throwing crap up on the screen.
Hilarious
@james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge: The only little boy is you and your sock puppets you create to agree with yourself.
You’re so busy crying over Tyler Perry and he’s nothing thinking about you. The man is wildly successful in the entertainment industry moreso than any black man to date.
The Boondocks and McGruder are going away very soon. Perry will still be here.
Enjoy your tears and your rage alone. I’m done responding to your idiotic comments. You’re so jealous of a black man who’s made it and you keep swearing up and down he’s gay as if you’ve slept with him.
Why are you throwing shit around about his sexuality anyway? You’re the one who sounds like a self-loathing homophobe. You don’t know his sexuality and anything you have to say about it is a moot point. It has proven that you have some internal hatred the way you talk about it like he’s committed some crime if he is gay, but you don’t know if he is or isn’t and it’s none of your business if he is.
Grow up, whiny ass baby.
Taylor Siluwé
No. 37 · james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
Almost every character in every film is a stereotype of some sort. You talk as if Tyler was built an empire off remaking Soul Plane over and over again. And even ‘Soul Plane’, as horrible as it was, gave myself and a group of friends an extremely entertaining evening once – we laughed, we ripped it apart, we laughed some more, but most importantly, we talked.
Every film is not going to be life-altering or the second coming of Shakespeare. But if it inspires some introspection and/or conversation and it does no harm, then there is a place for it in my humble opinion.
And I’ll add this, you should probably make your own films, so we can all sit back and talk about you. It’s not easy to put one’s art before the unforgiving world for mass critique. But since you are so critical of this historic rise of the industry that is Tyler Perry, then you should certainly prove to us that films can be made better, can be more socially responsible without delving into any of those egregious stereotypes.
Have at it, my friend. I’m quivering with anticipation. For now, I’ve gotta fire up the grill for a fourth with friends – Tyler and McGruder will no doubt be topics of discussion.
james_from_the_great_city_of_cambridge
@Hilarious: Bye bye Hilarious, which ironically you’re not. I will not miss your non-stimulating arguments in defense of our modern day Uncle Remus, Tyler Perry.
adman
Wait, don’t send Hilarious away! He’s the best stick-up-the-ass Coon act on Queerty! He’ll defend anything that touts itself as “black” and Classy” (read: profitable). I bet Hilarious knows to the penny how much his wardrobe costs right now, and is of course a “classy” (neuvo-riche) enough empowered wanna be yuppie negro to bore us all to tears telling us about it all day. You go Hilarious! Insight free and tight-assed is the style, and believe me, you rockin’ it gurl!
Black Pegasus
Chile Please!!!!
Miss Perry was a regular at a gay club called
Wolfendales in New Orleans back in the 90s
when no one knew who he was (except the homos in the club).
Yes honey! I said Wolfendales. You know; on North Rampart street.
Mmm Hmm….
The Tea has been spilled, so Miss Perry needs to calm the fuck
down! You made $125 million last year so why do you protest
so much honey chile?
jeffree
@Hilarious: “I’m…from a wealthy family”.
No, you’re not.
“Wealthy” people, be they WASPS, Latino, African-American, or Asian, etc. *never* use that term.
Calling other people “idiots” undercuts anything else you have to say. Don’t fall into the wide trap of ad hominem attacks.
You’d do far better to post at wealthywhiners. com than here !
Hilarious
@jeffree: Yeah right.
The only family I’ve ever even known with a majorly successful business is my own so somehow I doubt you know that many wealthy families to have written a handbook.
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
My family’s business brings in a little over $5-7 million a year and has been open for over 30 years with very little overhead.
We’re wealthy. Jealous much? I mean if that line is all that stuck out to you then that’s sad, especially since it wasn’t the point of the post.
I’m amused by how many people who are so much older than myself can’t handle a few posts on the internet. Thumb it down ladies, that just lets me know you read it, and cried over it.
jeffree
@Hilarious:
Wealth and class speak for themselves, they do not need to be announced.
Hilarious
@jeffree: Right. Your jealousy is showing, boo. 🙂
I only mentioned it to make a point(you know all those other lines you ignored when you started seeing green?) but like the crab in a basket you are you had to take it to a whole different level.
Keep being upset over it. Your “disbelief” doesn’t suddenly make my money disappear and if you really didn’t believe me you wouldn’t waste your time trying to convince me that what I know to be true somehow isn’t.
You really just sound silly because you don’t even know me and I don’t know you. You make it sound like I said I live in a mansion and wipe my ass with $100 dollar bills.
Whatever though, cry more, this is amusing.
Kitty
@Hilarious: because Tyler Perry is an evangelical christian nut, not because he is in the closet.
jeffree
When a person runs out of logic, he seeks refuge in attacking the man, not the argument.
Case closed.
You have been pwned.
Bon courage et bon débarras!
just sayin
@OrchidIslander: Dude Where’s My Car????
shanelle
@ Hellariousness:
me & my sisttah Goochi we steal summa “how 2 be wealthy classy people” CDs by Hillarrious from the liberry and now we talk all propah. People think we verry wealthy classy now like u so thanx!
When u visit deroyt east side text us pleaze!
Taylor Siluwé
No. 50 · shanelle
LMAO!!!
Hilarious
@jeffree: That’s funny, boo, that’s all you’ve done in this thread. I typed paragraphs on the topic, you made blurbs about my personal life which you know nothing about.
You went after my personal life because you really couldn’t compete with my views on the subject in the first place, as have others, because you really have nothing at all to say.
So I guess you just “pwned” yourself.
Like I said, baby, McGruder will be gone at the end of this season. His little show will be off the air and he really won’t even be a memory. Adult Swim hardly pulls any ratings in the first place and his show is pulling less than most of the moronic shows on that block. Kiss it goodbye.
The fact that racists got more laughs out of that show than black people should have registered with your weak mind by now, but it still hasn’t.
Let me know when racists start going in droves to Tyler Perry movies because as of yet I haven’t seen any and the majority of his viewers are still BLACK.
Cry more baby. Nothing you can say trumps reality. Call Perry whatever you want.
shanelle
thanks, that was as painful to write as to read –well, almost– but sometimes trash needs to get kicked into the street and into the gutter.
Neither your nor my great-grandmothers worked their fingers to the bone to be laughed at, spat upon, or derided.
We may not have worn designer label clothing, but our pants & sleeves *always* fell just right. We were never ashamed because we wore the best we had. Maybe it wasn’t fancy, but dang, it was clean & it fit,,,,,,, Every time we grew an inch or so, the shirt sleeves, the jacket, the trousers got adjusted!
How wonderful is that? !
Hilarious
@shanelle: See that’s what you don’t seem to get.
No one is laughing at my or your grandmother. He made ONE character.
Was Cicely Tyson’s character “offensive” to you? Do you hate her now for appearing in one of his films? Why wasn’t she offended by Madea who was also in the same movie? She’s an elderly black woman who worked her fingers to the bone.
Most of the people who support Perry’s work are the same grandmothers you’re claiming should be offended.
My grandmother started her own business from scratch in the 70s when it was unheard of for a black woman to be a business owner let alone successful. She still runs it today. As far as I know she’s not offended by him because she hasn’t said one ill word about the man.
I haven’t heard one nasty thing about him from a single black woman over 40.
So really why do you feel the need to speak on behalf of them over one character they are not offended by?
At no point in time did Tyler Perry say Madea represents all black women or any black women. Madea is a character. One single character. Not a representation of anyone.
Many grandmothers have been in Tyler Perry’s movies, especially in Family Reunion, and Madea aside, they all had a lot to say that young people need to hear.
So what are you mad about?
If all of these black women appearing in his films aren’t offended and all of the black women going to see his movies, plays, and television shows aren’t offended why the hell are you?
He hasn’t spat upon anyone. That is all in your head because as Wanda Sykes said “White people are watching.”. You need to let your race issues go or at the very least keep them to yourself because not everyone is so hung up on race we can’t let our hair down and have fun.
Madea is a fun character, not a hateful one.
I’ve never seen this much upset over a man in drag in my life. Shanene spat on a certain type of black woman and no one gave a shit and THAT was a stereotype. Ridiculous.
Like I said if your grandma isn’t offended you shouldn’t be either and if she is offended she may need to ask herself why. Many grandmothers have been represented in Perry’s film, Madea is only one of them. So why choose that one as her representation? Why do black people have to go to a film and be represented on screen? We can’t have “negative” characters? All character with brown skin have to be “positive”? That’s rather limiting.
jerbearxi
@Hilarious: No one cared when Martin Lawrence did it in big mama’s house, or when eddie murphy did it in his Dr. Doolittle/The Klumps movies. Tyler Perry is a homosexual doing his work under the guise of Christianity and is just afraid to come out to everyone because he won’t have the church behind him anymore, and will lose tons of money.
Thugnificent
Pause. Y’all gay. Who gives a sht, really? I hate that people have to make a big deal out of nothing. Just about every show on cartoon network is offensive and pointless. Why? Because its fcking entertainment. In the words of the booty warrior himself.. we can do this the easy way — or we can do this the haaard way. The choice is yoooors. no homo.
rhydderch
@Hilarious Having gone through and read the comments it appears that no one has a problem with Tyler Perry in a dress. I and most people here have a problem with his shitty movies. Oh and he’s a closet case church queen. While it’s true that his films do make it possible for a lot of black actors to to get roles, which i applaud him for. The writing on those God awful shows is horrendous. I sat threw a marathon of “meet the browns” and can never get that part of my life back. As someone said earlier, his films appeal to the lowest common denominator;uneducated black theater-goers. There are people in my own family who I can not bribe to go to the symphony, yet will run to the theater to see anything with “mama” in the title.
Oh yes I saw “Pause” and while I am no Aaron MacGruder fan and find his characters reprehensible, Huey is a child of the streets and his language, thoughts and attitudes reflect that. His grandfather does scold him for using “no homo” but sadly the lesson was lost when he [the grandfather] used the term himself.