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Tyler Perry vs. Spike Lee
        Spike Lee vs. Mr. Tyler Perry
Published Thursday, April 21, 2011
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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21, 2011 and is filed under Keeba’s Commentary,  
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Keeba Smith is a published writer and desired screenplay artist.  She is the author of “Shades of Bright Pale,” and many other
unacquainted writings. Please visit www.Keeba.org to find out more about Keeba Smith, read additional critiques and her
unpublished autobiography, “Spirit in the Dark.”
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Comments
Spike, why are you taking up all that real estate in Tyler Perry’s mind? Madea just went the HELL off!

It sounds like Tyler Perry is already on the defensive about his new movie “Madea’s Big Happy Family.” At a press
conference yesterday Tyler Perry expressed his frustration about the criticism he’s received from fellow black director
Spike Lee, saying:

“I’m so sick of hearing about damn Spike Lee,” Perry said Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif. “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. This is what he said: ‘you vote by what
you see,’ as if black people don’t know what they want to see.”
“I am sick of him – he talked about Whoopi, he talked about Oprah, he talked about me, he talked about Clint
Eastwood. Spike needs to shut the hell up!”

Well damn… WTF did you do Spike Lee?

Apparently Perry’s comments were in response to a question posed about a cryptic message to fans he posted on his
website Monday under the heading THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL MADEA!

“I was writing about just people and how hard people work to discourage people from seeing my work,” he said.
“I don’t even understand it [but] this is where the whole Spike Lee [comment] comes from – the negativity, this is
Stepin Fetchit, this is coonery, this is buffoonery, and they try to get people to get on this bandwagon with them,
to get this mob mentality to come against what I’m doing.”

Perry also seems to think that it’s only the black community where people are criticized by their own:

“I’ve never seen Jewish people attack Seinfeld and say “this is a stereotype,” I’ve never seen Italian people
attack The Sopranos, I’ve never seen Jewish people complaining about Mrs. Doubtfire or Dustin Hoffman in
Tootsie. I never saw it. It’s always black people, and this is something that I cannot undo. Booker T. Washington
and W.E.B. DuBois went through the exact same thing; Langston Hughes said that Zora Neale Hurston, the
woman who wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God, was a new version of the ‘darkie’ because she spoke in a
southern dialect and a Southern tone. And I’m sick of it from us; we don’t have to worry about anybody else
trying to destroy us and take shots because we do it to ourselves.”
“So me being frustrated with it, and then they go on to say that people of other ethnic groups or white people
don’t go see my movies, and that’s all a lie. I’m standing on stage looking at thousands of people, thousands of
faces, with every race represented, and I’m tired of it. I’m tired of just laying down, tired of just being nice and
letting them say whatever they want to say however they want to say it without people knowing what the intent
really is.”

It sounds like Perry is still on the defense about comments Lee made back in 2009:

“Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors, but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today
that is coonery and buffoonery,” he said in ’09. “I know it’s making a lot of money and breaking records, but we
can do better. … I am a huge basketball fan, and when I watch the games on TNT, I see these two ads for these
two shows (Tyler Perry’s ‘Meet the Browns’ and ‘House of Payne’), and I am scratching my head. We got a black
president, and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep ‘n’ Eat?”

Spike did kinda dig in that a*s but we thought that mess was dead. Is Tyler Perry trying to drum up the drama to help
promote his film or does he have a point?
In response to Tyler Perry’s latest rant, I have to say that I honestly believe in my
heart of hearts that Spike Lee is jealous of Tyler Perry 's success and it is sad that we
will not support the achievements of our own Black brothers and sisters.  We can and
should support them, but we choose not to.  I believe that we wish to disassociate
their work and ourselves from them because we believe we could have done it better.  
As the youngsters say, “Don’t hate appreciate.”  However, I believe the adage
should be, ‘Do not hate but teach and celebrate with each other while
appreciating our work,’ but that’s just me.  

Mr. Lee should not be envious of Mr. Perry but instead, team up with him, as
together the two of them may be able to remove the conspiracies of Hollywood.  
They could/SHOULD, give each other advice and instruct others how movies are
made and the strategy of making it in that business.  I enjoyed most of Mr. Lee’s
movies, but I could not appreciate “School Daze.”  I enjoy Mr. Perry’s work as well,
but I did not always delight in Mr. Brown’s antics.  However, in my opinion, both Mr.
Lee and Mr. Perry are good at what they do, alternatively Mr. Lee is not good at
being vicious towards another talented Black man.

Personally, I think that Mr. Lee lives in an imaginary world, as if he believes that
all Black people have perfect relatives like his and other prominent Black people.  

                                                In my family, there are nurses, doctors, lawyers,
                                                voyagers, photographers, firefighters and many
                                                more who maintain other refined careers, but within
                                                that same family structure, there is a Madea.
                                                Additionally, within our family, there is a
                                                Mr. Brown.  Do we appreciate the Madeas and
                                                Mr. Browns?  No, not always, but they exist and
                                                most importantly we love them and they are family.
                                                And because they are family, they are one of us.  I
                                                guess Mr. Lee’s family members are just like him.
                                                Uh huh, I am so sure that not one of his family
                                                members garbles the English language, talks loud, fights
and/or wears hideous undistinguished clothing.  Uh huh, sure - in a perfect world.  
Mr. Lee is above the hoi polloi.

I do not favor and embrace Mr. Perry just because he is Black.  Instead, I appreciate
him for making me laugh.  And although there are intellectuals in my family, there
are a few that I deem insane but their actions can be quite hilarious!

The memories of my relatives – both past and present – are noteworthy to me.
We’ve had great times and we’ve had some treacherous struggles.  Some of us are
loud, emotional and overly dramatic, but I’m sentimental as I reminisce both the easy
and hard times with my crazy family members; the people who made me what I am
today.  My crazy yet hilarious family members had struggles I don’t want to forget as
I have learned from them and I refuse to reject the parts of that insanity as they are a
depiction of me.

                                                                 I don’t wish to forget the Mr. Brown in
                                                                my family who wears clothes that I hope
                                                                not be forced to wear in public.  I don’t
                                                                wish to reject the Curtis Paynes in my
                                                                family who sometimes declares there is
                                                                only one book in the Bible while at the
                                                                same time, believes there are “just too
                                                                many to read.”  I don’t wish to reject the
                                                                Madea in my family either as I would not be
able to look at her reprehensible wig, large size and loud mouth without laughing.  
Yes, there are Curtis’, Mr. Browns, Madeas and Ella Paynes in my family as each of
my relatives come in all sizes and shapes.  Additionally, there are chefs and many
many more in the entire bunch.  Some of us make us proud to be related to them
while others, well, we just don’t comment when asked if we are related.  However,
they exist and we love them for who they are and what they have done for us as well
as what they have done to help others.  The overweight relatives hug, caress and
support us when we’re down.  And the loud overbearing relatives give us advice and
warn us of danger to come.  Do they have to be overweight or loud?  Are the too
unbecoming for their families to bear?  No, as it is the makeup of our family and we
love them for who they are, not for who we wish them to become.

I know the definition of Buffoonery, but admittedly, I was not entirely certain of
the meaning of Coonery so I took the time to search its definition.  Coonery is
described as:
                Antics and behavior displayed by certain underclass individuals in
                the Black culture, the end result being the embarrassment of the rest
                of the upstanding Black community.

Yes, some of my family member’s actions are embarrassing, but I am so sure
they are no different from my own ridiculous behavior, nor any else.  However, their
behavior should not be implied that all Black people behave in the same manner.

                                                 For me, Mr. Perry is about making films and
                                                often times, there is a message to take away from
                                                them.  And as most comediennes admit, regular
                                                jokes are not what makes them the funniest comic,
                                                but jokes about ourselves is what receives the most
                                                laughs. So, for me, Mr. Perry often makes films and
                                                sitcoms for me to relate to and often times, I can
                                                relate and admit that the things we do are stupidity
                                                funny.  I can laugh at my mistakes and learn from
                                                them.  It is not coonery, but amusement about our
                                                selves.  Everyone has problems no matter who they
                                                are, what religion they choose or not choose to
                                                practice, what careers they hold or where they live.
                                                The hue of our skin is not exempt from problems
either.  Perhaps minorities and poor people have more problems then others, but they
are not immune.  It is life and for me to believe that the Madeas, Paynes and Mr.
Browns of the world do not exist in everyday life and differ from anyone else, is
totally canard.  Well, perhaps I’m wrong.  Uh huh, perhaps in a perfect world.

Mr. Lee, you need to grow up, appreciate and celebrate the talent of another Black
man.  A man that makes us laugh and appreciate the parallelism of our roots.