According to the Urban Daily, Idris Elba stated at the Lens Project’s “Artist Spotlight” lecture series that there should be an end to “buffoonish” characters such as Tyler Perry’s Madea.
Elba, who was in Perry’s film version of “Daddy’s Little Girls”, stated that while he starred in the film, he’s not okay with the grandma character that made Perry famous.
“I don’t like all of Tyler Perry’s films. Yes, I did work with Tyler for “Daddy’s Little Girls” because it portrayed a positive image of a black father.” He went on to say that he his happy for Tyler’s success and that by supporting his films, black America can show economic strength. “But,” he said, “we are also responsible for elevating film. I’m not with buffoonish characters like Madea or Big Momma.”
Martin Lawrence’s threequel “Big Momma’s: Like Father, Like Son” was recently released to theaters, ironically (or sadly), in February, Black History Month, and Perry’s next film, “Madea’s Big Happy Family”, is set to be released April 11, 2011.
This blogger is an African-American, and from what I’ve learned about my culture and how it’s been portrayed in entertainment, it is not out of line to say that there has been a history of emasculating or dehumanizing black men as well as portraying black women either as “Mammy” types or loud, obnoxious people (remember Angela from “How Did I Get Married”). I’m not particularly saying that Perry or Lawrence are attempting to do that, but it’s certainly something to think about.
