Don't think for a second that I've lost my marbles and actually given my money to support La Perry, but I wanted to call attention to Alonso Duralde's review of Madea Goes to Jail.
Why?
Duralde calls attention to a major problem lurking in Perry-land, particularly if he wants to keep his ivory tower in good condition.
He needs to start delivering on his hype.
From the review:
Audiences expecting a comedic extravaganza built around the smack-talking, larger-than-life Madea (played by Perry in drag) will be disappointed to discover that her incarceration is very much a secondary plot here...
Therein lies the major structural problem with a lot of Perry's work. He does a lot of bait and switch, you think you're getting a comedy, but you're really getting a weak, sermonising drama. That was not so much a problem in his earlier work, but the time is coming when the audiences will not be content to be conned.
[Perry] knows how to push [his core audience's] buttons and get tears and laughter — and there is some laughter to be had — when he wants to. It’s just disappointing that the most successful African-American filmmaker of this generation refuses to try any harder than that.
God help me, but if I can pass on any advice--not that he'd pay attention to anyone else but himself--it would be make a goddamn comedy, Tyler. By comedy, I mean an absolutely sermon-free comedy. You've got the money to go out on a limb, so do it.
1 comment:
very good advice. but if he takes your suggestion, it's pretty likely that he'll just turn out a comedy based on the cliche of the sassy black woman.
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