Film Review: The Family That Preys

 

In a shocking change of pace for Tyler Perry, “The Family That Preys” is, get this, a southern-fried melodrama, frosted with overbearing performances, low-budget production polish, and obscene displays of artistic and moral ineptness. It’s nice see that Perry, in his fifth directorial effort, has decided to test himself with deeply challenging material, rising above his past transgressions, at last offering the screen a tightly wound story that speaks universal truths about the state of the human condition.

All kidding aside: “Preys” stinks.

Lifelong friends, Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard) and Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates) have enjoyed watching their children grow and their businesses flourish. When Charlotte’s shifty son William (Cole Hauser) begins an extramarital affair with Alice’s daughter Andrea (Sanaa Lathan), the secret is impossible to cover, tearing up both families as the lies and manipulation start to pile up. With Charlotte and Alice trying to keep some sense of order, Andrea’s clueless husband, Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), still hopes to solicit seed money for his construction business dreams from William, leaving Andrea’s sister Pam (Taraji P. Henson) and her husband Ben (Tyler Perry) at a loss for words, observing the madness from the comfort of their stable marriage.

Unlike the rest of the Tyler Perry catalog, “Preys” is engineered to win over a large, crossover audience for the Georgian mogul. Not that the film doesn’t have huge, wet Perry stamps all over it, but there’s a new angle to “Preys” that Perry hasn’t sampled before: the Caucasian experience.

Previous Perry pictures traditionally looked upon white people as comedic foils who were quick with a racist remark or nugget of high-society disgust. “Preys” gives us Charlotte, who doesn’t approach her friendship with Alice through skin color, but through honest admiration and companionship. It’s a superb change of pace for Perry, who resists nearly any opportunity to inject racial animosity into the picture. However, it’s the last moment of invention the film will enjoy.

“Preys” is a soap opera in the most unashamed sense, and while this aesthetic has made Perry heaps of coin, his personal screen touch remains some of the worst overall filmmaking around. The new feature is perhaps even more melodramatic than anything that’s come before, taking the Andrea/William affair and using it as the inspiration for the cast to arch their eyebrows to assured cramp, flare nostrils in unintentional comedic fury, and bounce impassioned lines of dialogue off each other with medicine ball grace. It’s equal parts hilarious and aggravating, with Perry showing little shame as he works the characters into pants-wetting hysteria.

For “Preys,” the action is actually split into two parts: the sticky infidelity web and Alice and Charlotte’s you-go-girl road trip, where the two ladies take off in a vintage car and tour the southwest (“like Oprah and Gayle!”). The travelogue is Perry’s weakest idea, taking the ladies on a booze-laden tour of bars and natural wonders, with the merriment jumping from male strip clubs all the way to blunt professions of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Yes, I just wrote that. It wouldn’t be Perry if the story didn’t contain shameless, whiplash-inducing turns of pity that emerge from out of nowhere, leaving the audience in a complete lurch with little dramatic foundation to fall back on. Plus the road trip segment introduces what I would consider a true torture device: Kathy Bates in overact mode. Gulp.

The infidelity side of the “Preys” script is given far more attention, but in all the wrong ways. Here, the performances are a wreck, with Hauser emitting the sexual appeal of a cold sore as he struts around like a mannequin, refusing to move a facial muscle (a Hauser specialty). “Preys” also has Chris to kick around, and the dim-witted character is used solely as the film’s punching bag, employed here to suffer the most humiliation and to carry out another Perry commandment: the justified moment of domestic abuse.

By having Chris punch Andrea (cue audience cheer) to release his cuckold frustrations, Perry crosses the line, endorsing violence on a level he’s only flirted with before. It’s sickening and completely irresponsible. In a film stuffed with bibles, baptisms, and gospels, to watch the movie celebrate spousal abuse is an unthinkable step even for Perry, who is more than willing to profit from his bottom-feeding template of pandering no matter how much it could influence his target demographic.

With enough double-crosses and tragic ends to make “Days of Our Lives” wince, “The Family That Preys” clearly demonstrates that even when Perry desires to climb out of his own genre, he lacks the skills and the patience to truly test himself. Instead, it’s the same old dance, only now it involves slapping around women.

D-

Comments

[Ra Ra]

Thats Comical. LOL

[jason]

You're an idiot.

[Dat Basa]

you just mad.

Pacino, Pitt, Clooney and Deniro...all royalty will BOW before Tyler this weekend. GOOD!

[TheAdlerian]

As a person from Philly, I can testify that black people LOVE him and his films.

Is he bad, his audience bad, or both. Perhaps he taps into a Truth.

Still, I have no interest personally.

[Dingus]

Wait...the reviewer's an idiot b/c he doesn't buy into a director pandering to low-brow crap- especially spousal abuse? But hold on...this reviewer just probably doesn't understand it. Essentially, it doesn't matter what the context is or the color of your skin- crap is crap.

[Blaqemon]

Tyler Perry thinks it's OK to beat up women, so I'm going to do this tonight when I get home from work.

[LaShawn Davis]

Many critics are afraid to reveal Perry for what he is: a charlatan.

Thank you Brian for telling it how it is. I'm a black man, and I'm disgusted to watch my people fall for this hack and his crude notions of life as an African-American.

And under no circumstances should any man lay a hand on a woman. How dare Perry condone this act of violence!

[TheAdlerian]

I wasn't saying that the review was wrong or bad, just that Perry may be reflecting "truths" which appear as crap to the rest of us.

I work with the black community and the amount of child abuse and fighting which goes on is so great that social service people don't even report most of it.

Beating people isn't part of my culture, but it is theirs. Shall we continue pretending it isn't? That's what middle class people like to do. As blacks get more power over their creations you'll see more stuff like this.

Beyond simple explanations for his films, I'd like something more complex and questioning.

[prince akbar]

Good hustle white boy, make a domain name and troll movie boards bashing black films. If all of perrys fans come to your site and protest or complain you get big ads commission checks. You need to get busy passing your review out at black theatres selling out. After your ass whipping you gonna get rich big time on sean hannity.

warning guys I was reading through this racist white boys film reviews and noticed a pattern. He has 100% praise of black coon films and nothing positive to say about real black drama or any black owned productions. His review is discredit.

If your going to review a tyler perry film STOP right now if you never enjoyed any of his films. Stop wasting yourtime or ours pretending to be a source of intell on a good movie.

I see tyler perry films with 99% black women and 1% of white people like the author of this review.

Either hire a black movie review female writer to cover this beat or stop wasting white boys who only like coon films time trying to digest the entertainment of perry.

I think it has to hurt white folks soul to know they only make 30k a year and this black man is worth 100 million only included them in this screenplay after 5 of his films. Perry dont care you white boy and NEITHER DO I or his fans.

Behold the great white reviewers praise of FIRST SUNDAY if you like this check out his praise of HOUSE BUNNY

PS this is why roger ebert is rich he has this for competition.

[Jonesy]

You'd expect liberal film critics to at least grade on curve a movie by a black filmmaker about black people, but even they can stand this guys awful movies LOL

[Luther Barnes]

Prince Akbar is a self-hatin' douche. Let's count the ways.

"Good hustle white boy, make a domain name and troll movie boards bashing black films. If all of perrys fans come to your site and protest or complain you get big ads commission checks."

Do you see any ads on this site?

"You need to get busy passing your review out at black theatres selling out. After your ass whipping you gonna get rich big time on sean hannity."

Not sure what this even means. Passed the line out to my classroom this morning, and people laughed - it was explained to me the writing is that of moron. I understand the line now.

"warning guys I was reading through this racist white boys film reviews and noticed a pattern. He has 100% praise of black coon films and nothing positive to say about real black drama or any black owned productions. His review is discredit."

The real "Coon" films are Perry's, and Orndorf hasn't reviewed on favorably yet. So, another incorrect statment.

"If your going to review a tyler perry film STOP right now if you never enjoyed any of his films. Stop wasting yourtime or ours pretending to be a source of intell on a good movie."

Well, saying it's a good movie is an opinion, and Orndorf is entitled to his.

Frankly, Brian writes very insightful things on Perry many agree with.

"I see tyler perry films with 99% black women and 1% of white people like the author of this review."

What? Make sense, man.

"Either hire a black movie review female writer to cover this beat or stop wasting white boys who only like coon films time trying to digest the entertainment of perry."

It's Brian's site. brianorndorf.com. Why would he hire anyone else?

And why must you use the word "coon"??? Makes you look ignor...well, that's obvious.

"I think it has to hurt white folks soul to know they only make 30k a year and this black man is worth 100 million only included them in this screenplay after 5 of his films. Perry dont care you white boy and NEITHER DO I or his fans."

A movie review website at 30k? Orndorf could hope hope for that much.

You know Hitler was rich too, right? Bin Laden? Rich doesn't not equal supremacy, it just means that Perry has found a way to manipulate a certain audience. Call me when one of his film's passes 100 million dollars in domestic grosses. Then will talk about influence.

"Behold the great white reviewers praise of FIRST SUNDAY if you like this check out his praise of HOUSE BUNNY"

The thing about BUNNY and SUNDAY? They didn't condone hitting women. That makes them automatically better pictures.

And next time, be brave enough to use you real name, fool. Be a man.

[Malcolm X]

You be the white devil, Mr. Orndorf.

Niggaz gonna kil you.

Long live Perry!

[Kris]

Oh please he slapped his wife once in the movie and if you actually seen the movie you would realize why 99% of the theatre clapped when he did it. There was no spousal abuse in this film and I as a married woman I damn sure dont condone it but dont sit here and try to make more of it then it was. After what she did and said to him she is lucky a slap was all she got lol.

Some people cant ever just be happy , id rather go and watch this movie then some dry movie with corny jokes anyday. GET OVER IT !

[LaTonya Roberts]

"After what she did and said to him she is lucky a slap was all she got lol."

As a victim of spousal abuse myself, I'm sickened by your words Kris.

Under no circumstances should a woman be abused, and it saddens me that you don't recognize that when it's one of the larger issues facing African-American women these days.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES.

Perry should be ashamed of himself. As I heard the audience cheer for this violent act tonight, I broke down into tears.

Kris, I will pray for you tonight.

[Jones Bee]

Man...Black people HATE IT when a white critic rightfully blasts Perry for his idiot films for idiots. I love it!

Yeah, his films stink you goons. Supporting Tyler Perry does NOTHING for the black community.

Where were all of you when Spike Lee was making profound statments on the black experience?

But Perry as the voice of the race??? Yeah, that's what black people need: a man who makes stupidy desirable, condones violence, and hates women.

Some people just do NOT have a clue.

[Joe]

Don't be idiots, people. Tyler Perry's movies and plays have empowered women more than just about anything that the black community has going on right now. I daresay, more than Oprah and her "let's shop" new age cult.

Where were you people when "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" had an abused black woman beating the crap out of her formerly-abusive husband? Tyler Perry's movies and plays are so pro-woman that a lot of men can't stand them. He's completely anti-playa and encourages women to look for kind men with good hearts and not fall for thugs throwing money around. Anyone trying to say that Tyler Perry hates women is being the worst kind of weasel, looking for any excuse to hate this man, and quite possibly a closet racist.

[Jones Bee]

"Anyone trying to say that Tyler Perry hates women is being the worst kind of weasel, looking for any excuse to hate this man, and quite possibly a closet racist."

Typical pro-Perry stooge remark. TYPICAL. Anyone who doesn't like him is racist...blah blah blah.

You know what? Tyler Perry HATES women so much, he plays a female role HIMSELF.

"Where were you people when "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" had an abused black woman beating the crap out of her formerly-abusive husband?"

From Orndorf's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" review...

"Even more curious is the film's message about God and its loving powers to heal all wounds, yet contains a sequence where Helen beats her newly paralyzed husband (don't ask) up for his past crimes, while he sits helplessly in his wheelchair. I'm not convinced any higher power would condone that behavior."

Joe, blow. Do your homework next time, ass.

[MoonLotus]

I think it's a bit dishonest to infer that because Tyler Perry's movie contains domestic violence, this means Tyler Perry condones domestic violence. Characters don't necessarily reflect the moral orientation of their creator--just bits of reality as the creator sees it. You don't have to approve of everything your characters do--god what boring characters they would be in that case.

This was the first Tyler Perry movie I've seen. I liked it. I thought the acting was superb. It was a little schmaltzy but its heart was in the right place.

My only real complaint is that the white folks seemed kind of token and one-dimensional--It didn't feel like a racist intention, but more like the writer was just starting to work out that we have any depth at all, and kind of clumsily attempted to show that depth to the world. It felt like movie charity. That feeling kind of sucks. I'm sure minorities in movies have to put up with that all the time, though, so I guess I'd just call it an educational experience.

[Blank Frank]

Another Perry film, another spate of "you just don't understand, his movies are the BEST and they're INSPIRING and MOVING and TOUCHING and EMPOWERING, so shut up, white boy."

Most of his stuff seems like paint-by-numbers melodrama: you've got an obvious good-guy (who's suffering, in order to engender more sympathy), an obvious bad-guy (who gets away with everything until the climax), a turning of the tables, and a warm fuzzy "everybody gets what they deserve" message.

Where's the tension? Where's some form of unpredictability? Where's the moral ambiguity? Where's something deeper than "oh no the protagonist's puppy died and her house burned down and her mother has cancer and her priceless family heirlooms were stolen and her favorite shirt got stianed and everything's so hard for her but with the power of God she pulls through YEY"?

[Tdiddy]

i thought the movie was fine..better than expected. i am a black male and think some of his movies are more for the women than men. but like his style or not, he tells the story which is the story of a lot of people..thats why his movie opened at $18MM. people are seeing his movies and seeing his plays. why? because some people can relate to the story he tells.

maybe you just dont understand that everyones family is not like yours.

[Jason]

As a man, who's skin happens to be black, I've always found Tyler Perry's movies, plays, tv shows to be playing to the lowest common denominator. It's all so simple and stereotypical that it's sickening. Why can't he ever just make a movie that has a mostly black cast that's not a "black" movie. Movie's like "This Christmas" and "Soul Food" are perfect examples of "black" movies that are focused around black people, yet have the stereotypical "AWWW HELL NAW!" attitude to them. Frankly, I find TP's *and directors like him* work offensive. Just make a good movie, not everything has to be about race or the big bad white man holding us all down. If you wanna make something about race, at least make it funny, like Chappelle's Show or Undercover Brother or The Hebrew Hammer.

Oh and also, STOP CALLING EVERYONE WHO HATES TYLER PERRY'S MOVIES RACIST! WTF is wrong with people that everytime something doesn't go their way they pull out the race card. Get a life, jesus.

[jamal]

To Luther
"Prince Akbar is a self-hatin' douche. Let's count the ways."
And your an a-hole so whats the difference.

"Not sure what this even means. Passed the line out to my classroom this morning, and people laughed - it was explained to me the writing is that of moron. I understand the line now. "
Shame, I understood it perfectly but then again I'm not as insecure or deluded as you.

"The real "Coon" films are Perry's, and Orndorf hasn't reviewed on favorably yet. So, another incorrect statment."
This statement doesn't make any sense...the guy has given positive reviews to black folks shucking and jiving.

"Well, saying it's a good movie is an opinion, and Orndorf is entitled to his."
I have a question for you, have you seen this movie, or any of his movies my guess is no. But yet your on here defending some critic. Wow, thats just pathetic.

"Frankly, Brian writes very insightfu
Many, bu things on Perry many agree with."
The people he makes the movies for like them so whats your point. Many would also disagree with this reviewer.

"What? Make sense, man."
He is saying this guy doesn;t fit into the demographic that likes these movies so he is there fore out of touch.

"It's Brian's site. brianorndorf.com. Why would he hire anyone else?"
Your right he is entitled to his opinion and others are entitled to criticize it. Can you understand that concept.

"And why must you use the word "coon"??? Makes you look ignor...well, that's obvious."
Whtas wrong haven;t updated on your black insults today.

"You know Hitler was rich too, right? Bin Laden? Rich doesn't not equal supremacy, it just means that Perry has found a way to manipulate a certain audience. Call me when one of his film's passes 100 million dollars in domestic grosses. Then will talk about influence."
How about you call me when you have actually seen one of his movies and have some sort of credibility.

"The thing about BUNNY and SUNDAY? They didn't condone hitting women. That makes them automatically better pictures.
And next time, be brave enough to use you real name, fool. Be a man. "
Neither does this, but then again you have never seen the film your just taking this reviewers word for it like its the bible. Thats just pathetic please get a life. P.S. I used my real name.

[Mike]

LaShawn Davis and Jason are right.

Besides, I saw the TV spots for the film, and I wanted to choke. I mean, it's all in your face and soapish. This is a "Christian" film yet, from what I hear, a woman gets slapped and it's justified, whiplash-inducing turns of pity that emerge from out of nowhere, and Kathy Bates gives a horrible performance (never have I used the words "Kathy Bates" and "horrible performance" in the same sentence).

Look, I watch black films often. "Nutty Professor", despite the slapstick and the comedian in drag, had alot of honesty to it that both blacks AND whites can understand. And "Undercover Brother" was just like Edgar Wright's recent work, which is a spoof of a certain film genre, yet respects are paid to the fans (too bad Eddie Griffin sold out and now makes shit movies like "Date Movie" and "Deuce Bigalow 2").

Regardless, I'm still gonna get flack for what I say, because we've got people telling us what's right and what's wrong according to them. See, now you know why this country's in the toilet.

[Sparks]

i sincerely believe if any man caught his wife cheating...he would slap her up. its sounds noble to say 'i would never lay a hand on a woman', but face it...if any man on here caught his wife cheating...im not saying should pop them jaws...but if you do...i understand.

and who ever said Tyler Perry did 'Christian' stories? his main character is Madea...a chain smoking, gun toting, cussing menace thats been on house arrest since she was introduced years ago. his target audience happens to be church ladies...who are drawn in to a character because 'she' says what they are all thinking, but have too much 'restraint' to act on thier 'sinful' impulses. it just so happens that this 'woman' says 'jesus' every now an then. i guess thats supposed to make it 'christian'. but its a man dressed as a woman...now how christian is that?

[Truth]

why is it so that we see black women with white men in the media. if you pay attention to the tv shows, commercials, advertisements, etc you will notice black women who are all surrounded by white men...an there's barely a black man in sight. if there is a black man around, he's treated like the guy in 'the family that preys'

just to silence doubters:

do not disturb
reno 911
my boys
fantastic 4
avatar
time machine
monster's ball
rock n rolla
mission impossible 2

thats just a few that i can think of off the top of my head

[Renee]

I have always enjoyed watching Tyler Perry movies, but merely as entertainment. Recently, I starting to pay alittle more attention to them and now I have started to become a little critical of them. After watching Meet the Browns, I started to resent the fact that in his most recent movies, the women are portrayed as weak and in need of rescuing. And if if isn't a man rescuing her, its Madea herself. I take issue with that because its becoming a consistent message in his films and if people are sadly looking to his films for inspiration, it opens too many doors for women who are already erroneously looking for their Prince Charming. His films are portraying women as incomplete, without a man. I would love to see his female characters evolve to be the God fearing women who lives successful live full of joy and peace without the NEED of a man.
A family that Preys was a darker film for him & draws greater criticism. I walked away from this film feeling akward. To me, there wasn't enough story within the story. He would not allow us to really get to know the Sanaa Lathan character, she was just a one dimentional villan. To break her down to wearing Wranglers and a ponytail seemed to be extreme to me, after being slapped accross a counter in front of her whole family. Yes, what goes around, comes around, but to break her down for making a white man her God, after portraying black mem as a black womens God in previous films, seem to hide a little hostility towards black women to me. Everyone in that film, including the greedy, lustful, lying, cheating husband, was given some kind of redemption, except for her. Why is that? To be a Christian movie, there was a lot of emphasis on drinking. This bothered me as well. Not because I don't belive that Christians drink, I won't say if I think its right or wrong because I don't have a 100% answer on that , but to put so much emphasis on drinking and calling this a Christian movie, seems to be driven from someplace else other than the gospel.
Tyler Perry may very well be misunderstood, but when you put your art out there, there will be both praise and scrutiny. I hope that people will be a little more respectful of other peoples oppinions. It can become very difficult trying to weed out emotionalism over a film that really doesn't mater, from peoples true perspectives about what the artist is trying to tell us. Thank you.

[MCWAY]

MoonLotus just hit the key words here: "Where's the moral ambiguity?" That's what movie critics LOVE. They don't like being told about right and wrong.

But, that's what I find so ironic about their reaction to "Preys" (as well as Perry's other films). It appears that some movie critics don't have that much of a problem with adultery. They always gloss over that, when spewing their outrage.

After all, they weren't all that galled when Charles McCarter was messing around and literally threw his wife, Helen, out of the house in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman". But, when Helen goes off on him (the alleged abuse was her simply dumping him in the hot tub to give him a bath), they get all discombobulated.

Then, there's Carlos and Lisa in "Madea's Family Reunion". No outrage from critics when Carlos beats Lisa, almost throws her off the penthouse balcony, and smacks her (mere hours before their wedding). But, boy did they act up, when Lisa nailed him with the grits (to the tune of Al Green's "Love and Happiness, which had me rolling), and waffled him with a skillet.

As for "Preys", this wasn't a case of Chris prepetually beating on Andrea. He'd been taking verbal abuse from her for years. Then, he finds out from an unapologetic Andrea that she'd been screwing around on him for years with his boss. To top it all off, she (with all the warmth of an igloo) hisses that his son is actually that of William Cartwright. In essence, Chris simply snapped. Granted, what he did was wrong; but you get the raw emotion of what just went down.

[MCWAY]

Correction: Blank Frank made the comment about moral ambiguity. But, that leads back to the scene with Chris and Andrea.

There's plenty of moral ambiguity. Andrea is a greedy, impatient witch. As we learn in the film, Andrea's father left Alice (her mother) for another woman. She's ashamed of the family from where she comes. Yet, Andrea, out of fear of becoming like her mother, ends up being just like the very whore and adulteress that she once loathed, who took her father.

The audience's reaction to Chris smacking Andrea is LOADED with moral ambiguity. What other time do you see them do that when a man strikes a woman? What sort of punishment should an adulterous woman (particulary one with little conscience) get for her family-destroying actions?

Some will say that Andrea's lucky she only got hit once. If Chris the prepetual abuser, that Mr. Orndorff and others painted him to be, she'd would have been killed.

I have to take some issue with what Renee says. The women are seen as incomplete. But that is often due to a troubled past. Yet, they run to a man to try and make them complete, instead of relying on God; hence, it's the reason they end up with jerks like Charles (Diary) and Carlos (Reunion). It's usually when the women get their lives together WITHOUT a man, that they end up actually getting one, a good one, that is.

Back to "Preys", who says that Andrea didn’t get her just desserts?

It appears from the montage that she got canned, right after William did. She’s in a shabby apartment, her money’s gone (Chris used it to start up his business, remember?), William dumps her and leaves her crying in the middle of the parking lot, as he never intended to marry her and certainly won’t now, lest his wife bleed him dry. (The younger Mrs. Cartwright being “a woman scorned without a pre-nup.”). To top it all off, William denies that Andrea’s son is his.

Here's more moral ambiguity. Chris still cares for the boy and visits him at the end, giving Andrea some money to help out. Andrea tries to come onto him; but, Chris ain’t having it. He simply hugs the boy and leaves. That’s hardly the mark of an abusive guy, for those who still think Chris was beating on Andrea.

These films are a lot deeper, to me, than the critics claim they are. So, as I've said elsewhere, this may be a case of critics subscribing to moral relativism. Perry's black-and-white, right-and-wrong approach(especially with the religious themes behind it) just rubs them the wrong way.

[Anti-MCWAY Contingent]

"If Chris the prepetual abuser, that Mr. Orndorff and others painted him to be, she'd would have been killed."

Mr. ORNDORF (the name is right at the top of the screen) has suggested nothing of the sort.

As for the rest of your post, I do hope you reconsider and go back to finish the 6th grade. You'll find life will only be clearer from then on out.

[2conscious]

It's mighty interesting how Caucasian viewers feel so irritated as to WHY they can't understand/hate TPerry's films so much. Just tune his movies out! Don't comment! Ignore his films! TPerry has a devoted following, regardless. And during the HEIGHT of Spike Lee's fame, the same situation would occur:
"What the hell does he mean by this scene!?"
or, "Why can't he just be funny!?" The commentators of this board obviously think African people are only good for making people laugh. Now, if Woody Allen, or any of these so-called "popular" directors released a bland, "critically-acclaimed" film (by the majority white-Jewish establishment...which, by the way, Jews who are successful within the entertainment industry would be more than happy to boldly validate my statement, b/c they wield socio-economic power and NO ONE checks them.... but, I digress). My point: good or bad, WE DON'T NEED YOU TO VALIDATE US. And certainly don't need a commentator like "Jason" who claims he "happens to have black skin" to be the token critic. I am a writer and I think TPerry's writing needs work---this is true. I'm also agnostic (so you can't say I'm all caught-up in the religious propaganda). HOWEVER, I notice TPerry always tries to place balance within his films and (although overt) use the theme of good conquering evil (internal/vs society).

His writing is average, but I know he's not giving lop-sided, watered-down, "Hollywood approved" or "politically-correct/approved" movies. Again, if this was during Spike Lee's "era" (who also can suffer from clumsy narrative, but still tries to convey a message) there would be the "I DON'T GET IT!" types of people. Maybe he doesn't want YOU to "get it". Simple. And from what I've observed by previous comments....people really do live in 2( or 3, or 4) Americas. This is a little deeper than a review, from what I see.

[Jennifer Daniels]

Mr. Orndorf,

Prince Akbar has recommended you find a black woman writer to review Perry's films. Allow me to volunteer my services. I matriculated at one of the finest black colleges in the country (Florida A&M), wrote for two of the largest employers of black journalists (BET and Africana, now AOL Black Voices) and have movie, book and television reviews a mile long. (I think I'm black enough for the job - I even wear my hair in kinky twists.) That way, when I write that Tyler Perry should be strung up by his man-loving balls for condoning and encouraging violence against women, you can point to me and say, "Well, she said it, and she's black!"

BTW, we black writers who criticize Perry are dismissed with the same breath as white critics who can't stand him. Despite what you heard the day you saw this film, you're in much more brown-skinned company than you think.

Cheers!