George Jones
Teddy Champion
African American Cinema
10/31/22
d. Discuss why some critics were outraged by Tyler Perry movies in the 2000s, despite their huge box office success.
I chose to talk about Tyler Perry because he is someone I respect and look up to. Ever since I was a child I always watched and loved his films. They were all so similar but in a good way, they each had this magic about them that I couldn’t find in any other films. They were stories about serious tribulations and some had very sad outcomes, but they also had this comedic aspect that was very relatable in a weird way. It was something I cherished because it was something black people could relate to and gave a good sense of nostalgia. Although many people love Tyler Perry’s movies, there are also those who are not as fond of them, both black and white. I think mainly because they portray black people in a way that was all too familiar. Many people said that Perry’s movies continued the Mammy, and “Coonish” behavior that was used to keep black people down for a long time. Even black people started to critique his films in this way, but he kept making them, and has now grossed over 400,000,000 in sales.
Denzel Washington has had an amazing career, he is a role model for many young black men including me. I love having Denzel be such a big star because he has made a huge impact on black men in film. He created a path for other black actors and actresses trying to make it. After His performance in Training Day people were blown away with his skills and how well he formed the character. He won the oscar for best actor in 2001, along with Halle Berry for best actress and Sidney Poitier for all of his trailblazing accomplishments. Denzel also contributed a million dollars to give scholarships to young black actors, one of those being Chadwick Boseman who played Black Panther and passed away August of 2020. He gave a speech thanking Denzel saying that without him there is no Black Panther. Denzel Washington is a force of good for the film community and the black community and I truly enjoy seeing him in every production he is in.