This post isn't a let's hate on Tyler Perry thing.
Let's be honest, he's billionaire. He did it. His accomplishments so far are simply amazing. He doesn't care what I think of his work. This just us having a conversation. This is just an observation of the unique position he's in as a Black man in "Hollywood" unlike any other before him. I think he has the potential to be even more impactful to Black filmmakers. What got me thinking like this?
Someone in a group posted this:
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐บ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ?
๐๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ? ๐๐ฐ.
๐๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐บ? ๐๐ฐ.
๐๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ? ๐ ๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ?
๐ ๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด
๐๐บ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ"
This made me think; have I been too harsh in my critiques of his work?
No.
We can give Tyler Perry his flowers and also constructive criticism where it's due. For years Tyler Perry has made mediocre (Fall From Grace, Boo 1 & 2 and a bunch of Madea films) to okay films and at this stage (20+ years later) he should be making better quality films and shows consistently. Whether I like the storyline or not the quality of the filmmaking should be top notch and on the level of any Hollywood production. Tyler Perry can do this (when he wants too) But he chooses not too. That's my main issue with his work. He has all the resources and money to do it.
I heard that his new film A Jazzman's Blues is pretty good and that's the kind of quality he should be producing all of his movies with. Especially when he did some of his best work in The Family That Preys and Why Did I Get Married. After directing those films there was no excuse for the poorly produced films that followed. This post isn't to rag on his films, this is to talk about Tyler Perry's unfulfilled potential.
I feel like Tyler Perry is a brilliant businessman and there's no doubt that the Legacy that he is created is remarkable. I also feel that he could be even more successful as a film producer than any other person in Hollywood. He has the potential to be a more successful producer than Kevin Feige. Yes, Kevin Feige, the mastermind behind the MCU and the most successful producer in Hollywood History. Tyler Perry could be even more successful than him if he tired.
If he was to invite into his Production Studio other talented black writers and directors and give them the resources to make film starring black people on the same level that Hollywood does for everybody else.
Imagine for a second, if Tyler Perry decided to find all the talented black writers, directors, and producers and put them under his umbrella and have them producing films out of his Studio in Atlanta. It would be the new Black Hollywood operating almost completely independent of the Hollywood System.
There's no reason why he can't produce a film on the level of Black Panther, The Woman King, Get Out, and other widely successful films written directed and starring black professionals. That's the kind of potential he has that he hasn't demonstrated.
I feel like Tyler Perry doesn't realize how much power and potential he has. He could be Bob Iger and Kevin Feige rolled into one. Tyler Perry Studios could basically be on Disney's (film studios) level of success. He just has to hire the right people that know what they're doing and let them do their job. He can still do his own thing and still make his own films.
Imagine if he had Jordan Peele, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, and other talented filmmakers working out of his Studio making classic films. He would be credited as the mastermind behind it all. Listen, this is not to undermind the tremendous success he has already had. Because what he has done is amazing. This is just me imagining how much more impactful he could be if he wanted.