Tyler Perry is back with Madea and a host of others for yet another stage play about some 'serious' familial issue.  At this point, I am getting a little sick and tired of Madea. Back in high school, Madea was funny. I used to go to the plays, watch the bootlegs and laugh until my stomach felt it was going to crumble. But that was a good 8-10 years ago and as of right now, I am losing all interest for Madea. She/He makes me chuckle at times but really, this woman must be stopped.

Now, as far as I know, Mr. Perry retired Madea. He was done with that character and vowed to move on and do other things. But then suddenly, Madea returned, to my dismay, and I have all of you to blame. It's all your fault.

Tyler brought that fiasco of a woman back because you, the viewing audience wanted her back. I could go on and on about what Mr. Perry is doing to his community by keeping this woman alive but what's the point? Instead of the focus being on Tyler Perry, it should be on all of you church going, pork chop eating, sin Monday-Saturday and repent on Sunday being, laugh 'till you pass out people out there who prefer a man dressed as a weed smoking gun toting woman flaunting across you local playhouse stage in hysterics rather than something real and substantial to watch for entertainment.

I honestly thought about going to see Mr. Perry's new play Madea's Big Happy Family. I heard that it was a good play with an even better message. I can bet that the message was worthwhile but I really doubt that the play was all that good….but I could be wrong. Anyway, the main reasons why I did not go to see the play are;

a.       I was in the nail salon getting my regular 2 week fill and was bombarded with conversation about the play. Either the women in the salon had already saw it or they were going to see it that weekend (hence the reason that they were in the nail salon). There was a woman in the salon who started a brief conversation with me. It went a little something like this:

Woman: "Have you seen the play yet?"

Me: "No."

Woman smiles and asks, "So you're going to see it this weekend?" 

Me: "No."

Woman shakes head and says, "Yeah, I heard it sold out. You had to get tickets early."

I smile and respond, "No, I didn't try to get tickets. I didn't want to see the play. Madea is getting on my nerves."

The way that woman (and about 6 other ladies) looked at me after that statement, you would've though I cursed Jesus Christ himself. She turned away from me and began whispering to the woman next to her. Conversation over.

b.      Tyler Perry is set to direct the upcoming film For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Committing Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf. A man that is to direct a movie based upon the play For Colored Girls cannot be a gallivanting across a stage dressed as a crazed woman. He just can't. In my mind's eye I refuse to believe that such a man, one who is going to turn the wonderful and meaningful stage play For Colored Girls into a motion picture film, can be the insanely dramatic and tongue twisted Madea. Nope, I won't believe it. And as long as I do not go to see any more plays with Madea in them, I can begin to erase that scary image from my memory.

See I like the movies Why Did I Get Married, Daddy's Little Girls, Why Did I Get Married Too, The Family That Preys, etc, etc. I can even enjoy some of the movies that have Madea's character in them such as Diary of a Mad Black Woman and I Can Do Bad All By Myself. In general, I have certain reservations about Tyler Perry but I respect him and his work.  I just don't understand how people can still be so gung ho about this Madea character. Let the woman rest. She was funny for a time but now we must let go and let the new workings of Tyler Perry live.

For some reason, the black community needs Madea. We keep watching recordings of the play and laughing as if we have never seen them before. We show them to our children and teach them to find humor in Madea's shenanigans.  We just can't move past this woman. And while we are stuck in Madea mode, our children are failing in school, our people are becoming more and more over weight, the intelligence level of our community is dropping lower and lower, our men are becoming more misogynistic than ever, etc. What, if anything, is Madea doing to positively change the black community where we need change the most? Why can't we let this woman rest and let Tyler Perry mature and do the work that we need him to do? What is the deal with Madea anyway? What do you think?

*I really know very little about the play except that Madea is in it...so there is a big chance that the play is fantastic and worthy of a Broadway run (even though I doubt it). To me, this play gives Tyler the oppurtunity to make yet another movie with Madea in it....OH NO!

Image from : http://newsone.com/entertainment/news-one-staff/madea-goes-to-the-bank/

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Since the inception of the adult cartoon Family Guy in 1999 its main premise has been offense. The show is highly insulting and, if I may say, extremely funny**. The whole purpose of the show is to present social issues in a funny and offensive manner. If you are sensitive to sexism, racism and/or politics, this may not be the show for you. The main characters are a family of dysfunctional white people who have weird and equally dysfunctional friends and associates. This, in essence, is what makes the show so funny. Cartooned American dysfunction is funny.  At times the jokes sting and as such, there are occasions when we are not too sure if we should laugh or condemn the writers. But that is to be expected from a show whose main goal for each episode is to be offensive. If you do not like the offensive methodology of Family Guy, it is suggested that you do not watch the show.

Yesterday, Febraury 22, 2010, Ruben Navarette of San Diego Union-Tribune had an opinionated editorial  featured on CNN.com that expressed his disdain for a recent joke on Family Guy. On one of the latest episodes, Chris (the teenaged son of the Griffin family) is dating a young lady with Down Syndrome. When Chris asks this young lady about her parents’ occupations, she replies, “My father is an accountant and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.” (*Pause while everyone figures out the joke*)

Do you get it? Former governor of Alaska? Yes, it’s a joke about Sarah Palin. She is the former governor of Alaska and she has a 2-year old son with Down Syndrome. Hilarious, right?

Well, to Mr. Ruben Navarette, this is not funny at all. To him, dragging a poor, innocent child with Down Syndrome into a joke that could have easily been directed toward Sarah Palin without the inclusion of the child was purely hateful. In my opinion, it was pure comedy.

Sarah Palin often sets herself up for insult. She says some of the most idiotic things that could ever be said and she continuously makes a fool of herself and her family. When you put yourself out there like that, you are fair game to everyone who likes to joke, especially the writers of Family Guy. Writers such as those for Family Guy live off of people like Sarah Palin, for without her idiosyncrasies they would have nothing to write about. There is not one person or entity that is off limits to the writers of Family Guy. They joke about everything and everybody, even God (Allah, Buddah, Jesus, and any other religious entity that you can think of).Their jokes usually have some sort of social commentary and revolve around things that are popular current news stories. Sarah Palin is no exception.

I understand that teasing those with disabilities is wrong and, if I may borrower a word from Navarette, it’s hateful. The disabled do not choose their predicament and therefore they should not be the focus of our jokes. With that being said, I also understand the purpose of a show such as Family Guy and I know that no one, not even the disabled, are above their level of comedy.  In this situation, even though Down Syndrome is incorporated into the joke, Sarah Palin’s disabled child is not the joke’s focal point. IT’S ALL ABOUT SARAH PALIN. In terms of this joke, no one cares about her child and his disability. The main point was to make fun of Sarah Palin, not her child. Sarah Palin is a bumbling fool who does not know what to say or when to say it. Unfortunately, whether she means it or not, what she says and does affects those with whom she associates (i.e. her children).

Recently, Rahm Emanuel was chastised by Sarah Palin for his use of the term ‘retard’ (‘f*cking retarded’ to be exact) when referring to a group of liberal democrats. Emanuel, the Presidential Chief of Staff, said his remark in a very private meeting, but, not surprisingly, his vulgar statement leaked beyond the confines of those in his company. Palin went berserk over Emanuel’s statement, because as we all know, her son has Down Syndrome and she is, for a lack of better words, sensitive to the term 'retard'.

Well, not to long after Palin’s attack of Emanuel, Rush Limbaugh goes on a ‘retard’ yelling tirade saying things such as;  

Our politically correct society is acting like some giant insult has taken place, by calling people who are retards, retards! [in reference to Emanuel’s statement] I mean these people, these liberal activists, are kooks! They are loony tunes!... So now there’s going to be a meeting, there’s going to be a retard summit…”

Whoa, Limbaugh, in the words of Jay-Z’s chorus singers, you went ‘hard’. So, after her attack of Emanuel (for something that he said in private) it could be assumed that Palin would attack Limbaugh as well (especially since his comments were made to the public listening audience). Well she didn’t. Actually, in an odd turn of events, Palin defended Limbaugh. Yes, she actually defended his use of the word ‘retard’ while continuing on her rampage about Emanuel. That makes absolutely no sense. And you wonder why Family Guy makes jokes about this lady?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion so, Navarette, you can say whatever you like in defense of Sarah Palin and children with Down Syndrome. Just make sure you understand that in the world of Family Guy, if you make a fool of yourself in the social arena, you will be made a fool of on Family Guy. That’s just the way it is.

**This said by a black woman. Imagine how offensive this show should be to me.

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If I were to create a list of my top 10 favorite sitcoms of all time, Mr. Bill Cosby’s A Different World (ADW) would probably rank somewhere between 2 or 3. This show has always been, in a weird way, amazing to me. I mean, aside from the fact that the show hit the airwaves when I was a chicken bone sucking 1 year old (which means that my only real memories of ADW are from reruns), it has truly changed my life.

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