In Madea’s Big Happy Family, Shirley (Loretta Devine) wishes to bring her family together to tell them she is dying of cancer. But her children have their own problems which are all too familiar. Her daughters are two angry, aggressive women who emasculate well-meaning men and tire of their families. Her son is a drug-dealing man caught between his baby mama and his gold-digging girlfriend.
Throw in the Maury Povich paternity test which later arises and you’ve got the whole gamut of stereotypes that continues to build Tyler Perry’s franchise and keep black magna cum laudes shaking their heads.
The strong point of this film are the jokes. One of my favorite was when Madea told Brown: “All dogs go to heaven. So I know they have room for silverbacks.”
Though Madea is preachy and heavy-handed, it is easy to see why Perry’s core audience falls in love with the character’s sharp tongue and sense of humor. But there is a downside to her all-knowing omniscience. Madea’s over-involvement stunts the growth of other characters who are not able to figure things out on their own; their evolution only begins when Madea opens her mouth.
And she counsels them on everything from unruly children to broken marriages, which makes you wonder why doesn’t she just write a book? Oh wait, she already did.
As usual Perry’s directorial style is high on talking heads and low on “motion picture.” There’s nothing really visually interesting about the film except Brown’s outfit.
Moreover, the film is weighed down by too many subplots: paternity testing, health concerns, failing marriages, parenting issues. Consequently, the family secret which could have been a core part of the story is given only a marginal treatment.
Gender jabs are wholly one-sided. Women are the brunt of jokes about menopause and the source of scandal. In one scene, a so-called “victory” in communication emerges when a husband tells her wife to “sit her ass down” and she complies.
This accompanied with a mother who sells her child’s clothes for money, one who gives up her child, and another who doesn’t know who the daddy is, makes portrayals of women more villainous than in other Tyler Perry films.
On the acting front, R&B singer Teyana Taylor (Stomp the Yard 2) impresses as the feisty ghetto girl. But is this role really a stretch — considering she was just accused of giving the beatdown to a woman who made comments about her BFF Chris Brown?
Taylor later tweeted her innocence, but either way, she shows much promise as a young actress and it would be great to see her in some more roles.
Although the ensemble cast leaves little room for character development, it enables us to see a wide variety of faces, shapes, sizes, and ages that we will otherwise NEVER see represented on screen. Cassi Davis, Shannon Kane, Isaiah Mustafa, Natalie Desselle, Rodney Perry, Tamela Mann, and David Mann are some of those lesser known thespians and Perry’s film allows them to showcase their acting talent.
And by now, there’s probably not a young black actor in Hollywood who hasn’t played Loretta Devine’s child.
The tenth Tyler Perry-branded film, Madea’s Big Happy Family has made over $41 million in just 11 days in theaters.
Yet, the same reason you would pay twelve dollars for a Tyler Perry film is the same reason you would go to McDonald’s. You know what you’re going to get. It tastes the same.
In 2006 or 2011, Madea will always be Madea. And whether you appreciate or abhor the character depends on whether you are a Tyler Perry disapprover or devotee.
Watch the trailer.
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Director/Writer: Tyler Perry
Stars: Tyler Perry, Loretta Devine, Bow Wow, Teyana Taylor, Lauren London
Release: 22 April 2011
I already know what to expect, so why shd I see this? TP really needs to take a painful look at himself and question whether what he’s feeding these black people makes sense.
It’s like we all know McDonald’s is bad for us, but we eat it anyway, not because we are pretending but because we really have no choice. Could McDonald improve the food a little, they can! Albeit the 38 million profit per yr will dip by 1 million! Would they? No! And TP is just like them and doing the same!
Mos def!
All TP haters. Maybe we just love McDonald’s. Have you considered that there’s all these grocery stores around and we still love us some McDonald’s?
Yeah. but you know it’s junk though, don’t you? So I suppose you have a similar opinion of TP movies ev’though you still watch it.
Does it really matter what we call it? Junk or not, it taste good, don’t it? I enjoy TP movies likewise!
You must know then that as junk food hurts black people’s health, so do TP movies, right?
From whose perspective? From where I stand, I don’t know who it’s hurting. You mean like hurting white people’s perspective of us? Why shd we care what they think? Again it depends where you be standing at.
I know I’m late, I just saw this movie a couple days ago. I agree with Kukrudu. TP movies are no different from liking a certain singer. You buy their music and tickets to their concerts because you know what to expect from them. Some of these comments are so hyped up for no reason. It’s entertainment. And even though some of the characters in this and other TP movies are stereotypical, they are also relatable to his audience. There are ghetto people in the black community; there are black women who are angry at something from their past that they can’t get over. That doesn’t mean that just those stereotypes speak for the black community as a whole. I, for one, enjoy TP movies because they have a little bit of everything-humor, romance, a more serious side, etc.
Ok, ok, call a truce. Yes, I am a TP fan so you know. Kukrudu, your argument is fine as hell! TP all the way. I wish I can catch it before it leaves the theaters.
Patrick, you better be quick.
Don’t you guys forget that white people be eating McDonald’s too! There are some ‘junk’ or better yet ‘McDonald’s’ movies out there for white folks too. They don’t complain about them as much as we do.
So you guys are branding TP movies as ‘McDonald’s’ movies? How incorrect!
Well in the realm of our discussion, I think the analogy is appropriate. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. It means there are varied opinions about it and no consensus.