End of era as Madea bows out
We all have that angry black woman inside us, bursting to help others fight for themselves
Much like every millennial I often find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place when my happy technicolour childhood is faced with the harsh realities of my adult wokeness.
You know, that awkward moment when you round up your nephews or kids to watch an animated movie you enjoyed as a rug rat only to realise it is inherently racist, sexist and just about every type of discriminatory thing Harvey Weinsten could cook up.
Or, how stand-up comedy is genuinely funny and does not cash in on homophobia – it’s just jokes, right?
Well, one of the biggest conflicts I’m faced with is my startling lack of woke-ness whenever Tyler Perry releases a Madea movie.
With her farewell tour having recently been announced, I’m sad to see her leave us all behind.
There is no escaping the extreme problematic nature of Madea and friends. And by friends I count Eddie Murphy’s fat suits, that time Martin Lawrence was an undercover spinster and Chris Lilley’s antics as a private school girl.
All of these often held problematic tropes of what women, often elderly and single, behaved like.
Never has a man donned a fat suit and portrayed a woman as a logical individual capable of circumventing the world without upsetting every single person around her.
However, there was something very special about the slew of horny men in fat suits as angry women.
In a pivotal and tide-changing moment in the second season of Being
Mary Jane, the titular character played by Gabrielle Union shoots down a somewhat racist woman during an interview by comparing her to the notion of an “ugly black woman”.
The allegory of the ugly black woman is one who is oppressed, misrepresented and fighting to be heard. On the other hand, Perry and a few other men in tights have been able to unleash something very important – the angry black woman.
Madea’s rants, violence and misdemeanours never quite made it OK to go and abuse your fellow man but it sure did liberate the hell out of the women around her.
Yes, violence solves nothing but somehow the giant of a woman stood tall enough for other woman around her to feel strong enough against the oppressive men, and sometimes women, in their lives.
Madea’s love for family and community was a reminder of our blackness and how we should never water it down. We all have that angry black woman inside of us, bursting to help others fight for themselves.
Critics will be dancing on Madea’s grave but it’s fine; we all know our favourite aunt will be buried deep in a rowdy strip club. Farewell Madea, may you rest in eternal rage.