First of all, let me lay my cards on the table. (Poker, anyone?) I am white, male, nonchristian, over 40, college-educated, and live in the northeast. I'm old enough to remember the original "Diary of a Mad Housewife" and when "Miss Jane Pittman" first aired, and I have done the electric slide, lived in the south (never been to Atlanta, but love Georgia), and have attended barbecues--but know very little about the "chitlin circuit." Yet I (and the two white friends I went with) loved this movie!
As I see it, people who have witnessed this movie can be divided into two camps: 1) reviewers (probably mostly white) who disliked the movie even when they tried to like it and 2) ordinary people (mostly probably black, as many tell us) who loved it. So why do many apparently white viewers not "get it"? Why did I see it in my mostly white area with only about five other people in the audience?
Well, a lot of people didn't like "Showgirls" or "Carwash" or "Lonely Lady" when they first came out, and now those are cult hits, even "classics." "Diary" is only like those movies in that it is similarly over-the-top, unapologetic, irony-free, awkward, amateurish (that is, not slick), and yet so intrinsically watchable you can't take your eyes of the screen for a split second. I must admit that I probably laughed at some "inappropriate" moments, but then so did Madea. The whole faith-based initiative Christian-values quasi-Republican "message" might have made me wince or even gag in another context, but is delivered so sincerely here you can't help but forgive just as Jesus (or Helen!) would.
One could only call this movie operatic or "Shakespearian." Wait--I'm not trying to sound pretentious, only trying to point out that like Shakespeare this movie mixes high melodrama with "low" comedic relief, music, and spectacle. The comic actors comment upon and undercut the ultra-seriousness or piety of the rest of the story--and so we can only enjoy it more when the plot rides another twist on its emotional roller-coaster.
Tyler Perry is obviously a man with a vision--he doesn't have the finesse of Eddie Murphy, perhaps, but I admit I was halfway through the movie before I realized he was playing both Madea and old Joe AND Brian. My fear is now that he will be sucked in by Hollywood, the executives will convince him to deliver what they think white people want or "need," and he will lose his rough but raucous magic. So when Hollywood comes knocking, please don't answer, Mr. Perry!
When I went into this movie I was grumbling that ticket prices had gone up to ten dollars, but since we are given about five films for the price of one, I consider it a very good deal. It is simply one of the most astonishing movies I've ever seen.
As I see it, people who have witnessed this movie can be divided into two camps: 1) reviewers (probably mostly white) who disliked the movie even when they tried to like it and 2) ordinary people (mostly probably black, as many tell us) who loved it. So why do many apparently white viewers not "get it"? Why did I see it in my mostly white area with only about five other people in the audience?
Well, a lot of people didn't like "Showgirls" or "Carwash" or "Lonely Lady" when they first came out, and now those are cult hits, even "classics." "Diary" is only like those movies in that it is similarly over-the-top, unapologetic, irony-free, awkward, amateurish (that is, not slick), and yet so intrinsically watchable you can't take your eyes of the screen for a split second. I must admit that I probably laughed at some "inappropriate" moments, but then so did Madea. The whole faith-based initiative Christian-values quasi-Republican "message" might have made me wince or even gag in another context, but is delivered so sincerely here you can't help but forgive just as Jesus (or Helen!) would.
One could only call this movie operatic or "Shakespearian." Wait--I'm not trying to sound pretentious, only trying to point out that like Shakespeare this movie mixes high melodrama with "low" comedic relief, music, and spectacle. The comic actors comment upon and undercut the ultra-seriousness or piety of the rest of the story--and so we can only enjoy it more when the plot rides another twist on its emotional roller-coaster.
Tyler Perry is obviously a man with a vision--he doesn't have the finesse of Eddie Murphy, perhaps, but I admit I was halfway through the movie before I realized he was playing both Madea and old Joe AND Brian. My fear is now that he will be sucked in by Hollywood, the executives will convince him to deliver what they think white people want or "need," and he will lose his rough but raucous magic. So when Hollywood comes knocking, please don't answer, Mr. Perry!
When I went into this movie I was grumbling that ticket prices had gone up to ten dollars, but since we are given about five films for the price of one, I consider it a very good deal. It is simply one of the most astonishing movies I've ever seen.