to Alizoom for the lesson on the name Madea...evidently the article's author needed it.

...because the style of his "art" isn't quite my cup of tea. But, in support of the multifaceted nature of Black Life, Black experiences (in their variety), Black theater, Black film, and Black people in general, I gotta take my hat off to the brother and embrace him and his contributions to Black entertainment.

"Diary of a Mad Black Woman" was forced upon me by my favorite 60-some, Black Woman in a straight-seamed security guard's uniform (you know her!) who patrols my hallowed hall of the "prestigious" university where I work. I tried to give it back to her, but she told me I "bettah watch it!"--and I did.

I was both surprised and shamed (shame on me!) by the fact that I laughed and cried and found myself rewinding certain scenes in the film when I had to run to the kitchen or bathroom. While the film did not score in the Originality Category (drawing far-to-near direct "inspiration" from The Color Purple, Big Mommas House, et al), I did find myself understanding Perry's popularity among our people and the hunger that his brand of theater/film feeds. Yes, I can dissect all the negatives...but it's not necessary...at least not outside OUR "house."

Shall I dare step out on a shaky limb to assert that Perry is a welcome addition to our theatrical and cinematic heritage? Well...h@ll yeah! I believe he deserves to stand among Baraka and Wilson and Parks...you gotta meet people where they are to get them to think and feel through your art. I don't remember having to peer from behind a burgundy feathered hat--with coiffure to match--to witness Sterling finally get Hambone's ham or to behold Cheadle's Lincoln (if ya' know, ya' know what I'm talking about). But, should sistah-girl-with-hat and our mothers, aunts, godmothers, and "Madeas" like her not be entertained in a positive, soul-searching way that is reflective of who she is and from where she's come?

Anyway...my soapbox is getting weak. Thank you, Salon, for a good article on a good brother and for the clarification of the lack of a connection between our Madea and Medea of Greece. That was funny to me! Aren't they spelled differently??

Really? I've heard Roger Ebert say time and again about some craptacular Hollywood gross-out comedy or sex comedy or slasher flick something along the lines of "There are movies that remind me that being a film critic is a JOB, and this is one of those movies." He and the non-Siskel couldn't agree on which movie was the worst movie of the year and which was the second-worst movie of the year -- "Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo," or "The Dukes of Hazzard" -- and somehow it's a problem that Ebert hated "Diary"? Point being -- critics generally don't like obvious, broad comedy, and "Diary" is part of that genre. Luckily for Perry, moviegoers like obvious, broad comedy, so he's made a lot of money and made a lot of people laugh, and he seems to love what he's doing. To that I say, good for him. But it's silly to expect critics to like his movies if they're not the kinds of movies critics like, just like it's silly to expect TV critics to like broad, stereotype-oriented comedy shows like the always-panned "Blue Collar Comedy." Just like for Tyler Perry, that Larry the Cable Guy dude is lucky that audiences love the stuff at which critics shake their heads.

What I find bizarre is the intersection of race and drag. There really hasn't been a white man doing a drag character since Milton Berle. Sure, the man-in-drag angle has been used in a lot of white movies, but the drag was a plot device, a means to an end -- being in an all-girl band in "Some Like it Hot," getting an acting job in "Tootsie," visiting a girlfriend in "Private School," hitting on chicks in "Sorority Boys," etc. It's been used in black movies, too, of course, with "Juwanna Mann," "Big Momma's House" and "White Chicks" being other uses of drag to get the male character somewhere he couldn't get otherwise. Madea, though, is the queen of her own universe, not a device that some male character has to undertake. That makes "her" much more like Geraldine, the Flip Wilson character that furthered his comedy icon status, or RuPaul, the character that made the then-unknown Rupaul Andre Charles into a household name in the 90s. I don't know what it means, if anything, but given the intersections of race and sex and power in our culture, I feel like it has to mean something that black men can so much better reach the mass market if they dress like women.

I had noticed news stories about Perry's success when "Diary" first came out, and I had really thought that it was more about the marketing to a religious community than it had been a question of race or gender. But not too long ago when Dave Chappelle was on Oprah talking about the self-destruction of his eponymous show, he talked about how, in making a movie with Martin Lawrence, the writers kept wanting Dave to wear a dress, because, you know, it's funny. Then he casually observed that white writers always want to put black men in dresses. Since then, all I keep seeing are ads for "Family Reunion." What does it mean that Madea is played by a man and not a "real woman" of the kind we really never see -- i.e., a heavy, older woman? What are the ricochets of social meaning when you have an older, black woman who is really a man and is an agent of moral change who is an authority figure that carries a gun and smokes dope? Never mind whether his work has uber-serious, artistic merit -- why can't we take the messages he's trying to send without him wearing a dress to do it?

I enjoyed reading your article concerning Tyler Perry and the impact of Madea on mainstream media. I am thrilled to see Tyler Perry get the praise and recognition that he deserves, however I hesitate to join in his joy. This article points out everything that happens when black entertainment truly reaches the black masses, White Hollywood comes calling ready to make its riches. I see the writing on the wall and must now prepare myself for the onslaught of stereotypical pickaninny movies that will be marketed toward African Americans. These movies will only include the absurd parts of the Madea formula, and total skirt over the true magic of Tyler Perry. The ingredient that makes Tyler Perry work, is that he truly cares about the community reflected in his plays and movies. He believes in the Lord he references in them. People, who see only the absurd in Perry's work, miss the "grandmothers and aunts" that are praying and doing the right thing. Like Dave Chappelle pointed out, we can tell the difference when someone is laughing with us and when they are not.

Unoptimistic