Tyler Perry is brilliant, the story should just end there. He has learned the Hollywood game and he plays it like a pro. After having a series of hits on both the big and the small screen, he recently premiered TLC’s first scripted series Too Close to Home with almost an all white cast.
The casting was to the dismay of some of Perry’s detractors as well as fans who were under the impression that he was supposed to exclusively only premiere black projects…and never grow?One thing is for sure by now that Perry has to be keenly aware of, you often fail to win with black folks. They complained about him playing Madea and wearing dresses, then they complained about his shows like House of Payne being buffoonery NOW they complain because he’s making a show with an all white cast. So what is he supposed to do?
Ignore them and keep going. They don’t see his vision which is remarkable. At the end of the day, he’s a very talented director and producer and his business acumen should be applauded instead of questioned.
He has singlehandedly beat the system by creating his OWN system in Atlanta and with supremely successful independent projects over the years. He has helped save OWN from its rocky start and now the old Hollywood system, that secretly waited for his demise, is forced to comply with success. He’s not JUST a BLACK director and a BLACK producer, he wants to be A director and A producer.
What is wrong with that?Black talent in Hollywood has been defending the stance for decades not to be looked at as “black” but as A talent and that’s exactly what Perry is doing. In all facets of today’s entertainment industry, being stagnant means imminent failure. We either don’t or refuse to see the bigger picture.
Why should Tyler Perry limit his talents to just producing black projects when he can change the entire landscape for black directors and producers to get work in ALL genres by proving that we are just as capable as white directors and producers? He wants to be ranked highly with the rest of the directors and the producers who have had much LESS success… as he should!The show (clip below) is actually very good and will do well for the network. I’m sure Perry still have bigger plans for black talent and audiences but you don’t grow when you stand still.
KUDOS to Tyler.