At the 2009 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference & Expo, one of the featured speakers was Spike Lee. During his segment, he was asked about the representation of black culture in TV and film. His example of our need for an improved representation was Tyler Perry's "House of Pain" and "Meet The Browns". He claims that even though it is generating a lot of revenue, it is taking us back to the minstrel days of Mantan Moreland and Sleep 'N Eat. Watch a segment of the interview and comment with your opinion.
If you want Tyson's Take on the matter, I feel that Spike makes a very valid point. We have to create more accurate representations of our entire culture or much of our history may be washed away by shuckin' & jivin'. With that being said, I also feel that Tyler Perry should not change his format or characters. Madea, Mr. Brown, and the rest of his lively characters always have a moral or positive religious undertone in each movie and story. I feel it should be less about getting someone to stop doing what he's doing, and it should be more about cultivating NEW black filmmakers to offer other representations of who we are.
- Steve Tyson Jr.
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