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Heavy lies the crown Tyler Perry has had to wear as the first black person in Hollywood to own his own studio and content.
This has come with a great praise and critique of him as a writer, producer, director and artist, he says after he puts the character of Madea to bed after a 20 year run.
“What I want the lasting legacy to be is a road map for anybody else who wants to get to ownership, not to just be an actor or writer, but own the copyright so you have generational wealth,” Perry says.
“I had to be relentless. I had to fight a lot of prejudices and racism; people who didn’t understand us or our stories, who didn’t see them as being necessary to be told.
"The greatest gift I was given was being able to be out on stage in front of our people and selling out arenas all over the country before I even got to Hollywood, where white people did not even know who I was.
“So when Madea opened at number one, it shocked them and it opened the door for me. But I still had to fight for 10 years – for not only me but for everybody else.”
Perry says a “new wave of talent of colour” in the US makes him “so happy”; it’s a victory after the battles long waged behind closed doors.
Besides the love, shock, anger and laughter Madea provoked, she also provided a lot of comfort and courage.
Asked for his highlights of playing Madea, Perry cites seeing a 15 000-seater arena sold out for her live show. But that’s not what matters the most to him.
“The most powerful thing was getting letters from people saying Madea did in 30 minutes what we couldn’t do in 12 days: My sister is leaving her abusive relationship; she had the courage,” he said.
“I will never forget receiving a letter from this woman who was going to commit suicide. She had got her kids together and she took them to a hotel and told them they could watch whatever they like and they put on a Madea film. She says by the end of it she had gathered hope, and no longer wanted to end her life.”
Madea, he says, was able to speak about social ills in a way others couldn’t.
“My mother was in an abusive and loveless marriage for 47 years and I always felt great pain for her. The greatest gift I have been given with this character is to use it to talk about very serious issues plaguing us as African American people and people around the world ... about abuse, molestation, rapes, and getting over things and forgiveness.
"She was the tool for all of that, so it was not just about ‘Helluuur’ [he said of Madea’s greeting].”
While millions are heartbroken that her last movie will be released next year, Perry says it’s time. “I will be turning 50 next year and I just don’t want to be her age playing her.
"I think it’s time she came to an end. She’s such a powerful and loved character and so when I announced the end of her, I just did not expect this outcry. But we will see what happens,” he told City Press.
But Perry has been criticised for stereotyping black women.
“This is not a question white people get asked. They never get asked: Why is the woman crazy, why is she angry? And I don’t think the women I write are angry; I think they are complicated,” he says in response.
“They are my mother and my sisters who were beaten and abused. There are a lot of women who are hurt, who are angry, who are like my mother, and I want to talk to them. Because, had somebody like me come along to talk to her, my life as her child would have been a lot different.”
