Tyler Perry

=== Criticism ===
Tyler Perry's films have come under intense scrutiny with many scrutinizers claiming his films traffic in offensive and negative [[African-American]] stereotypes. Author Donald Bogle stated in an interview with ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'', "Madea does have connections to the old mammy type. She’s mammy-like. If a white director put out this product, the black audience would be appalled."<ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://ew.com/article/2009/03/17/madea-bad-black-america/|title= 'Madea': Bad for black America?|magazine= Entertainment Weekly|accessdate= July 20, 2023}}</ref>

In an open letter to Perry on [[National Public Radio]], journalist [[Jamilah Lemieux]], while thanking Perry for "giving black folks jobs in front of and behind the camera," also criticized his shows ''[[Meet the Browns (TV series)|Meet the Browns]]'' and ''[[House of Payne]]''. In her letter, she stated that "both your shows are marked by old stereotypes of buffoonish, emasculated black men and crass, sassy black women." While she noted his work for its humor and "positive messages of self-worth, love and respect," she later expressed frustration that African-Americans "have been fed the same images of ourselves over and over and over because they sell."<ref name="An Open Letter to Tyler Perry">{{cite news|title=An Open Letter to Tyler Perry|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112760404|date=September 11, 2009|access-date=March 29, 2013|newspaper=National Public Radio}}</ref>

Lemieux dismissed his famous Madea character, claiming that "Through her, the country has laughed at one of the most important members of the black community: Mother Dear, the beloved matriarch. ... Our mothers and grandmothers deserve much more than that." While she expressed appreciation toward Perry for dismissing critics' negative comments, Lemieux claimed that "many black folks have expressed some of the very same attitudes about your work that white critics have," and urged him to "stop dismissing the critics as haters and realize that black people need new stories and new storytellers."<ref name="An Open Letter to Tyler Perry"/>