Tyler Perry or Spike Lee?

I am amused by the debate that Tyler Perry needs to elevate his game, the issue most recently raised by Spike Lee. Individual Black people are no longer responsible for the perception of our entire race. I enjoy to varying degrees films by both men.

We are long past the point of running up and down the street yelling “Black people are on TV,” thus holding the entire future appearing on TV in their hands. One slip up back then and you might never see another Black person on TV. The same is true of the first Black people working in corporate America. They had better make us proud. Fortunately, we have too many examples of successful Black people in all occupations to worry about how one person causes Black people to look.

I am more concerned with the 15,000 plus gang members who have died since the formation of the Crips and Bloods defending their "turf" or revenge killings. I take a greater exception to the idea young Black men need to "score" with as many women, and as often as possible, leading to thousands of single parent mothers and the spread of STD in our community. It's just as disturbing that some of our young men find it necessary to dress the same forgoing individual and personal style and taste; all so that they fit in, while making themselves targets of police profiling. We need more Black entrepreneurs and business owners, and we need to support those businesses!

We benefit by having both a Spike Lee and a Tyler Perry, just as we benefited from having a Martin Luther King and a Malcolm X.  For example Spike and Tyler provide jobs for Black people and make movies we can relate to. In turn, they are provided an opportunity to support causes they believe in.

Long gone are the days when the act of one or a few Black people define our entire race. We should be able to enjoy good comedy, even simple comedy. Other races had their Abbott and Costello, Bowery Boys, Three Stooges, etc. In the mean time Tyler Perry has already begun addressing more serious topics in his films calling for more dramatic acting.

So give the brother a break. He has found a formula which generates the cash he needs to make movies with better content and employ more talented out of work Black actors than any other person making films. That includes Spike Lee.