Tyler Perry Ending Madea Character

Tyler Perry announced in an interview that he is retiring Madea after the 2019 film “Family Funeral.” Perry did not say if the funeral will be hers but stated that he was tired of Madea and did not want to play her when he was the same age as the character. Madea has long been one of Perry’s controversial characters. While Perry says Madea is based off his mother and aunt, many have stated she represents long-held stereotypes about black people.

In an article in The Washington Post, journalist Bethonie Butler discussed how there has been criticism for years about Madea and how her caricature contributes to negatively held stereotypes of black women. The article mentions how one commentator Jamilah Lemieux wrote that Madea has made the country laugh at “one of the most important members of the black community: Mother Dear, the beloved matriarch.” Madea is in many ways a combination of the Mammy and Sapphire stereotypes we have discussed in class. Madea represents one of the few portrayals of an elderly black woman in media and is probably the most well-known character. The fact that the most successful portrayal of an elderly black woman relies on so many negative stereotypes is problematic because the elderly and black people are symbolically annihilated from the media leaving viewers with a trivialized portrayal of this group in society.