Madea

            In Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings Tyler Perry takes on the persona of Madea, a caricature of the women in his neighborhood he knew growing up. Different from the other humor books we’ve read this semester (where author’s focus on portraying their own experience), Perry claims that he and Madea have “extremely different ideas about life” and works throughout the work to create distance between himself and the character of Madea (ix). Perry states that he creates this distance because “women get away with saying things a lot more than a man would…[they] are given much more latitude than men to have emotions and to express them” (ix). Especially 20 years ago (when this book was published), I think this sentiment felt true to Perry. Madea can say absurd things because the distance between the character and the actor is clear and that distance (and the humor that lies within it) allows him to speak at all on topics such as dating, postpartum depression, spousal issues, and child abuse (but I have to wonder if he feels like he can't speak on them as Tyler Perry perhaps he shouldn't be making up a character to do it for him). He at times uses his humor to mock the traditional way of thinking that Madea holds, but his portrayal of her lacks any real empathy for her and his portrayal lacks humanity and empathy. 

            The characterization of Madea I also think speaks to the ways in which humor and what society deems as an acceptable or appropriate to joke about has changed since the book’s publication. For example, Madea’s thoughts on beauty standards and self-love are built on the audience laughing at fat women and at the absurdity of anyone actually beautiful loving themselves any less than her. It's really rather grotesque. As Perry is neither a woman or fat (and seemed to put no more thought into how she would feel about her body and food than fat = lumbering, repulsive buffoon).