Newcomers: Scorsese, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus - Diary of a Mad Black Woman (w/ Jon Braylock)

Episode Date: March 16, 2021

Nicole and Lauren are back, and this season, they're watching Tyler Perry's works for the first time. No more of that nerd stuff! They're starting with the movie that kicked it all off for him: Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and are joined by Jon Braylock (Astronomy Club, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), who knows Mr. Perry's oeuvre inside and out. Follow Jonathan on Twitter and Instagram!Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what Tyler Perry hit they should check out next.Advertise on Newcomers via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum Original. There's no easy way to say this. What is she doing here? Get out. He put me out of the house. Who house? Come out! Half of everything in this house belongs to her and I ain't leaving here till she get it.

You want this half, you want this half. He is eight feet under. Six feet under. I beat him down two more feet. I was mad as hell. I know type one dope. And I know what y'all. Come on, bring it out. Piece of steel.

That keeps me a piece of steel. As long as you got a piece of steel, you gonna have peace. Load your steel. Thank you, Chief. Kimberly Elise, Shamar Moore, Steve Harris, Cicely Tyson, and Tyler Perry. Madea. Ooh, your hair is pretty. What is this, repeat offender day?

Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman. I'm placing you under house arrest. You ain't finna put me on no house arrest. It's either that or prison. I'll take the house arrest. Lauren, we're doing it! Oh my god, I cannot believe this is happening. We've talked about this for a long time, and it's finally here. It's finally here.

It's truly what was getting me through the last couple viewings of the Lord of the Rings. But we are on our third season of Newcomers. We are working our way through Tyler Perry's body of work for the very first time. I'm so excited. This is our first episode of the third season. We are going to get into all sorts of stuff. We're going to have a lot of Tyler Perry super fans on who know more about this than we do.

And this is going to be 10 episodes. We won't get to everything, but we also won't run ourselves ragged like we have with the other topics. So I think this will be better. It's a nice cool 10. 20 was a little exhausting. Yes. You know?

It was a bit much, especially once we were getting into, like, listening to Lord of the Rings radio plays. Oh, boy. I feel like we really had crossed a line that no one wanted us to cross. Yeah. Listening to that was one of the times I was like, I wish I lived on the west side so I could walk into the ocean. Oh, yeah. I also had thoughts about death during that. Oh, yeah. I also had thoughts about death during that.

So today we can say that we've completed what is known as the introduction to Madea by watching the iconic character's big screen debut in Tyler Perry's first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, that came out in 2005. Diary of a Mad Black Woman is available on DVD for a fee and on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu. I will say I watched it for free and on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and Voodoo. I will say I watched it for free. I googled it and found it for free on some other site so I think you can find it for free.

Oh, on Pivot? Tubi, yeah. Yeah, I just started playing so I don't know. I say go for that. Obviously we're going to have a lot of spoilers. We're going to talk about the whole movie and get into it. So if you want to watch it first, do that. If you already have seen it or you don't care, you just want to hear us talk about it, then carry on. I will say this. Watch at least half of it. I agree. It's a it's a ride. I feel like if you haven't seen it, you need to watch part of it because it is so surprising to me.

Yes. I can't put it in the genre. Nope. Here's what I thought. I'll just say this before we get into our guests and getting deep into this. But having just seen commercials and things about Madea, I have thought it's a comedy. seen commercials and things about medea i have thought it's a comedy i have forever been like oh those are just funny movies about this you know tyler perry as a woman that does not play a role until pretty far into the movie and also it's fully dramatic very far in to the point where

i didn't think medea was in it i started to wonder if i was watching the wrong thing and fully the character is the only funny part there is nothing humorous about the other things i mean there are some things that i found very funny but i don't think those were the comedic moments necessarily yes so i want to i want to get into this nicole what what were your expectations and okay so different I didn't realize that Diary of a Mad Black Woman was based on a Tyler Perry play. And I have seen a Tyler Perry play. I believe I was in like seventh grade. My mom was very involved in the church.

So the church, we got on a bus and we drove down to somewhere and we saw it. And I just remember one of the jokes was this lady was in a green sparkly dress and someone goes, you look like a can of Sprite. And everyone laughed really hard. And I was like, well, I don't know if this is for me. I just didn't find it funny and I don't know why. And that is the only thing that has stuck out in my brain for Tyler Perry that's so funny and I've only seen I saw Boo Medea 2 but I was like I don't even know this title I was very confused is that a Halloween part 2 movie it was a Halloween movie but like I had a hard time following it and then I left the theater for a little bit to like talk

on the phone with somebody it was a mess so I I didn't like see, see the movie, but like this, I don't remember it being as like gospely or of like so much about God or like, it takes a hard turn to God. There's a ton about God. We got to get into this. Oh my God. Oh my God. Okay. Well, we're so excited. Our guest today is John Braylock. John is an actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He's the head writer for the sketch group Astronomy Club, which premiered their hilarious self-titled sketch series on Netflix in 2019, which you should all go watch. And John also co-hosts the popular podcast Black Men Can't Jump in Hollywood, and he also was a guest on our previous seasons. John, thank you for being here. We can't wait to get into this. John, thank you for being here Thank you Thank you so much for having me I am beyond excited to talk about this movie in particular

and also that you guys are delving into the real MCU the Madea Cinematic Universe I know Sean Dixon's going to be disappointed because he was really pushing first year Marvel but I don't know, honestly I'm so pumped about this. I mean, this is the first.

I will say this. The movie was two hours long. So it borrows from the other universes we've explored. This is so true. I was like, we didn't get we didn't get away with it on time on this one. No, we're still going to put in the hours, okay? Yeah. It's just like...

Yeah, oh boy. Inexplicably long. Yeah, so long. It should end at so many different points, or it could. Like, they could get away with it. I have to say, I really loved the ending. I would tell, wait till we get there, but... It was like an improv show.

You're right, you're right. It was like, the seeds keep going, and you're like, someone could edit this. We could end this. Get out of it, Get out of it. Get out of it. For some reason we can't. John, how did you become a Tyler Perry fan? So I grew up in a pretty conservative Christian household.

And this is like, so Tyler Perry was like right up everyone's alley basically because it was black and Christian, right? And that is what he's – and like all of his plays have this – you'll see like there are some movies that have it a little bit less, but there's always – God has always worked in somewhat. And at the end of the day, they're all kind of morality plays. And at the end of the day, they're all kind of morality plays. Yeah. So, but yeah, this was like, I don't know. I saw like, I almost, I never got to see a Tyler Perry play, but I remember like my dad and my uncle, like trying to get us to go see one.

And so I knew about Tyler Perry. And then this movie came out and I remember, and when I watched it, like we all watched it and I was like legitimately like, this is a great film. Like legitimately like this is a great, great movie.

And I hadn't seen it. I hadn't seen this one in quite some time. And I've seen other Tyler. And since then I've been like, okay, there are some that are better than others and there are some that you're just like oh god um he's obviously created a name for

himself from you know for people who've never seen his work they you kind of have an understanding of who Tyler Perry is and what he does um but I don't know even watching this film again I was like I was like no there's I I know why this man is successful. Yeah. Yeah. I felt, I felt like I could, I could understand it very easily.

And I, and I also, I almost cried at the end. I don't know if that's weird. So I watched this with Tessa and we both were like, we both were like very misty eyed. I also got misty eyed at the end. Thank you.

Thank you. I was getting word that you were thinking I was crazy no I'll tell you this so Sashir went and saw I think she saw it live it was like the last Tyler Perry play and she was like I was full-blown sobbing by the end yeah so like he there's something to this good at getting like you to feel but it's so fascinating because i felt like the second it started it's really over the top and like i was like some of these characters i was thinking i'm not gonna be feeling something about them i'm like it's not gonna get me but then by the end when i mean that mom character comes in singing i was like that character had seemed a little over the

top to me in previous scenes where i was like okay i don't know and then truly i was like, that character had seemed a little over the top to me in previous scenes where I was like, okay, I don't know. And then truly I was like, she's bad. 100%. 100%. We're going to talk about this more and more. But I do think also one of the secrets to Tyler Perry's successes is that even though he's doing these literal soap opera melodramas, he has actors, because they're all black actors in Hollywood, especially during this time, the early 2000s. Like, they're being passed over by Hollywood completely.

So he's able to get, like, high caliber actors to come in and, like, make, you know, pretty kind of two-dimensional roles into something meaty, like, especially by the end. All of a sudden, you know, pretty kind of two-dimensional roles into something meaty, like especially by the end. All of a sudden you're like, whoa, this person's making me feel something. How are they doing? As I watched it, I was like, oh yeah, I fully see how this is a play. Like this is a, it's a filmed play with locations. But yeah, I was like this, yeah, this would crush.

Medea, the scene when they're in the closet and she's going this is a wreck I was like this would crush life she had a lot with the calculator I was like that's fucking hilarious Lauren I was dying the calculator bit I was like

I almost put it in my Instagram story and I was like I don't want to give this away this is like fucking hilarious it crushed me I was like, I almost put it in my Instagram story. And I was like, I don't want to give this away. This is like fucking hilarious. Oh, it crushed me. It's also like, and I've said, so I've said this on our podcast. The other thing you have to know about why this is so successful is that Madea is truly one of the greatest comedy characters ever created. I agree.

I think I have to agree. I truly, I was like, first of all, he disappears into the role. I also didn't know that Tyler Perry played like 10 people in the movie. So that was also fun. Yes. Yeah. He also plays a sincere, genuine,

regular person. Who's just himself. Like he doesn't have any prosthetics or anything. And then I was like, okay, so he's also like a romantic interest while being the crazy aunt. Like he's just like so many things. I feel like Tyler Perry was like, many things i feel like tyler perry was

like oh i can't you're passing over me for a lot of things well i'll just be literally everything yeah until you guys give me my due and now he owns a fucking city in atlanta and harboring fucking the royals i will say it's not a bad idea and maybe we should do it. I mean, I would love, I want slapsticky comedy to come back. Like I think it would just be so like the wrong Missy was so fun because like I, I texted you the part where you fall off that cliff.

I truly was like, I love shit like that. And like, I feel like it's very funny to just fall a hundred times and be in no pain. And like, that's, it's fun. It's just silly. It's just silly.

Um, well, John, okay. So many comedians have been inspired by the characters and storylines and Tyler Perry films and the tropes appear often in comedy, including being parodied on astronomy club and your podcast, uh, also touches on them.

So as a comedian, would you say that Tyler Perry has influenced your work? Oh, man. I mean, Tyler Perry has definitely been a part of my work. I think it's hard to say. my work I think I don't it's hard to say like I mean I I guess in a way it's it's weird because there's there's two there's two sides of this there's like the one side where I I so respect what Tyler Perry has done for himself in this way of like you know like him and Oprah have like literally become like these huge moguls they like own their own businesses and like have like literally become like these huge moguls. They like own their own businesses. And like,

yeah, like you just said, he like owns his own literal studio in Atlanta. I believe there's a fire department. Yeah. I think he has like a city or something. It's a city. Right.

Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's insane. And like, there's, there's something like, I think you can make a legitimate case that like,

as a lot of people in the industry know, like Atlanta has become like a kind of hotspot for filmmaking. And like you could say like Tyler Perry's a person who really put that on the map. A lot of people credit it to the fake MCU. But I don't know, like he was doing this first and he really like you know what i mean like so um uh but then there is the other it's like the antithesis of tyler perry because tyler perry was so has been so mocked and like by both um the black and white communities in terms of like like what we shouldn't be um i feel like tyler perry affects like any black working comedians. Just in the sense of like,

you have to know who he is and you have to be like, you know, there was a point in which I felt like, oh, I'm not Tyler. I, my comedy is, is,

is better than his. Like it's more, it's smarter. It's more cerebral. I don't have to like dumb down. Yeah. But it's, it's, it's smarter. It's more cerebral. I don't have to like dumb down. Yeah. But it's, it's,

it's complicated. Cause like, then I, then I come like, I take a step back and I'm like, okay, but white people are able to do really dumb, stupid,

watered down comedy all the time. So like, why are we all getting on this one black man who's doing, like, I don't, it's, it feels like a double standard. Did you guys see the episode,

the Tyler Perry episode of Kenya Barris' show on Netflix? Oh, I watched some of that. I can't remember what it's called right off the top of my head. Black AF? No. Black AF, yes. I did not see that episode.

I don't think I saw, I can't remember if I saw Tyler Perry's. I watched the first couple. So maybe I did. Maybe after a couple of these episodes, after you've seen a couple of these movies and at a point where you're like, I don't know, Tyler Perry. Watch that episode because it is he basically has Tyler Perry on and like Kenya basically has that conversation with the actual Tyler Perry. Oh, fun. You know, and it's it's really like his his kind of it's not even a defense of himself.

He's just like just stating like who he is and like why he does what he does. It's like pretty it's kind of profound. And it made me really, really respect him again. Oh, good. So, yeah, I don't know. I think it's so funny that like black people kind of draw a line in the sand with him they're like i love tyler perry i don't like tyler perry i truly toe the line on it because i'm like this is just this is like one kind of movie one kind of tv show right right i think my

only issue that i take up with tyler perry is he had made this Instagram post where it was like a stack of scripts and he was like wrote all these myself and I was like you have six shows on television you can have a writer's room of 10 people that is 60 people you could employ black people that you can employ and you can elevate them to like higher levels because in staffing they're always like there are no high level black writers and it's because you get hired as a diversity hire and once you become too expensive nobody will hire you and then you can't find a job and it's like but i could jump on a tyler perry project because he likes to hire black people so i mean that's my one problem yeah no that is really interesting because i mean i think there's there's something about like the i don't want to put the word arrogance on it but like of just

doing it all yourself like see you did it all and it's like we but you've already proven that so i do think like we know like at a certain point you know that the person is capable and then to open it up i like i just feel like i understand it for the first bit like yeah keep showing us that you can do it by yourself. And then like at a certain point, yeah, you can elevate a ton of other people. And to be like perfectly honest, he doesn't do it all by himself. Like he does have people who help write and stuff. Okay, someone's cutting through to the truth here.

Are you telling me he's posting falsehoods on his Instagram? No, I think he's credited by himself. That's for sure. Yeah. He was able to get that. That is the thing with like writing where for TV that I think people don't fully understand

and like with writers rooms and stuff, like what you really want is to get credit on an episode because then you get paid more than you do, even though everyone's doing it together. So that is an important element that's not happening there. Yeah. John.

Yeah. What do you think that, what do you think is keeping the, the franchise Medea, the other movies? What do you think it's, what do you think keeps it culturally relevant? Um,

it, it's the fact that there just aren't enough black stories being told so yeah like you know first of all tyler perry wrote so many plays and he was writing plays after like the movies started doing well he just kept doing that so you know he has like this wealth of and he's he's made it into a factory he really was able to figure like figure out the formula of like this is how i make a play and this is how i'm able to make that play into a movie um and i'm able to do it for cheap like that's the other thing about tyler perry is that he he does like cut corners sometimes like this movie is actually you'll see like because this is the only movie

he didn't direct um and then like by the time we get to like boo to a medea halloween you're like okay the quality of directing has clearly dropped and it's specifically because he is shooting things on very short timetables. Like he's making sure that the costs of his movies are always pretty low so that, you know, a $5 million movie can make $50 million like this one did. So I don't know a ton about it, but with his TV series, I feel like they shoot really fast.

Do you guys know about that? Yes. Like they're like super, so it's probably a similar thing. Like just doing it on a tight budget, getting it done, but then it can make a lot of money on the other side. And they're multi-cam.

Yeah. And I think they do like two shows a day or something like that. So it's like a soap opera. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. It's a soap opera schedule, but for only like a 12 to 20 episode order.

Yeah. Get right to the point. We don't need two takes. We're good. That's all you got. When's my close up? We already did it. Yeah. Trust me, we got it.

We got it. And it's this character. It's like he's created the Medea character and a couple of other characters. And like, you'll see, like it expands. Like, you know, when we get to like House of Paint, like all of the characters all come back in the other movies. So like, he knows what people love

and they're able to do it in this way that they just kind of, they keep it fresh. He's obviously a very good improviser. Like that's the other thing you have to admit. He's funny. Very funny. I found him funny. Yeah, like the other thing. She's funny. Very funny. I found it funny.

Yeah. Like he's legit all star. Like, honestly, it was in spite of myself because I just wasn't sure what to expect. And I was like, well, I think this is funny. He made me laugh many times.

And honestly, there's other parts I want to talk about that. I don't know if they were intended to be funny and I want to see what you guys thought, but I think we should right now. Let's really quickly do our, now this is going to be an interesting title here, Newsmedia.

It's like news media, but it's not. Okay. Clever. Very, very clever. So here's our news in this world. Tyler Perry offered his home and security in Southern California to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after they lost security protection from

the royal family. Now, when I saw this in the Oprah interview, I did get really excited because I was like, we are on trend with our topic. This is in the news. Finger on the pulse. Did you guys watch the Oprah interview? I didn't, but the memes are so good that I think I understand

what happened and it's so sad i know i'm sure you got everything from twitter basically but it was really interesting it was yeah it was great it's just so wild it's like how do you defend how you treated this woman and that's all she is is a woman just a nice woman i know well the it yeah it seemed like the statement released by the royal family was like some people's recollections are different than others. And it's like, you're saying she's lying. So in the interview, which was on March 7th with Oprah, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed that Tyler Perry swooped in to help them. So they were told they would stop receiving security protection from the royal family and which is so crazy because presidents get don't they get secret service for the rest of their lives right right it's so it's so crazy to me to think that he would just go to be a regular citizen with no protection it just doesn't seem fair or safe but um harry and megan they were in canada at the time and they were

panicking about the safest place to go and it was right when COVID was happening. They didn't know if they'd be able to cross the border once COVID shut everything down. So they, Tyler Perry, I would like to know how this happened, but he offered not just one of his homes in Southern California, but a full security detail and

they stayed in that house for three months while they got their life set up in Santa Barbara, which is where they live now. I mean, maybe we're going to get Diary of a Mad Black Princess, you know? Maybe he had cameras. Dude. Well, you know what's so funny? Because in the interview.

Oh, my God. I thought it was really interesting. They were talking about how they're cut off financially. So he, Prince Harry, had like a like a whole you know life set up with all the money there but so he only has the money that his mom left him which i'm sure is a lot but he um they were able to like figure it out but then you know oprah was asking them about their spotify and netflix deals and like oh you know kind of calling out that people have suggested that that was megan's plan all along or whatever.

And they both said that they truly just had no clue how they were going to be able to pay for security and do all these things. So that's why they did those deals. And I mean, it makes sense. That sucks. Yeah. Come on.

They have to. I mean, they have to make money. Yeah. And why would you not? And they're not going to work at a Burger King. Totally. Why would you not take those deals? Anyone would.

Yeah. But I think people are just so critical of the royal family and Meghan Markle. So it's like. Yeah. And people don't realize that like when a very famous person makes a ton of money, especially like, you know, you're like Brad Pitt's of them. They have to have security because people are fucking nuts yes so it's like you kind of have to pay for the lifestyle the lifestyle includes you know security detail so yeah and

i think they were already i mean i don't know if you got this from what you looked at online nicole but they were like they when they when megan was pregnant with Archie, she was told that he wasn't going to have a title and there was like no real reason for that. And so then she was already getting like scared about like, what does this all mean for like us that like we're not getting treated the same way. And she also was talking about her mental health issues that were ignored. And I think they had a good reason to leave but it's it's just so crazy and then yeah so somehow tyler perry i don't know what the connection is i'd really like to know who called who yes like how maybe tyler perry it's like the bat signal it's like a black is in danger i have to go save them he's like he just figures out her phone number

i don't know. I'm so curious if like one of them was friends with him first or something. Cause like, also it just seems so weird that they even had to ask. Don't you feel like, couldn't they figure out a place to stay without having to stay at a friend's house? I don't know.

It just sounds like really normal. I mean, if you really think about it, if you really think about the fact that like this man was like he's he's a prince. So like, yeah, it's he doesn't have anything like everything he has is tied up into the family. And if they kick him out, it's like it's actually a very good segue into this movie. Yes. Oh, my God. You're so right.

You kicked out with just the U- u-haul it's like you have nothing oh my god i love that connection well okay well let's take a quick break and we'll come back and jump into the whole movie itself If you're wondering what a NordVPN is, I'll tell you. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, a service that protects your internet connection and online privacy. A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel for your data, protect your online identity by hiding your IP address, and allow you to use public Wi-Fi hotspots safely.

I'm using a Nord VPN myself. And honestly, it's very easy to use. You connect with one click to enable auto-connect for zero-click protection. It has amazing speed. Nord VPN is one of the fastest VPNs out there, and it supports every major platform, Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, even Android TV.

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had such a nice time. So did I. I was watching it alone, talking to my TV. I was like, mm-mm, mm-mm. Okay, so we start with Helen and Charles McCarter. Uh, they seem to have a perfect life behind the scenes. Charles is an abusive attorney having affairs. Helen is unemployed, bored, and trying to make her marriage work on their 18th wedding anniversary, which I thought was like a pretty high number for these young looking people. But anyway, Helen arrives to find all of her belongings in a u-haul charles reveals he is

kicking her out for brenda his mistress and mother of his two sons how scandalous i know and it starts out like almost like a rom-com like so this kind of is interesting like it's like they're at like an event i can't remember if it was a wedding or just some big event like some fundraising thing or something he was getting an award oh yeah yeah something. It was like him getting congratulated. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was like, there's like a narrator, which kind of goes away. But then like it felt kind of like,

oh, it's like a rom-com. And then suddenly it was like a soap opera where she's getting kicked out. And Helen kicks the driver, Orlando, out of the truck and drives it to visit her grandmother, Medea. Now, I'm thrilled at this point. Medea takes Helen in to the dismay of her brother, Joeea. Now, this is, I'm thrilled at this point. Medea takes Helen in

to the dismay of her brother, Joe. Joe's son, Brian, acts as Medea and Helen's attorney after Charles and Brenda catch them breaking into Charles's mansion, which is an amazing scene. So good.

Judge Maybelline Ephraim places Medea under house arrest and sets a property or cash bond for Helen. So they go to court. They have this whole thing. We're really getting through it quickly with this summary because there's a lot there.

So much happens there. But first, I just want to say, Charles, where he's being honored, he said, if I had to come back as anything, I'd come back as myself. And everyone laughed, and I was like, what?

What? What a crazy thing to say wildly cocky thing to say why even set up that you would have come back as something like what you're fine like yeah just like i'm happy to be me and then the way he drags her out of the house so they bring in oh my god dragging is so insane it's really it looks so painful it looks so painful and she's like like crawling and like trying like really like staying in that house to the point where i was like did anyone choreograph this or is this woman fighting for her actual life i was like i was thinking about the choreography too i was like okay i hope he's holding on to her in like a loose

way because like she's like really grabbing at stuff. And it seemed like it must've been, I hope they didn't do it a hundred times and maybe knowing Tyler Perry they didn't, but he wasn't directing yet. So maybe they did. Okay. So Brian.

Well, we also, I just think we have to touch back on when they broke back into the house. Oh, oh yes. Medea basically types in a calculator for 10 minutes to figure out what Helen is owed by this man who has screwed her over. And it's a hilarious comedic scene. And then she's like, we're going to that house.

And she's like, my guard will never let us in. And then Medea just flies through the barrier. And they break in. Which made me laugh so hard oh wait first wait before that we get to see before that yeah a crackhead who's married yes this is such an important role shit to brian what's the character's name hold on brian yeah that's tyler perry as tyler perry is brian the lawyer his his baby mom is a crackhead oh yeah okay that's deborah yeah she's like oh okay so yeah deborah is like not doing okay like no and that part is shaking that part

felt so crazy at first um it did grow on me but like i feel like she walked in she's like i'm fine you know and you're like oh god she's like literally on drugs right now yes well i don't think she was on drugs i think they were trying to portray that she was going through like withdrawal yeah i needed to get like some food to then go get her medea medea was feeding her and gave her a plate of food and she was like like saying to the other woman like don't judge me and then she leaves and i was like medea's so medea's like a caretaker but also just like absurd like she's but seems to be like a motherly figure I feel like

people need to know that so what happened is that you have at least 20 minutes of a truly intense melodrama where it's like this woman has a husband from hell he is so dripping with evil like it to a

degree that you're just like there's no real person like this but like he is so bad and after he kicks her out and and like and you're just like you're there sitting so tense and she's just has to drive and she drives to a house and she opens the door and medea's standing there with a gun and immediately the tone shifts so suddenly she's like it's me it's me it's your granddaughter and then she's like oh okay and so you have no first she's like you over here looking for the drugs she's like no it's like well you gotta come back in the day. And she's like, no, let me in. She's like, okay. Because like, Kimberly Elise is still acting in the drama.

And you have a character who is fully in an Eddie Murphy comedy. And you're just like, wait, what is happening? It's like Big Mama's house where is it, Nia Long sees Martin Lawrence

as Big Mama. And she's like, Big Mama, you look different. He's like, come on, you gotta get a shot. And she's like, okay,, you look different. He's like, come on, you gotta get a shot. And she's like, okay, Big Mama. And you're like, wait, no, this is a relative

of yours. Yeah, and Helen's just like, oh, that's Medea. Yeah, it's Medea does not strike anyone as being odd or over the top. Medea is very normal. Everyone knows Medea. There's nothing weird about her

in this world, which is like the best. It makes it funnier. They're scared of her. Yeah, if anything, they're scared. So where are we? Okay, so third paragraph. Brian is Tyler Perry, right?

Yes. So Tyler Perry, Brian, kicks his wife, Debra, out and strains his relationship with his daughter, Tiffany, fearing Tiffany will turn to drugs like her mother. Brian refuses to let her join the choir, which is like, why? I don't see that connection. Me either. It's like they never explain it. Leads to drugs. You'll get high on the sounds and you'll want crack.

Medea convinces him to forgive Debra and allow Tiffany to join the choir. Helen starts seeing Orlando. Now that's also like huge. Like she starts having a relationship with the guy who was driving her initially and that she kicks out the U-Haul. It becomes extremely romantic. He's like the first person to really

care for her. She's coming out of this relationship where she was abused for so long. And the voice over comes back to let us know all this. And starts writing in her diary that's her diary yeah the voiceover is all her diet her writing in the diary yes and this relationship was just straight up romance like so this genre for me is like uh fully deep intense sort of dramatic love story. Yes. But I gotta say, Shemar Moore's wig really took me out of it. I was like, what are these braids? I was gonna ask about that.

What is going on? There was no scalp to be seen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That seemed a little unnecessary. I'm like, what's his hair like underneath it? Can we just see what that is? Because it looked like a wig, and that seemed weird. But an attractive man still still right oh he's very hot handsome and i mean i was

i definitely recognized him but i wasn't sure from what he's been in hundreds of episodes of multiple shows so i was like okay so he's just been on my tv for everything ever so meanwhile jameson milton jackson asks charles to be his defense attorney and has tried that name is amazing in his trial for shooting an undercover cop during a drug deal asking that he bribed the judge to rule in his favor now this is like a whole subplot that comes in and you're like okay now there's like this drug deal thing there's bribery with the lawyer it's like it feels like a different movie again like they're in like almost an airplane like a suspense movie yeah so in divorce court helen lets charles keep the money and property provided he pays brian's attorney and myrtle jean's nursing home fees charles agrees and in

the shooting case the jury finds jameson guilty this was a crazy part and by the way this is like two hours in jameson snatches the bailiff's gun and shoots charles and it's like chaos i couldn't believe i loved it i loved it because i was like well i was really excited about this scene because i was like i love when shit just happens that's like crazy like i got me it got me excited again because there was a lot of like deep drama sort of happening and then this was just like well before he shoots him he like then threatens him again. And then Charles is like,

before I became a lawyer, I ran the streets, so don't talk to me like that. And I was like, wait, what is happening? But before that, we have a house party where old people smoke weed

and one of the old people bugs out. That woman was tweaking and she was like playing cards Yeah and she saw something on the cards and then she like lost her mind and then I feel like someone

Joe yeah Joe smokes weed. I mean these old people. The woman who was like on drugs was playing cards with Tyler Perry as an old man character Yeah Joe that's Joe. Oh that's Joe okay the name's Joe. Yeah and that's Tyler Perry as an old man character. Yeah, Joe. That's Joe. Oh, that's Joe. Okay, the name's Joe. Yeah, and that's Tyler Perry too, right?

And that's Tyler Perry. He plays those three characters, and they're in almost every movie. Okay, good. Wait a minute. So he plays three characters per movie, and he wrote it, and he directs it. That's a lot of hats to have on, sir.

It is a lot of hats. You know when you just think about him getting into those costumes, which's a lot of hats to have on, sir. It is a lot of hats. Even when you just think about him getting into those costumes, which takes a lot of time, and then directing. So it's like, he can't be in two places at once. So basically, I wonder what the schedule's like when he's getting ready is my main question. Yeah, I wonder. Also at the house party, Medea was in,

she wasn't in her costume. She was in different clothing. And I was like, oh, I didn't know Medea had to change her clothing. Medea's tits, by way are so amazing where she fucks up the house with the fucking do we talk about this the chainsaw oh my god no literally cuts everything in half and her tits are just flopping and tyler perry is moving his body so they flop and yeah and it's really funny it made me laugh so they're really well done they it was like real but absurd at the same time and i really

enjoyed that oh i loved it i really did too okay so orlando proposes to helen uh in a way where he put the ring on while she was sleeping. And then she lifts her hand to do her hair. And she's like, no. What? It's literally so crazy how it happens. She gets out of bed and she goes and looks in the mirror and she touches her hair with her right hand. And she touches her hair with her left hand.

And I was going, what is actually rewound? Because I got confused. And then she was like, oh, I should take this off take this off but then it was like no she didn't know what this ring is she looks at and she goes what like what's happening and like it was just the weirdest proposal i've never seen anything like that and the slow realization that she had a ring on was just amazing so before she can respond she's like the TV's just on to the news where she sees the shooting happen

and goes to the hospital with Brian the doctor says Charles might be paralyzed and they ask if they should resuscitate him if things deteriorate

Brenda hard she's like hard no no let him die let him die it's so evil and then what kind of a life

if you can't walk that's literally what she said and I was like Tyler Perry you can't say that you can't say that it's not it's not bad um so helen is still charles legal wife so she tells the doctor she's like you do everything in your power to keep him alive uh charles oh boy this part of a movie this part's where I was laughing I have to say really wild unfortunately Charles returns home with Helen who is offered to take care of him it is revealed that Brenda emptied Charles

bank account and left with their boys Charles resumes his verbal abuse of Helen to which Helen is like no sir and he's going Brenda Brenda she's like Brenda Brenda that made it's so hard and then the part where he flies out of the wheelchair into the hot tub or whatever i was like i couldn't believe it that was so crazy that was comedic but like it's not it was also really sad it's horrific

yeah it's like a horror film it's it's a horrific act and the way they shot it was like a comedy it's abuse and it's horrible but it's goofy like it's so cool like above and you just he suddenly goes he's like flying into the tub i'm like this is crazy and then he's laying there he's drowning in the water and she's smoking a cigarette and he's like like he's like making bubbles because he's he but he's the actor is kind of spitting water. And he's like, blah, blah, blah. Like he's like making bubbles because he's, but he's, the actor is kind of spitting water out

as he's laying there. So you don't really feel that he's in some serious danger, which is why it also feels kind of funny still. And then she's just being like a total bitch to him and being like,

no, no, it's my turn and you're gonna die. And before, and before she, she's like, stop making bubbles. He's dying. Before she tries to drown him.

She left him in his chair for two days. And then when she comes back, she's like, you smell. And I was like, obviously this man can't do anything. The relationship between the two of them is so confusing because she, she is treated horribly by him. She gets, she gets kicked out. He almost dies.

She helps him come back to, you know, living and she takes care of him yet. Not without just punishing him first, but then they like love each other again. And then she has to like, quote unquote, break his heart because she like,

well, I'll just read the last part. We'll get to that. So Helen and Orlando argue when he learned she's moved back in with Charles to look after him. And he's like, you don't deserve this. Meanwhile,

Charles realizes his mistakes and apologizes to Helen too little too late. I mean, everyone's done way too much at this point. He regains his ability to walk one day in church, which is miraculous, where Debra, now clean and sober, reconciles with Brian. That has to be the moment where I was about to cry.

Charles hopes to start over with Helen, but during a family dinner, she gives him her wedding ring and signed divorce papers in front of everyone, reassuring him that she will always be his friend. I don't know why. She finds Orlando, asks him to propose again, and accepts when he does.

And by find Orlando, she runs through a factory. And there's a man who's like, it's dangerous here. And she's like, no. Wait, what is that movie? Like, Officer and a Gentleman? I've never seen it. But they were like, Richard Gere carries that lady out. So it was basically they reenacted that ending yeah they reenacted the ending i've never seen the movie

i've never seen it but i have seen that replayed it's parodied so much that i feel like i know that scene and so i'm like why did why that choice like she runs in the factory he lifts her up carries her i mean i don't know It's a whole thing. Because it's epic. It was epic though. It was truly epic. And okay. So this movie was written by Taylor Perry based on his 2001 play of the same name.

It was directed by Darren Grant and it was released on February 25th, 2005. Okay. So John, we know that you're a big fan of the Madea franchise. How does this first film compare to the rest of the franchise for you? You kind of touched on how they get a little more cheaper but in terms of like quality overall i mean i i think this is definitely one of the best ones for sure like um and it does trouble me just a little bit well it should but it should because that is what it is like um you're never you're always going to get like plot lines that are pretty uh stereotypical and and like scenes where you're just like wow like this is way over the top um and it's always undercut by medea like like doing the comedy, but there's never, even in the, even in the Medea focused movies,

it's like, there's still lessons to be learned. I don't know. Oh yeah. Oh, this movie had like a hundred lessons. Like it was really, like you mentioned a morality play. Like there were, there were so many things like, and even just the sort of redemption of the characters at the end, like anyone you thought was bad is good. Yeah. Everyone had a chance. And I mean, it's so interesting.

I think there's, I'm always kind of fascinated by things like that. Like you say, like how they had, how the other movies have like kind of typical storylines that are kind of predictable or whatever. I find it really interesting to just have the confidence to just write a story that is like that. And then they do this thing that is pretty obvious that they would do next. And then this happens and it just seems kind of fun. And you can also understand why he's cranking these out like by the dozen. And by the way, really enjoyed myself. Yeah, I had a great time. But I will say, everything did wrap up in a nice little bow, except for Charles' storyline. Charles doesn't have any money, yet he lives in a castle.

He's fucked. Like, what is going to happen to the castle? Also, he could go after that woman for taking his money. He's not dead. Right. She can't just do that. They weren't even legally married. They weren't even married married they were still married

no yeah she just had children by him which was so bananas when she was like you're cheating on me he's like get out of my car and then he's like i have yeah this is the woman and i have kids my children she's like i wanted children he was like oh my god she basically implied that he he like punched her to the point where she lost pregnancies uh-huh like she was like oh my god she basically implied that he he like punched her to the point where she lost pregnancies uh-huh like she was like you made it so that i lost the you know i don't know how she phrased it because it was kind of like buried in there but i was like oh my god that's like a huge accusation and then like the like or huge like story point and then everything he said in the car was the meanest thing i've ever heard in my life so mean that even then i'm like why would you even want to take care of him after i mean i i also don't think you should go back and

abuse him it's all just like get this person away from you but also when they go in the closet and all of brenda's new clothes are there and medea's like adultery and cabanas i can't remember how she's like what's a dolce what's a dolce gabina and she's like he's a designer and she's like i use these things to wipe my mirror and then she just like rips it up she's a rag it's a rag it's a rag and then she's threatened to fight her medea is i can't wait to get to the medea movies i don't know if i've laughed harder than at medea medea is fucking funny so this is my question are the is medea a bigger role in the other ones or is it kind of like this

where she's just there from time to time? In most of the movies, she is a supporting character. Isn't there like Ernest goes to jail? Doesn't Medea go to jail? Right. Yes, yes. But even in Medea,

like Boo, A Medea Halloween, there's a whole storyline that has nothing to do with Medea. There's always some sort of storyline happening. And Medea's elements. That Medea goes to jail one, that is one I haven't seen. And I think it might be a little more Medea focused. I want to know if he ever directed in the Medea costume just out of

like convenience. Oh I truly hope so. I would love that. Like Medea has one scene of the day it's the top scene and the rest of the day just dressed as Medea. But here's the things you could always expect. You could always expect that Tyler Perry is playing multiple characters.

There's always there's generally always a dark-skinned black man who is the most eating thing on the face of the earth. That was interesting. It's just a thing. It's just weird. You're like, okay. But it's reversed because then you have a, you know, like Kimberly Elise and then you have like the light skinned black woman.

Savior, yeah. Or well, you have the light skinned black woman who's evil. But then you have the light skinned black man who's the savior of it. And I guess Tyler Perry is trying to say colorism shouldn't exist. They're all bad. Right. They're all bad. And I also think like, honestly, I'm thinking about this now.

And I also think like, honestly, I'm thinking about this now, but I think one of the reasons he makes the bad guys so bad is so that people that medea can come in and like give it like everyone gives kimberly's advice in this movie like tyler tyler perry gives her advice in three different characters i almost thought that the tyler perry as himself kind of character was going to be a romantic interest for her because the first conversation i was like oh he's like kind of... They're related, though, yeah. Yeah, but no, it didn't go that way. That's so interesting. So like, wait, keep going.

I didn't mean to interrupt you. No, so it's all a part of like a family. So like, there's always somebody who's related to Madea. And so it's like, that kind of pulls you in that they keep getting they keep getting all these incredible actors like amazing black actors to be in these films like every film has like like Idris Elba is in a Medea movie Viola Davis is in a Medea movie like you know obviously this movie had like Kimberly Elise and like uh Cicely like there's so many amazing black actors that like like it are maybe hadn't popped yet it like

hadn't quote-unquote crossed over um which is so they so there again there's something to be said that madia like tyler perry was always looking out for you know was always looking out for black people in a sense um it's another reason why he's been protected the way he has, even with the criticisms, people were like, yeah, but he's doing so much. Like he's giving people jobs and like starring roles and things when they aren't getting them,

even though they deserve that. Well, that's really good point. Cause that balances out what we said about the writing. Like, even if he's not doing that in the writer's room necessarily, he is bringing a lot of people to these big roles. And I think your point earlier was so true that like while they might be kind of like

two-dimensional characters, the acting is so good that you're like swept up in the storyline and you don't really mind that the, that it's like, that he's being so evil that it just couldn't be possible. Yeah, I thought Kimberly Elise did a very nice job of balancing things.

Like, and there was like times where I was like, wow, she's like really acting and like was like, wow, she's really acting and this is, wow, she's taking me there. Because I love her from Set It Off. I think she's great. Have you seen that movie, Lauren?

No, I haven't. You've got to see it. It's come up a bunch for me lately. It's a great movie. It's Queen Latifah, Jada Pickett-Smith, Vivica A. Fox,

and then Kimberly Elise and their girls who end up, I won't tell you. It's good. Okay, yeah, don't tell me anything. I like to be surprised. She's also the wife in John Q. It's a smaller role, but she's great in that, too.

I love that movie. She's great, and I thought she was so funny. In the comedic scenes, she really made Medea even funnier because her reactions were so genuine that it just made the Medea stuff pop even because her reactions were so genuine that it just was like, it just made the Medea stuff pop even more. Like when they're ripping everything up and she's like, wait, what's the point of this?

And she's like, there is no point. And she's like, okay. It was just cute little moments. Kind of, I guess the MCU, Marvel borrowed from the MCU by putting really great actors into superhero movies so they could elevate the material

the same way Tyler Perry. Wow, they really borrowed from Tyler? Yeah. Wow. That's very clear. Angela Bassett is in Meet the Browns. I'm like looking up all these films, I'm like, yep, there's an incredible actor

in every single one of them. That's awesome. Angela Bassett is in Meet the Browns. And that movie is just so basic, but you're just like, but Angela Bassett is the star of it. Wait, I thought that was a TBS show. Oh, was it a movie and then a TBS show? Yes, exactly.

Man, what a treat. He does it. Crossovers, baby. There's a lot to learn. He also, like, it's a weird thing because he is playing, he is, like like playing a woman in it but he does like protect black women in his films like he's playing this very protective character and it is kind of like what tyler perry like i you also have to think about it like this came out of uh you know the

the 90s which you had a lot of like what uh what we call hood films where you know there are a lot of films like based off of the drug game and things like that and they're they're almost always male led and there wasn't a lot of great representation for black women in those movies because they were always just like the romantic interest maybe here or there you know what i mean like um so like medea tyler perry i'm calling him medea he really disappeared he's the same but tyler perry has a lot of movies where the women are the leads you know what i mean like most of his movies the women are the leads and like so they're getting their own story told so it is like in that way you're like oh this is

it is very different um and it's funny. So like men are watching it, too. So like he really was able to like kind of. Yeah. Target of a group of people who just felt like they were not being represented. That's interesting to somehow be able to do that while starring in it as a man. You know what I mean? Like it's like, yeah, I definitely see your point. And it's like at the same time, he still is the lead.

However, he was able to create these stories that elevate other people. But yeah, that's that's an interesting way in to get the guys to go see it, too. This is an award winning movie to NAACP Image Awards, five BET Comedy Awards. I think that's. Yeah. Yes. So Kimberly Elise won Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, NAACP award.

And then Cicely Tyson won Supporting Actress. Which is funny because she's in one scene. But she was very memorable. She was. She's in like two. She's in like two scenes. She's in the scene. Well, she yells at the grandpa guy.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. But yeah, her memorable scene is like in the old folks. God will take care of all things. It was really dramatic. Just ask him. Oh my God, I forgot we didn't talk about the fact that there is a gospel rendition of What If God Was One Of Us.

Oh my God, I actually Googled it and I was like, which came first? What if God was one of us and I was like, which came first? One of us was one of us. I was confused. I was like, oh, is this the original? What is it? Joan Baez who sings the song, who wrote that song. But I, is that who it is?

Or am I mixing that up? I don't know. I get so confused about. Joan Osborne. Joan Osborne. Joan Baez is an old singer. Yeah. Joan Osborne. And Iers is an old singer. Yeah. Joan Osborne.

And I was really confused. I was like, I know that song so well, but I've never heard it sung like this, which makes me think it is a religious song because it actually really works. And then I was like, oh my God, did I not know this was like originally a gospel song? And then no, it's not. They covered that song. No, it's not. And it makes it even better.

It's so funny i had that issue with the song my guy so i love sister act and then my roommate john and i were like listening to music and my guy came on and i was like why would they change the lyrics from god to guy and he fully turned around and was like what do you what you thought that was it's my god oh my god no no no that's what makes that scene cute i truly learn every day i love that so much that's amazing well critically the film was not well received it currently has a 16 fresh rating on rotten rotten tomatoes which is just bullshit which one critic from the new york post simply uh he wrote stay clear of this mess another from the hollywood reporter wrote in an awkward split personality way it works some of the time

i mean i i agree i feel like reviews can be too critical. Like, I mean, I get that's literally the point of them, but I, I agree that it had like a split personality thing in the sense that there were so many genres kind of coming together. It's a comedy one minute.

It's like a devastating drama the next minute, but like, that's kind of what makes it interesting and makes it special. Like, I think it stands alone in this way that I can't think of other things that really do that. And that's cool that it's unique in that sense. Yeah.

And I honestly stayed off my phone for most of it. Me too. I was like, pretty enthralled and I enjoyed it. I think our listeners will be able to tell if that means we really were interested because we can't usually put our phone down. I mean, it's Lord of the Rings. I was like, my phone is my hand and I have to look at my hand.

You literally have to during that movie. Like those movies. Like if you didn't have your phone then you're just like slowly just bleeding out from your eyes. I don't know. I mean, we tried. Well, some critics didn't feel that it was bad. Some critics saw the film in a positive light. Appreciating Perry's talent,

filmsandreview.com writing, here is a brand new genre, a black Christian romantic revenge comedy. It doesn't quite work, but Tyler Perry is a jewel. Well, that's nice. Yeah. I quite, I don't,

I think it works. I don't know. I do too. It clearly worked. Like it made a lot of money. It worked. So speaking of that, okay,

so audiences love the film. Its budget was $5.5 million and it grossed 50.7 million in the box office, landing at number one, its first weekend. And it has a Google audience rating of 4.7 stars, which is good. So I think that's, that speaks to what people are really feeling,

not just what some random reporter was like, I don't like it. Yeah, and I think that's why Tyler Perry can just brush off negative criticism because he's like, I make money. Say whatever you fucking want, but I'm bankable. I'm reliable. I make the money back, plus a ton more. Lynn asked if he would kill Medea off in recent years, Perry said he would retire her.

She doesn't die, Perry revealed, assuring his fans she's a family member to a lot of people. You can't kill off a family member. I would feel sad if they killed off Medea. Yeah, that's true. You actually can. But I would be sad if Medea died. I love, Lauren, I love love medea i'm really excited

about medea and i can't wait to see her do other things like that's what i'm most excited about i know we're gonna have to probably venture out into stuff where medea is not in it but yeah there are several of those too and and what's your take on that like do you feel like medea is kind of an essential element or can you find pleasure i mean for me yes because when it when medea is kind of an essential element or can you find pleasure? I mean, for me, yes, because when Medea is not in it, then what you get is the melodrama without Medea. And it's like the melodrama is, it can work when you're cutting it with like real fun humor, but when it's just the melodrama, you're like, okay, this is just,

this is a lot, you know? i for some people that stuff works too um you know i don't know it's those are those are tougher for me though i will say i'm curious to watch like the tv show stuff that feels really soapy because i mean that's not my genre typically but i feel like i i've just always kind of been curious about what goes on on those shows because there's like, you have to have some like, I mean, I just seen the storylines in this that are so crazy.

I feel like if you're doing a, if you're doing a soap and you know, that's what you're doing, like you can just do anything. So I'm kind of excited to see how wild this stuff gets. Um, here's a little bit of trivia. So Tyler Perry started shopping the play diary of a mad black woman to Hollywood studios, uh, for a possible little bit of trivia. So Tyler Perry started shopping the play Diary of a Mad Black Woman to Hollywood Studios

for a possible film adaptation in 2001. He heard no from several studios, which I'm sure are kicking themselves, before Lionsgate bought the script in 2004. Medea is a Southern colloquialism short for Mother Dear. Medea was a character in a play who was only supposed to be on stage for a few minutes when another actor didn't show up for their part perry kept performing as medea and she became a huge hit with the audience okay so he was fully improvising

then right i mean that's like yeah probably that's amazing oh so so do you think he improvised in the movie it's just improvising. Oh, oh, absolutely. It becomes more and more obvious. Like I said, he didn't direct this this film, like especially in the later ones. When you when you know he is like, I got to just I'm I'm just turning these out. It's it becomes a lot more obvious that he's clearly just improvising. But it's funny. Like, I mean, it was. Yeah, it's it is. He's just really good but it's funny like i mean it was yeah it it's it is he's just really good at it he

like he just he does so so much it's insane i watched the calculator bit three times last night like i it was like fucking rewound it i was like this is i love it it's a solid two minutes of typing on the out the outtakes where uh he had that, which I wish was in the movie when they when they were at the dinner table and he's like, she just left you at the table. She didn't have to do that. She could have done that in the car. Just fully embarrass you. She made you feel this big. And I heard that's not the only thing that's that big.

Oh, my God. I have to watch the outtakes. Yep. Same. Oh, my God. Oh my god, I have to watch the outtakes. Yep, same. Oh my god.

This is the only movie we've ever covered where I was like, yeah, I'll watch the extended cut of this. I need more information. We usually are like, we got it. Okay. Yep. No, I'll take all the information. This is amazing. So, okay, Medea is inspired by Tyler Perry's mom and his aunt.

And he was also inspired by Eddie Murphy whenphy when he saw murphy performing as women in nutty professor 2 the clumps he knew he could pull off a female character as well so that's definitely clear so the 26 room atlanta mansion that belongs to charles and helen was perry's actual house what which he christened uh--oh, a Vecchiatte and lived in a loan. 26 rooms? What is... The mansion is crazy. It is huge. I love that he shot it in his home, so that's another way to save money.

Yup, he was his own location scout. He was like, yup, we'll do it here. I know of a couple other places and that's it. That's a wrap. I know all the rooms really well. We can use all these different sets. I have an office and a closet. Okay.

After the arraignment scene where Helen makes bail and Medea gets house arrest, the judge is seen calling up her next case. Repeat offender, Bobby Brown. You can hear a woman who's supposed to be Whitney Houston scream off camera. Bobby,

Bobby, I love you. Sit down, miss Houston. The judge orders her Houston and Perry were good friends in real life. Okay. Another fascinating twist. That is, I didn't realize that i was just like oh boy tyler but i mean yeah i guess if they're friends it feels like a joke you you wouldn't put in if you were friends with the person and maybe it's like a little light roasting it's like wait i put you in my movie and she's like no you didn't you know and that was the famous that judge what was

her name she had her own divorce court wasn't yes i knew oh my god i thought so okay it was her that's so funny boy i honestly i was excited to watch it excited while i watched it excited to talk about it and i'm like so happy right now know. And I'm excited for the next one. Me too. Also, so this movie, as we said, it grossed,

you know, 10 times what it cost. And the following year, he opened up Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. So he jumped right into that. Yeah.

I wonder if he was smart and did back end points as opposed to getting paid up front because that's how you make your real fucking money or like a percentage of the box office uh yeah yeah i wonder that's like oh my god it's

cool like i think tyler perry say what you will about him but like i think it's thoroughly impressive uh yeah i mean his business savvy is insane yeah oh my Oh my God. Tyler Perry. Oh, right. A Christian movie for me and Lauren to star in. Put me in. What's our next one? Do you remember? I don't know. Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you.

Are you going to do the- I have it written somewhere. Hold on. Madea's Family Reunion. Oh, Daddy's Little Girls. Yeah, Daddy's Little Girls. That's the one with Idris Elba. Oh, good.

Oh. Wait, Daddy's Little Girls? I've truly never even heard of this one me neither yeah that's what yeah that's what the idris elba gabrielle union tracy ellis ross is whoa oh this looks good i told you he has i'm telling you there are so many famous black people in his movies you're just like wait what like they all did ty Perry movies. The cover of the DVD or whatever. I'm like, I'm in, I'm in. I got to look at it.

It's like three little girls who are pouting while a man is about to kiss, I'm assuming his new wife. I don't know. They look mad. So. Wait a minute. There are two different versions of the movie poster one where it looks like a

rom-com and one where it looks like an indie movie for like oscars oh my god you're so right because i saw the rom-com one i'm like that's so up my alley and the other one looks like it's going to be emotional and like he's holding the daughters and they're all smiling at the new wife i just made up that there's a new wife i don't know if that's even the plot, but it just kind of makes me feel like it is. But she's also like wearing a suit for some reason. Mm-hmm. Okay, I'm in. I can't wait. Me too. And you know what? It probably is every genre

if we're looking at it like the Diary of a Mad Black Woman, because it's like... Right. He does it all. You gotta make multiple posters to bring in the audience you want, and then you get what you want. Everyone gets what they want and everyone's satisfied. We love Tyler Perry. We're so in,

obviously. All of a sudden you guys are going to be like, I think we need to do more than 10. We got to do 30 episodes. We got to keep watching. I did hear that there were 10 Medea films and I was like, if we did 10 Medea films for the whole, I mean, that's the first 10. But there's so much to do that you can't just stay on Madea.

Oh, my God. Tyler Perry, man. He has his whole universe. Yeah. I'm so excited. It's so cool. I wonder if like while he was pitching things, because what was it? It was like five years in between pitching and actually having it bought or

like three years. I wonder if he just like kept writing movies to be like, well, when they buy this first one, I'll be fucking ready with a loaded chamber. That would be so smart. I mean, it feels like it considering how many he's done.

Yeah. And they're all based off of plays. I think the vast majority of them, like this one was a play. Daddy's little girls was a play. of them. This one was a play. Daddy's Little Girls was a play. Medea's Family Reunion was a play. A lot of them were plays, so he just has them in the chamber.

Yeah. I feel like at some point we should delve into his backstory as a person, because I don't know anything about his life, and I would like to know how he was doing all these plays, why he was interested in doing that, and I'm very curious about this. Is he married?

Yeah. I don't know anything about Tyler Perry. I feel like he's like kind of famously single. Oh, I just realized that. I don't know either. I don't know anything about his personal life. He,

yeah, no, it kind of looks like there's no recent covering of him having a girlfriend. He, at some point he did on some red carpets, but that was, it says 2000.

Oh, no, wait. He does have a long time relationship. With Galila. Galila. Galila Bakil. The couple has been together since 2009 and have a child together.

Okay, I was totally wrong. Tyler Perry has a child? I didn't know that either. Me either. Doesn't it seem like he's so private? Because like, how do I not know this? I feel like you see him all over the place.

I've never seen him with a woman, I feel like. Yes, I've never seen him with this woman, but she is stunning. Let's see when this was written, by the way, because that could be like some old news. Oh no, they split. This is in 2020. Ugh, because it was 2019 when that little piece was.

Well, OK Magazine said Tyler Perry's having a midlife crisis, which I think that's pretty rude for them to call. Oh, no. And it says, funny man, Tyler Perry is not feeling so holly jolly this holiday season. Oh, my God. People are deranged. If you write for one and you're listening, God bless. I won't apologize.

It feels like you can just write anything. You can write the craziest sentence ever. And it's a headline. It's just, he's not so holly jolly. Here's why they got the headline. Because he captioned a mirror selfie on Instagram. This is what a midlife crisis looks like. So they're pulling from the source.

I take it back. Okay. I'm so sorry. Oh, it was a selfie. And it's him working out he's in workout clothes and it's just a selfie in a mirror there's no like gym equipment but this is what a midlife crisis looks like i'm 51 single and wondering what the next chapter my life will look like whatever it looks like i'm going to walk with god be the best father and man i can be hold my head up high and try to look my best doing it in a world with so much sadness please try and stay in the good merry christmas and let's look forward to 2021 bringing us peace okay so that wasn't this year

that he had this happen that was december but i mean 2020 like oh during covid he was having his midlife crisis in his mansions. Plural for sure. Oh, it's a son. He's got a son. Amon Tyler Perry. That's kind of a funny name. Amon Tyler Perry. Wait, he named his child Amon Tyler Perry.

Tyler Perry's funny. Oh my God. What's your name? Amon Tyler Perry. Tyler Perry's funny. Oh my God. What's your name? A man, Tyler Perry. That's so funny. Oh my goodness. That's great. I wonder if it's pronounced a man or a man.

I'm guessing it's not a man. I hope it's a man. Oh, that a man. Or Eamon. Eamon, Eamon, Eamon. Tyler Perry. I bet you said a kid named Eamon. Maybe it's spelled like that. Oh, Eamon. But it looks like a man. Or Eamon. That a man, Tyler Perry. I think he said a kid named Eamon. Maybe it's spelled like that. Eamon.

Oh, Eamon. But it looks like a man. It does look like a man. And it's very funny to me that he was like, I may dress as a woman, but I have a little child and I am a man, Tyler Perry. He's like, I don't want to name him Tyler Perry. I want to name him something else, something original.

I'll just name him a man. And then Tyler Perry. Okay, what were we going to say, John? Just that, like, I also want, because you probably won't get too many religious people who come on this show, but, like, I don't want to downplay the aspect, like, how important the Christian aspect was

to a lot of his audience base, because it was like, you, you know, if, when you're in that world, you feel like there are no movies made for you. So like to have a movie that you can like really laugh at and then feel like

you're like getting like a lesson that you like feel good about. Oh. And then like, just like three mentions of God, like, like people are like, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen. We all have to see this.

Like, you know, like I wouldn't be surprised if like a whole church churches like these movies. You know what I mean? Like it's definitely a like, oh yeah. Like, what a great thing to like, you know, believe in yourself and like, don't let, uh, have this person like hold something over you. Like, like the idea of forgiveness, if you forgive them, you're actually releasing their power over you. You know what I mean? So your ability to move on. Cause she was so like, she's,

she never was over it. That's why she went and tormented him. Cause she just like had all this rage that she wasn't able to let go of. And I don't know. It's it's so there, you, there are, there are things like that, that you understand that like,

it does mean something on a deeper level for, for people, even if, even if not everyone connects to it. Yeah. I agree. I don't know. I fucking just really liked it.

It was just really, it was like the best part. And honestly, recounting this whole summary of it, I'm like, it's even better than it was when I was watching it. I,

it was great. Those scenes are so, every scene with Tyler, and him as Joe, he's funny as Joe too. Yeah. He is. Joe's less exciting to me,

but. Yes, and I'm not sure why i'm not sure either there's less joy with joe i was gonna say it's not silly it's like right medea is so silly and it's really fun joe almost just feels like i don't know like it's i mean it's just a little more boring yeah fair. Fair. And more predictable. I feel like Medea, I can't tell what's going to happen. Mm-hmm. She's unpredictable. She's what a theater teacher once told me. When you're on stage, you have to be, oh, shit, what did he say?

Oh, you have to be dangerous. People can't know what you're going to do next. So I think about that a lot. That's a great, great tip. When she, Joe, I forgot what, Joe said something and then she just picks up her purse and you hear the click of the gun. And she's like, say that again. The gun is such a fun. The gun's really the third character. Oh, wait.

And then at one point she shoots the ceiling and everyone's okay with that. Yes. Yes. Yes. And like complete with ceiling falling down on her. I was like, no, there's a hole in the roof and nobody's mad about this. No one cared. That's one of my favorite things about the movie. A lot of things happened and people watched it happen and they were like, fine by me.

Here's my other line. There's basically no huge reactions to anything crazy that happens at all i mean even just like the abuse like i feel like brenda stands there and watches him drag her out with no like maybe you shouldn't do that you know she's just like watching and then when she was like let him die the doctor could have been like ma'am who are you and why are you so cruel right no one gets called out for anything you just had everyone's just accepted for exactly what they are what they said like everyone's like okay so she wants him to die what's your vote right also he gets to go home in an ambulance is that a thing oh yeah to go home in an ambulance yeah he got delivered back to the house in an ambulance. I don't know.

Maybe because he had a wheelchair now. And then, oh, or that. Well, they're expensive. They're like $700. And even with insurance, you have to pay $200 of it. Believe me. I know. How's your ankle, by the way?

It's better. It didn't swell up today. And I was walking around a lot. So I think it's like on the road to being normal again. That's better. It didn't swell up today and I was walking around a lot. So I think it's like on the road to being normal again. That's good. And I've been doing my little exercises, which is good. Yeah, that's so important, even though that part is so boring. It's so boring.

And they're dumb, stupid exercises. But like I've been doing it for the last like four days and I feel a difference. Well, that's good. You got to get back on the pole. I really miss it. I get so sad when i look at my dusty old pole hasn't john been cleaning it john clean my pole they're like um nicole's harassing john again i wonder if my neighbors hear me i'm so loud sometimes oh my god i kind of hope they do i would like to imagine like i would like to think about what they imagine is happening inside your

house when you're screaming in there. All right. Well, I think we have to wrap it up, but we, I'm, I'm very excited about this. I think we're on a,

at the start of a very exciting journey. Lots of good stuff ahead. John, thank you so much for being here and, and getting us to diving us into the world of, of Medea and Tyler Perry with this exciting movie. And do you think you want to plug? Oh, nothing new. But if you want to watch Astronomy Club on Netflix, you can.

That's still there. You should. It's very funny. Thank you. Yeah. And podcast Blackman Can't Jump in Hollywood um yeah

you can follow me on you know social media at John Braylock awesome okay and so everyone out there we are

encouraging you to please write a review because we will be picking one to read on the next episode so we need a new one that's in the

Tyler Perry you know theme and we'll be back next week with another Tyler Perry movie as discussed so we'll be back next week with another tyler perry movie as discussed so we'll see you then okay bye Thank you. That was a Hidgum original.