Tyler Perry has often been criticized for making the same kinds of movies, particularly with a Black female lead in a distressing situation. Instead of entertaining the noise, however, he tells Keke Palmer that he’s learned to tune it out.
“You gotta drown all that out,” says Perry, whose movie Divorce in the Black earned a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “If you let somebody talk you out of a place that God has put you in, you are going to find yourself in Hell.”
“I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing,” Perry continues. “Because for everyone who is a critic, I have thousands of — used to be — emails from people saying, ‘This changed my life. Oh my God, you know me. Oh my God, you saw me. How did you know this about my life and my family?’ That is what is important.”
Tyler also notes his work resonates with fans who are disenfranchised and don’t feel valued. “You’ve got this highbrow Negro who is all up in the air with his nose up looking at everything, then you got people like where I come from, and me, who are grinders, who really know what it’s like, whose mothers were caregivers for white kids, and were maids, housekeepers … beauticians. Don’t discount these people and say that their stories don’t matter,” he says. “Who are you to be able to say which Black story is important or should be told? Get out of here with that bulls***.”
(Video includes uncensored profanity.)
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