Tyler Perry's Madea Is Not Just Eye-Opening About Race. Try Size and Age, Too

Just got back from a wildly popular place I never had been before — maybe because I'm Caucasian. Call it Madea Land.

I rented "Madea's Family Reunion" (a No. 1 movie when it opened, in 2006) and then caught "Madea Goes to Jail" — the No. 1 picture two weekends in a row, till it got bumped by "Watchmen." How was the Madea oeuvre ?

Funny. Melodramatic. And mind-blowing in every aspect, including the racial divide. Writer/director/star Tyler Perry's audience is only 5 percent white.

But let's start with funny.

There is something utterly loveable about a giant grandma with an attitude as big as her bosom. In "Family Reunion," Madea presides over a busy backyard, mumbling insults with the kindliest of smiles. "You look like a moldy Fruit Roll-Up," she tells her graying neighbor in a purple suit. As others coo at a baby, she coos sweetly, too: "You just as ugly as you can be. Yes, you is!" When asked by the reverend when she's going to start attending church, she replies, "As soon as your church opens a smoking section." But best of all is when this grandma starts emptying her beat-up pocketbook.

There's a handgun. And a handgun. And a slightly smaller handgun. And another handgun. All of which she treats like so many hard candies, just something an old lady carries. Whenever she has a point to make — such as, "A man should never hit a woman" — she gently tells a cousin to duck or move a little to the left and then whips out her .45 and aims it point-blank at the irritant. She is angry but happy, too, because she's got a pistol to help make her point.

Making points is what these movies are all about, and the melodrama brings them home with all the subtlety of a Glock. In "Family Reunion," one of Madea's granddaughters is about to marry a man for money, but he's abusive.

Not good. Another granddaughter is about to leave her man because he doesn't have a job. But he truly loves her, so that, too, is not good. Meanwhile, a middle-aged single mom rebuffs a suitor because she has become hardened by life. Good? Guess. In "Jail," the point is equally clear: Don't judge people by the mistakes they've made (drugs, prostitution). Judge them by their character, and help them to change.

What's mind-blowing about these hit-you-over-the-head movies is how fun and fresh they are — thanks to Perry's presence, yes, but also his casting. It's just amazing to walk through the looking glass into a movie in which almost everyone, including the extras, is African-American — and it's not "The Great Debaters." It's the Everyday Real Lifers, without a single white protagonist. It must feel like a real relief if you are black and usually stuck going through the Hollywood looking glass the other way.

Equally mind-blowing is the age range of the characters. In "Reunion," particularly, the beautiful young things are no more important than the older characters. Older, fatter characters, at that. And the fat isn't even an issue! Perry's people just come in different ages and sizes — another bit of normal life that somehow seems completely shocking in the movies.

More than $60 million worth of ticket buyers felt right at home at that "Family Reunion" and equally glad to go to "Jail" despite their hokey story lines. Maybe that's because Madea serves up more reality than any so-called "reality" show. Race, age, lifestyle, dress size, income, home décor, wig choice — the ones you usually see least in the movies are the ones you see most here.

Throw in a cross-dressing, pistol-packing grandma and you just can't lose.

Lenore Skenazy is a columnist at Advertising Age. She is the founder of FreeRangeKids.com and the author of the upcoming book "Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry." To find out more about Lenore Skenazy (lskenazy@yahoo.com) and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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