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Tyler Perry vs. Spike Lee — The Epic Filmmaker Showdown

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As previously reported on The Spotlight, Tyler Perry is an African-American filmmaker that has enjoyed massive commercial success both in the TV and film markets, and by judging by the initial response, he also has a lot of fans on TeenSpot.

However, his popularity has not been accepted by all of his fellow colleagues, most notably Spike Lee. In the past, Lee has been an outspoken critic of Perry’s work, suggesting that his commercially successful but not always critically acclaimed films set back the black community.

Spike, who originally paved the way in the 1980s for other African-American filmmakers said back in 2009 that Perry’s work is “coonery” and “buffoonery”, adding…

“I know it’s making a lot of money and breaking records, but we can do better. I see these two ads for these two shows (Tyler Perry’s ‘Meet the Browns’ and ‘House of Payne)’, and I am scratching my head. We got a black president, and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep ‘n’ Eat?”

What does Tyler Perry think about the criticism?

At a recent press conference for Medea’s Big Happy Family the filmmaker did not hold back.

“I’m so sick of hearing about damn Spike Lee. Spike can go straight to hell! You can print that. I am sick of him talking about me, I am sick of him saying, ‘this is a coon, this is a buffoon.’ I am sick of him talking about black people going to see movies. This is what he said: ‘you vote by what you see,’ as if black people don’t know what they want to see.”

“Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois went through the exact same thing; Langston Hughes said that Zora Neale Hurston, the woman who wrote ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God,’ was a new version of the ‘darkie’ because she spoke in a southern dialect and a Southern tone. And I’m sick of it from us; we don’t have to worry about anybody else trying to destroy us and take shots because we do it to ourselves.”

Do you agree with Tyler Perry’s sentiments on the black community or does Spike Lee have a point about his work lacking significance?

[PHOTO: Nikki Nelson / WENN.com]

Tags: African-American filmmakers, Do the Right Thing, House of Payne, Langston Hughes, legendary African-American filmmaker, Medea's Big Happy Family, Meet the Browns, movies, showbiz, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, W.E.B. DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston