The Madea Factory

In his second book The Madea Factory, Ezekiel J. Walker presents a call to action to filmmaker Tyler Perry, holding him accountable for his degrading and stereotypical representations of black people in his Madea films. While humor can be used to comment on society and culture, Walker believes that Perry’s portrayals are received by many audiences as accurate depictions rather than playful satire. Walker makes no request but that Perry acknowledge his position of power and use his cinematic platform for what Walker describes as “edutainment,” a balance of entertainment and education for his audiences. As a movie lover, Walker’s supporting evidence includes fascinating discussions of many films, stars, and historical trends in cinema that have helped to create the current images of African Americans in Hollywood. After Walker traces the history of racism throughout the cinematic ages, it becomes apparent that Perry’s Madea films are not only stereotypical and lackluster, but they are also reminiscent of minstrel era caricatures. Walker explains why Perry should immediately halt the production of anymore Madea films and that the audience cease their support of them as well.