Temptation - Tyler Perry

[sillstaw 414]

So this movie is basically Trapped in the Closet?

 

Without the redeeming facet of dwarf strippers.

[inactiveuser501 168]

Without the redeeming facet of dwarf strippers.

 

But who could forget the comedic stylings of Renée Taylor and her Lesbian Jokes directed at Brandy!

 

[seanotron 2307]

THIS HAPPENING IS HAPPENING YOU GUYS

 

BUT NOT THE HAPPENING, THAT'S NOT HAPPENING

[wyldride 285]

Woman: Wait, her name was Judith? But your name is Judith?

"I will have my handmaiden, Padme, clean up this droid." - Queen Padme Amidala Naberrie

"So, your handmaiden has the same first name as you? That's a weird co-incidence." - No one, apparently

 

People not knowing the name of the person they are interacting with must be a trope, now -- I guess.

[VajayjayLeno 336]

Since they're literally the only two Nabooian women we encounter, maybe Padme is just the Naboo equivalent of Amanda and 50% of the female population is named Padme and why the hell am I wanking that movie into trying to make sense fuck you.

[BertramCooper 122]

Just saw it.

 

Wow.

 

Judith's childhood dream was to be a marriage counselor and Brice's childhood dream was to be a pharmacist at a small pharmacy. What bland, oddly specific life goals these kids had!

 

What the fuck was Kim Kardashian's job, exactly? Did she get a salary simply for walking around the office making bitchy comments about co-workers' hair, makeup, and clothing?

 

I got a real kick out of that ridiculous old-timey truck of theirs. What a dumb visual metaphor for their modest rural upbringing and naivete.

 

What was the point of that trip to New Orleans? Like, from a business perspective? What were they supposed to be doing?

 

In the good reverend's defense, her daughter did look legitimately possessed in that one scene where she started cackling like a crazy person.

[justinmh05 1968]

This is like a Louise Brooks movie from the 20s, where a woman is shamed and her life is ripped apart beyond repair because she made a few bad choices.

 

But it's her fault and she gets what she deserves - because women aren't supposed to act a certain way.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

This is like a Louise Brooks movie from the 20s, where a woman is shamed and her life is ripped apart beyond repair because she made a few bad choices.

 

But it's her fault and she gets what she deserves - because women aren't supposed to act a certain way.

I haven't watched it yet, but the discussion so far sort of makes it sound like "Reefer Madness" for adultery.

[BertramCooper 122]

Did anyone else find it very The Room-esque?

 

Specifically how insane and inconsistent the characters are and how cartoonishly it portrays infidelity (which, of course, is the evil woman's fault)?

[Smigg 1488]

Chris Rock

 

40 mins ·

 

No joke Tyler Perry is the best thing in gone girl. Oscar good.

__________________

 

Don't know what I can say about this.

[Kickpuncher 5012]

After watching the movie and reading the minisode thread discussion, I'm still baffled enough that I needed to read this one.

 

Yes, the 'twist' is that the marriage counselor is telling her own story to her patient. What's really funny is they have an older actress portray the post-infection version of the character, while gray streaks suffice for the husband character. Because it's not enough that the character gets AIDS, she also has to be physically scarred, homely, and forced to buy her AIDS medication from her ex husband's pharmacy.

 

Subtlety, thy name is Tyler Perry.

 

I think the reason for that is that they didn't want to give away that it was her story, but old Brice doesn't appear until after the story is told, at which point that's being revealed.

 

Some other thoughts, mostly related to stuff in this thread:

- The main story seems to take place in our present time, and the bookends seem to be at least 10-20 years later, so I guess that's the future? Spoiler alert, still no cure for HIV, I guess.

- Regarding the same name thing, I'm pretty sure she said it was her sister, so it couldn't even be a coincidence that it was just someone else with the same name.

- That client not realizing it was her was less dumb than Brice and Melinda not connecting the dots on Harley. Like, they were staying together and seem to have had extensive discussions about his wife leaving him for this guy and her abusive ex, yet neither one ever mentioned his name? EVEN THOUGH HE WAS A FAMOUS SOCIAL MEDIA MOGUL?!?

[Kickpuncher 5012]

Chris Rock

 

40 mins ·

 

No joke Tyler Perry is the best thing in gone girl. Oscar good.

__________________

 

Don't know what I can say about this.

 

I heard another discussion of Gone Girl (I think it was a Grantland podcast on the career of David Fincher) where they also strongly praised his performance.

[Lando 2019]

I watched this last night and a few thoughts:

 

- Kirk Cameron would watch this movie and say "tone it down Tyler Perry"

 

- I know that there is a pretty strong argument for misogyny in this film, but it is interesting that his appeal is pretty broad in the African American community. He has several shows on Oprah's network alone. There's gotta be more to it than just "Tyler Perry hates women."

 

- Whether or not Tyler Perry hates women, he certainly hates his audience as evidenced by his decision to let Kim Karashian "act" in this movie.

[Lando 2019]

- That client not realizing it was her was less dumb than Brice and Melinda not connecting the dots on Harley. Like, they were staying together and seem to have had extensive discussions about his wife leaving him for this guy and her abusive ex, yet neither one ever mentioned his name? EVEN THOUGH HE WAS A FAMOUS SOCIAL MEDIA MOGUL?!?

 

You mean the largest social media inventor since Zuckerberg? </monotone>

[wyldride 285]

- Regarding the same name thing, I'm pretty sure she said it was her sister, so it couldn't even be a coincidence that it was just someone else with the same name.

 

... And this is my other sister Darryl.

[tsdcs 15]

- I know that there is a pretty strong argument for misogyny in this film, but it is interesting that his appeal is pretty broad in the African American community. He has several shows on Oprah's network alone. There's gotta be more to it than just "Tyler Perry hates women."

My 2 cents:

 

Nature abhors a vacuum. Black characters tend to be either minor/supporting characters, and/or have historically been less-than ideal roles (the old-timey mammy & butler stuff, the blaxploitation roles of the 70s, the random junkie stuff in the 80s, the Singleton-ripoff gangsta/prison movies of the early 90s etc). There are exceptions, mostly in the form a few sitcoms, but people enjoy Perry's form of representation, I think; there are middle and occasionally upper-class families shown, as if Black people are, you know, normal American human beings.

 

In terms of content Perry gets to have his cake and eat it, too- the morality plays are successful because they have a broad appeal; you get to have the juicy soap opera turns, while also appealing (or pandering) to a Christian audience, which is where Perry found much of his success (Kirk Cameron is actually a fair analogy). After a point you get momentum, and you have so many people talking about or recommending his movies, that even someone like me who had no interest in his movies has seen one, because my brother and his wife like some of his stuff and we ended up watching one of his D+ efforts at a gathering once.

 

Finally, most people don't care how good movies are, if they're not egregiously bad; there are a lot of very successful movies that have made tens or hundreds of millions of dollars by appealing to the right audience at the right time (Adam Sandler, Michael Bay, Roland Emmercih, etc). People even tolerate your forgettable run-of-the-mill Redbox fodder like Jack Reacher or Lone Ranger or Red Tails or (random sequel), because they were okay, and they don't expect better, and/or don't watch movies to see something novel or expert.

[BertramCooper 122]

Did Perry actually intend for the marriage counselor being Judith to be a surprise?

 

Between the subtitle, "Confessions of a Marriage Counselor" and the whole "my sister/a friend of mine" trope, I thought it was supposed to be obvious from the outset that the titular marriage counselor was Judith.

 

I honestly don't know. This was my first Tyler Perry film so I don't have a good grasp of his work.

[Lando 2019]

Did Perry actually intend for the marriage counselor being Judith to be a surprise?

 

Between the subtitle, "Confessions of a Marriage Counselor" and the whole "my sister/a friend of mine" trope, I thought it was supposed to be obvious from the outset that the titular marriage counselor was Judith.

 

I honestly don't know. This was my first Tyler Perry film so I don't have a good grasp of his work.

 

It's sort of like if an adult came up to you and said "Why did the chicken cross the road? I bet you'll never guess!" and you thought "to get to the other side" was too obvious so you gave up and asked why and they said "To get to the other side!!!" It's almost too obvious. In this sense the twist in this movie is a lot like Now You See Me.

[Lando 2019]

My 2 cents:

 

Nature abhors a vacuum. Black characters tend to be either minor/supporting characters, and/or have historically been less-than ideal roles (the old-timey mammy & butler stuff, the blaxploitation roles of the 70s, the random junkie stuff in the 80s, the Singleton-ripoff gangsta/prison movies of the early 90s etc). There are exceptions, mostly in the form a few sitcoms, but people enjoy Perry's form of representation, I think; there are middle and occasionally upper-class families shown, as if Black people are, you know, normal American human beings.

 

In terms of content Perry gets to have his cake and eat it, too- the morality plays are successful because they have a broad appeal; you get to have the juicy soap opera turns, while also appealing (or pandering) to a Christian audience, which is where Perry found much of his success (Kirk Cameron is actually a fair analogy). After a point you get momentum, and you have so many people talking about or recommending his movies, that even someone like me who had no interest in his movies has seen one, because my brother and his wife like some of his stuff and we ended up watching one of his D+ efforts at a gathering once.

 

Finally, most people don't care how good movies are, if they're not egregiously bad; there are a lot of very successful movies that have made tens or hundreds of millions of dollars by appealing to the right audience at the right time (Adam Sandler, Michael Bay, Roland Emmercih, etc). People even tolerate your forgettable run-of-the-mill Redbox fodder like Jack Reacher or Lone Ranger or Red Tails or (random sequel), because they were okay, and they don't expect better, and/or don't watch movies to see something novel or expert.

 

But it's not like Tyler Perry is the Jackie Robinson of film making. There have been many other black directors that have come before him with successful movies like Jon Singleton or Antoine Fuqua and movies like the Friday or Babrbershop franchise and yet Perry is somehow the standout.

[tsdcs 15]

 

But it's not like Tyler Perry is the Jackie Robinson of film making. There have been many other black directors that have come before him with successful movies like Jon Singleton or Antoine Fuqua and movies like the Friday or Babrbershop franchise and yet Perry is somehow the standout.

Well, those guys actually care about their GPA, whereas Tyler Perry puts out a new movie every 9 months. Also, Perry's movies, despite a reputation for being niche or wild, are actually very safe and almost four-quadrants. They speak to social issues, they have romance and a lot of drama, and some comedy- they don't necessarily do all or any of those well, but they show their roots as being plays. They are, in nearly all aspects, quite broad.

 

Also, like I said, not all people who watch movies are movie fans- they just want something entertaining. Again, just my 2 cents.

[sillstaw 414]

Well, those guys actually care about their GPA, whereas Tyler Perry puts out a new movie every 9 months. Also, Perry's movies, despite a reputation for being niche or wild, are actually very safe and almost four-quadrants. They speak to social issues, they have romance and a lot of drama, and some comedy- they don't necessarily do all or any of those well, but they show their roots as being plays. They are, in nearly all aspects, quite broad.

 

Also, like I said, not all people who watch movies are movie fans- they just want something entertaining. Again, just my 2 cents.

 

I think this is it. While there are better black filmmakers out there (Spike Lee arguably being one not yet mentioned), Perry does movies that are quick and cheap*, as well as appealing to a fairly underserved market of moralistic Christian black audiences. These are the kinds of audiences who would denounce hip-hop for promoting unwholesome morals, and would likely do the same for films with criminal or at-best-morally-ambiguous protagonists.

 

Granted, I'm just assuming this is the case, but it seems likely.

 

* You know the saying, "fast, cheap and good--pick any two?" You can see which ones Perry picks out.