Spike Lee and Tyler Perry are two of the most talented and successful black producer/directors, in Hollywood. Both men have accumulated a body of work that rivals many of their white counterparts. With all this talent and success, you’d think there would be peace in the valley. The argument over who will be the arbiter of the black image has once again reared its ugly head. Terms like Coonery, Buffoonery and elitism are tossed around, as the two artist fight to tell their stories. A battle that has raged in the a black community for years. Some have even compared it to the Harlem Renaissance, when Langton Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston were criticized, by Harlem Renaissance writers, for their advocacy of black folk.

Spike Lee was recently awarded an Honorary Academy award, for his contribution to film and his body of work, that include over 40 films. Lee joins a list of directors that includes, D. W. Griffith, Orson Welles, and Cecil B. Demille.  With this honor,  he becomes the first black director to receive one. Although no one will admit it, Lee’s style of filmmaking has been copied by many of his contemporaries, with no mention of the homage. Although lacking the box office appeal, his films have earned critical acclaim, which help to solidify the moniker of a true student of film. Born to a Jazz musician father, and mother,  who was an educator, Lee’s middle-class upbringing has help to shape his black aesthetic to uplift the race. Lee’s battle with the studios is legendary, as he fought to get financing for his productions. Lee was often an outspoken critic of other entertainers when he felt the images of black folks were being demeaned or stereotyped.

Tyler Perrys rise through Hollywood took a different path. Raised by his abusive carpenter father and church going mom, Tyler’s upbringing was filled with sexual molestation and beatings. Tyler found success by way of the  “chitlin’ circuit”. His production of plays and musicals had made him a wealthy man  before he shot his first film. Perry’s films have been consistent box office hits. He is known for both creating and performing the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry’s cast of characters, from Madea to the players on the television show “Meet the Browns”, have made him fodder for those critical of the images black people portray. Having conquered the stage and screen, he now sets his sight on television. With some new shows, “For Better or Worse” and “The Haves and the Have Nots”, Perry is looking to explore some new topic, which will no doubt expand an empire that is quickly approaching one Billion dollars.

No artist wants to be criticized for their creations nor do they want to be told what to create. I am a big opponent of censorship and see merit in both man argument. Spike Lee referred to Perry’s work as Coonery and Buffoonery, it harkens to the days of Stepin Fetchit, the black actor, who appeared in over fifty films. Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, aka, Stepin Fetchit came to fame in the Golden Age of Hollywood. His character earned the title “The Laziest Man in the World”. This stereotypical, lazy, illiterate and simple-minded character earned Fetchit millions but left black people with imagery we’ve yet to shake 86 years later. Tyler and Fetchit also, interestingly enough shares the surname, Perry. Spike Lee has also had critics of his film content. Lee took some heat for the portrayal, of the lead character,  in his first film “She’s Gotta Have it”, Nola Darling. Nola’s sexually liberating character was hounded by calls of misogyny and demeaning to women. Perry’s treatment of his most famous female character, Madea, has been greatly criticized on two fronts. Not only is Madea a man mocking a woman, the foul mouth, pot smoking, tough elderly woman lacks redeeming qualities.

There is one thing Hollywood knows well, and that is the power of imagery. In 1915, director D.W. Griffith film, “The Birth of a Nation”, was hailed a masterpiece. Its depiction of black people was highly offensive and demeaning. The film portrays black men, after the Reconstruction period, as savage, shiftless animals that prey on white women. The movie painted the KKK as the heroes to save white people from the black savages. One can only imagine the number of lynchings this movie encouraged. In response to “The Birth of a Nation”, brothers George Perry Johnson and Noble Johnson (a Universal Pictures contract actor), founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company in 1916, producing middle-class melodramas like “The Realization of a Negro’s Ambition” (1916) and “theTroopers of Troop K” (1917) and their most well-known film, “The Birth of a Race” (1918). The Johnson brothers’ movies featured black soldiers, black families and black heroes, concepts foreign to most mainstream films at that time. In the 1930s, some black film critics criticized Oscar Micheaux’s work for its portrayal of blacks, which sometimes perpetuated the same stereotypes found in mainstream films.

One could say we were once the butt of the joke but now we are creating the images now the jokes on us. It is true that black filmmakers should be able to choose to tell any story they wish to tell, like their white counterparts. The big difference lies in the fact that mainstream Hollywood produces over 300 films a year, less than 10 were produced by black filmmakers. Although not a fan of Tyler’s imagery, Lee admires his business acumen and Tyler has always championed Lee’s films. The two have expressed a desire to work on a project together and I am sure we will all benefit greatly from the fruits of this collaboration.

mele2b@yahoo.com

Hi I’m Melvin Best, founder and director of the Harlem Film Institute. I am an educator, avid film lover and all around nice guy.

harlemfilminstitute.com