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| FALSE LIVES |
| 6/20/2007 |
| Tyler Perry's House of Pain Wednesdays 8 p.m and 9 p.m. Central On TBS www.tylerperry.com |
I received an email from a guy who's mailing list I am on. He is someone who has created plays, movies, and now a television
show. He was talking about how people had come against every thing he's done, and now they were coming against the
sitcom that aired recently.
Now the people weren't coming against the sitcom because of the use of the words, "God," or "Jesus" or "Bible" - nope. They
were coming against the show because he had the nerve to use "real, normal people" on his show. Normal people in normal
family situations.
What do I mean by normal people? Well, those you see in every day life. They are not air- brushed. They are not lifted,
tucked, buffed, poofed out, and created by a plastic surgeon. They are normal, every day people.
The main attack against his television show is that he cast heavy-set people on the show. Some of the cast members are
overweight - just like real life. One person asked him, "Why do you even hire them?" His answer was, "When somebody
comes to work for me I don't see color, I don't see their size, all I want to know is 'Can you do the job?'" Too bad most
directors aren't like this guy.
Another person claimed that he used a stereotypical "fat black mama" and that this was an insult to all black people
everywhere. His reply was to ask if they thought there were no fat black mama's in the world.
You can already see how dumb it is to expect every character on a television sitcom to be the false perfection Hollywood has
portrayed. It is unhealthy for people, especially our youth, to believe they have to grow up to be that way - which they can't
without major plastic surgery.
Someone has come along to give us a glimpse into a real world - like the Connor's in "Roseanne" which aired from 1988 to
1997. They were not a perfect family - boy, no way! They were sloppy, noisy, rude, and had a lot of problems in life. But
they portrayed love and passion, support and a belief in one another. They worked out their problems and didn't run away
from them.
The show, "The House of Payne" by Tyler Perry, portrays a black family. The first shame is that we have to say that - "a
black family." Why not just say, "a family?" You notice they didn't say that Roseanne was about a "white family." They might
have thought "poor white trash" but it wasn't spoken.
When working for a newspaper one time, I learned that if the word is not necessary to define the person - i.e., a black football
player - then that word needs to be taken out. Being black had nothing to do with the sports article - it was about the man as
a football player. Being black has nothing to do with the House of Payne - it is a comedy about a family with some very
serious real-life issues.
The second shame is that people are upset that Tyler Perry had the nerve to hire people for their ability and not their looks.
He hired people who fit the role of what he saw this family being. It is his vision. We should rejoice and support his choice to
show people as REAL and not the unhealthy perception Hollywood is trying to get us to accept.
Until we learn to accept people for who they are, right where they are, we will never be able to show God's love. We will be
critical, judgmental, and expect perfection in everyone (except ourselves, of course). And as long as we are critical and
judgmental, we will never be able to show people why they should want Jesus.
Until they see Jesus in everything we do, we fail. The world is full of real, normal people. Tyler Perry is reaching out to the
everyday person and bringing a touch of Jesus into their homes through a television sitcom.
This is a great thing!
Jesus Rambling Copyright © 2006 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
show. He was talking about how people had come against every thing he's done, and now they were coming against the
sitcom that aired recently.
Now the people weren't coming against the sitcom because of the use of the words, "God," or "Jesus" or "Bible" - nope. They
were coming against the show because he had the nerve to use "real, normal people" on his show. Normal people in normal
family situations.
What do I mean by normal people? Well, those you see in every day life. They are not air- brushed. They are not lifted,
tucked, buffed, poofed out, and created by a plastic surgeon. They are normal, every day people.
The main attack against his television show is that he cast heavy-set people on the show. Some of the cast members are
overweight - just like real life. One person asked him, "Why do you even hire them?" His answer was, "When somebody
comes to work for me I don't see color, I don't see their size, all I want to know is 'Can you do the job?'" Too bad most
directors aren't like this guy.
Another person claimed that he used a stereotypical "fat black mama" and that this was an insult to all black people
everywhere. His reply was to ask if they thought there were no fat black mama's in the world.
You can already see how dumb it is to expect every character on a television sitcom to be the false perfection Hollywood has
portrayed. It is unhealthy for people, especially our youth, to believe they have to grow up to be that way - which they can't
without major plastic surgery.
Someone has come along to give us a glimpse into a real world - like the Connor's in "Roseanne" which aired from 1988 to
1997. They were not a perfect family - boy, no way! They were sloppy, noisy, rude, and had a lot of problems in life. But
they portrayed love and passion, support and a belief in one another. They worked out their problems and didn't run away
from them.
The show, "The House of Payne" by Tyler Perry, portrays a black family. The first shame is that we have to say that - "a
black family." Why not just say, "a family?" You notice they didn't say that Roseanne was about a "white family." They might
have thought "poor white trash" but it wasn't spoken.
When working for a newspaper one time, I learned that if the word is not necessary to define the person - i.e., a black football
player - then that word needs to be taken out. Being black had nothing to do with the sports article - it was about the man as
a football player. Being black has nothing to do with the House of Payne - it is a comedy about a family with some very
serious real-life issues.
The second shame is that people are upset that Tyler Perry had the nerve to hire people for their ability and not their looks.
He hired people who fit the role of what he saw this family being. It is his vision. We should rejoice and support his choice to
show people as REAL and not the unhealthy perception Hollywood is trying to get us to accept.
Until we learn to accept people for who they are, right where they are, we will never be able to show God's love. We will be
critical, judgmental, and expect perfection in everyone (except ourselves, of course). And as long as we are critical and
judgmental, we will never be able to show people why they should want Jesus.
Until they see Jesus in everything we do, we fail. The world is full of real, normal people. Tyler Perry is reaching out to the
everyday person and bringing a touch of Jesus into their homes through a television sitcom.
This is a great thing!
Jesus Rambling Copyright © 2006 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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