Madea/Mabel Simmons is elderly, overweight and poor. She is loud, ladling out advice and opinions all day, often unsolicited. She has no qualms about reaching for the nearest switch to whack the daylights out of mouthy kids, threaten improperly attired, ill mannered teenagers into submission and deliver sharp retorts to anyone that sasses her. She will not hesitate to drive her car INTO a drive-through to get back at an attendant that won’t attend to her. She handles a machine-gun with ease. You don’t want to mess with her unless you want a pan of hot grits in your face. Even the police tremble when they need to bring her in for questioning.
But trust Madea to find her way out of a sticky situation. She stands by her family, friends and generally anyone in need of some hearty support and outlook on life. You know that she will sell her soul to the devil before letting you down. She quotes the Bible (or at least her own cheerful version of it) yet her firm belief lies more in the ability of the human soul to fix its own problems and less in appealing to God to ‘give me a break’. Madea is a supremely paradoxical character, an unlikely crusader for faith and right against wrong, yet when she stands for the umpteenth time in court before an increasingly despairing judge, we are rooting for her, because her heart is in the right place.
Tyler Perry knows that this is one of his most enduring creations. This is why he has a permanent smile playing on his lips when in character, as his sheer enjoyment bubbles through.
In an insane world that increasingly doesn’t make much sense, a spirited woman who stands up for her beliefs come hail, come sunshine and unconditionally opens her heart and home to those in need is someone we all could use more of. So give us more of this no-nonsense, outlandish, ex-stripper-hooker-criminal granny Tyler Perry. I sure don’t watch your movies to follow pretty people as they travel down paths of self destruction and then tearfully seek to make amends.
