TYLER LYNCH TURNS SMART PEOPLE DUMB

Tyler Perry's House of Payne A.K.A COONS GONE WILD

“I could go OFF on a long diatribe about all the reasons why Tyler Perry's House of Payne A.K.A COONS GONE WILD is the worst thing to be put on TV since the shucking and jiving, Tom foolery of Amos 'n' Andy and all the other shows of the same ilk from that era. But why would I waste any more of my time on such garbage? Suffice it to say the race has officially been set back 50 years. THANX FOR THE HELP TYLER LYNCH!”

A couple of weeks ago, I had a flood of responses to the text above, which I had posted as a bulletin on MySpace concerning Tyler Lynch and his new show “House of Payne.” The responses were mixed. Some people 100 percent agreed with me. Others agreed in spirit but thought my language was a bit too harsh (Cousin Steph included). Then there were “The Tylerphytes,” as I shall forever call them. These are the folks who see Tyler Lynch as the second coming of Langston Hughes. To them, he can do no wrong. Anyone who questions him is instantly labeled a hater, a crab in the barrel, an Oreo, or worse. DID YOU REALLY CALL ME ALL THOSE THINGS? OREO? ME? Ok, I’ve been called worse so fuck it, bring it on!

During a heated debate with two women, one of whom is an elder in my building who has known me since I was a kid, I found myself stunned. This is a woman who gave me firsthand accounts of Malcolm X speaking in Harlem, who referred me to some of my now favorite authors, and who has always held me accountable as a Black man while affirming the good she sees in me as a reflection of my mother’s strength. So yes, I was DUMBFOUNDED to find out she was a Tylerphyte. This same woman I would eagerly visit after finishing a Baldwin, Hughes, Hurston, or Du Bois book so we could dissect every layered word together, now calling me a “hater.” (THE COMEDY OF HER USING THE TERM HATER NEVER CEASES TO CRACK ME UP). She genuinely believed Tyler Lynch was uplifting our image and providing authentic storytelling, while I firmly believed the opposite. His work plays to the lowest common denominator and damages the image of our community, especially for impressionable youth who confuse his content for legitimate theatre or cinema.

This conversation was prompted by a comment on my bulletin claiming I had no right to criticize Lynch unless I had seen his “movies” or “plays.” I am not one to condemn anything sight unseen, like those Christians who protested Dogma without ever watching a frame. So I sat through Diary of a Mad Black Woman and nearly made it through 15 minutes of Tyler Lynch’s House of Payne A.K.A COONS GONE WILD. Another commenter urged me to watch Daddy’s Little Girls, promising it would convert me. That film featured two of my current favorite actors: Idris Elba, who made me cancel plans every Sunday for three years to watch him as the coolest, smartest, smoothest drug lord ever, Russell 'Stringer' Bell on HBO’s hit series The Wire (YES! YES! YES! I KNOW ALL THE ARGUMENTS ABOUT THE PERPETUATION OF STEREOTYPES OF BLACK MEN, BUT IT IS A DAMN GOOD SHOW WITH AMAZING WRITING THAT PORTRAYS US IN NUANCED WAYS WITHIN THE SAME SCENE. WATCH IT FOR YOURSELF). And Gabrielle Union, my future ex-wife and mother of at least five of my literary snob children.

So, being open-minded and also knowing it would give me fresh ammo for any future Tylerphyte debates, I went to Blockbuster in my predominantly mid-upper middle working-class Black neighborhood (if you read my earlier blog “In the beginning there was the word…”, you’ll understand the significance). I tried for five days straight to find a copy. Every one of the 100 or so copies was always checked out. (BY WHO? GOD IS THAT ANOTHER POST FOR ANOTHER DAY?) On the sixth day, I finally got a copy. On my way home, I ran into the two aforementioned women. Trying to discreetly hide the DVD in a black plastic bag shoved deep in my back pocket with my shirt layered over it, they still noticed the bulge and asked what I was hiding. After a ten-minute preface and visible shame, I revealed it. Their faces lit up. They asked to borrow it. This DISTURBED THE SHIT OUT OF ME.

That moment, when she called me a hater for questioning her excitement about such trash, shook me. This was the same woman with a personal photo of herself with Malcolm on 134th Street. Her condescending “Have you even seen his work?” felt like a betrayal of everything we had ever intellectually built together.

I will not go into the full argument that followed. What stuck with me most was how I held back. I respected her as an elder, and in doing so, I pulled my punch. I let her walk away still believing in Tyler Lynch. That was the greatest injustice of the night. I also hated how both women tried to sidestep my well-thought-out, clearly superior points with manipulative tactics. I am working on another blog right now about that very habit and other rhetorical dodges like it.

Back to the film. I finally got it back from my neighbor, who proudly told me her two boys, around 13 and 15 years old, watched it three times. She said she would be proud if her sons grew up like Idris Elba’s character. Even more troubling, she said she would be honored if they ended up with someone like Gabrielle Union’s character, a single mother of three living in the projects with a drug-dealer baby daddy, because it would show character and love for their mother who had a similar experience. REALLY? DON’T WE WANT BETTER FOR OUR CHILDREN? FOR OURSELVES?

This is one of my major issues with Tyler Lynch’s latest Coons Gone Wild production. Why is it considered wrong to want a partner who shares your goals and values? If I strive to excel in my personal life, education, career, and community, why should I be labeled a sellout for wanting the same from my partner? The film has Gabrielle Union parroting that tired bullshit about how if you are a successful, driven, intelligent Black woman who does not date white men or rappers, then you are doomed to eternal loneliness with a vibrator and a dozen cats. It is defeatist. It is toxic. And it is a lie.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS HERE IF YOU HAVE THEM, WOULD LOVE TO READ WHAT YOU THINK.

BELOW ARE TWO SAMPLES OF TYLER LYNCH'S WORK AND THE THIRD IS A PIECE CONCERNING HOW HIS OWN THEATRE INDUSTRY VIEWS HIM.