Tyler Perry this week dismissed “high-brow” criticism of his work and said his movies were meant to help his own community.
“A large portion of my fans are disenfranchised, they can’t get into a Volvo and go to therapy on the weekends,” Perry said during an appearance. Baby, it’s Keke Palmer podcast. “You see a classy black man who looks at everything with his head held high. And then you see people like where I’m from, and me, who are millers, who really know this is What, their mothers were caregivers for white children, maids, housekeepers, beauticians. Don’t discount these people and say their stories don’t matter who you are and what black stories matter, or should. Being spoken out? Get out of here with this crap.
Perry said he has honed his ability to stifle criticism over the years. “If you let others talk you out of where God has placed you, you will find yourself in hell,” he said. “I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing, because for every critic, I’ve gotten thousands of — old emails — emails from people saying, ‘This change My thoughts. Oh my God, you know me. How do you know about my life and my family?
Elsewhere in the interview, Perry discussed why he first got into film.
“I have only one goal,” he said. “I need to make money to take care of my mother. I want her to retire because she’s sick. She works with a bunch of kids, and kids are little Petri dishes for bacteria. She’s always sick, and she’s diabetic. So, All I was focused on was: getting me enough money to take care of her.
He continued, “That’s where the drudgery begins…it’s all about ‘Can I take care of her?'”
The media mogul’s mother died of illness in 2009, but Perry said his success allowed him to give her a life “she never imagined”.
He added: “That’s all I have to be grateful for.”
