Inside Man Tops Box Office

Spike Lee's latest project, Inside Man, grossed over $28.9 million it's first weekend released. This is Spike Lee's highest grossing weekend to date.

The Original Kings of Comedy grossed only $11 million dollars its first opening weekend.

Is Tyler Perry Gay?

In an article featured in the Pacific News Service, a commentator asserts that black audiences seem to flock to movies like Medea, which stars a man wearing drag, but seem to run from the real-life representation of gay or transgendered individuals.

The author continues, that RuPaul was a cross dresser who reached international acclaim but mainly from white audiences. Also, RuPaul was openly gay - a factor this author thinks prohibited RuPaul's success from trickling over to the black community.

Madea is a man dressed as a female, plain and simple. No matter how many feel-good religious messages Tyler Perry feeds his audiences, black Christians are embracing cross dressing as a form of entertainment. Which is not problematic, except for the fact that black Christians are known for their homophobic views toward anything remotely gay.

But what if Tyler Perry were gay? Would Madea continue to be as popular among black churchgoers? Probably not. At least with his assumed heterosexuality, Christians can rest at ease that they are not supporting anything gay because it is, after all, just a role.

RuPaul, while a great performer, was openly gay and therefore never found the widespread acceptance and fame that Madea has.

What do you think?

Tyler Perry's "Medea's Family Reunion" has grossed over 31 million dollars. It held the number one post as the top box office film last weekend, beating out the Weinstein Company's Doogal and other movies.

Most interesting to note, is the fact that "Medea's Family Reunion" was not pre-screened to critics. The critical response to the first Medea movie, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" was very harsh, with many critics bashing the film as a low-brow comedy.

When "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" toped the box office and made over 50 million dollars in theaters, the producers of "Family Reunion" decided not to waste the time pubbing the movie to critics, when previously the film did fine even amid poor reviews.

Spike Lee Attacks Hollywood

In what appears to be common practice for Mr. Spike Lee, the director of Malcolm X attacked Hollywood's "all-white" environment. For those who may not know, Spike Lee's status as a maverick film director comes with the price of constantly working to improve the opportunities in filmmaking to minorities.

During the production of "Do the Right Thing," Spike Lee actually went around the then all-white unions to hire black set workers.

Here is a quote from the Complex Magazine article:

"You go to any studio, the (only) black guy you are going to see is the guy at the gate. In Hollywood, there is not one African-American who is an executive that has gatekeeper position that could greenlight a picture"

What do you think about this article? The success of the Medea movies provides the most recent example of African-Americans working independently to create profitable movies.