When doyen film-maker Tyler Perry announced he was retiring his popular alter-ego character, Mabel “Madea” Earlene Simmons in 2019, fans were gobsmacked.
Since the release of “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” in 2006, Madea has embedded herself in the hearts of hordes of fans around the world.
Aside from being a larger-than-life force of nature dressed in the frumpiest of dresses, Madea is as endearing as she is feisty. She commands respect, and challenging her is simply asking for trouble.
And that’s why fans fell in love with her.
By his own admittance, Perry confirmed the character is a PG-friendly version of both his mom and aunt.
The “Madea” movie franchise has become immensely popular for addressing societal dilemmas synonymous with the African-American community.
At the same time, Perry ridicules the stereotypes that remain a challenge to this day.
Aside from the side-splitting scenarios as Madea dips into her arsenal of jibes, the franchise also inspires and empowers to some extent.
But all good things come to an end – or so fans thought – until Perry returned with “A Madea Homecoming” and he found the perfect partner in crime – Brendan O’Carroll, who is famous for his doppelgänger character, Agnes Brown.
During a recent Zoom video call, I got to chat with Perry and O’Carroll.
Although it was brief, the laughs were plenty as O’Carroll said the most waggish things with a poker face.
Why did he agree to be in a “Madea” movie?
“Who’s Tyler Perry, that was my first thought,” he joked.
He continued: “We have been half-planning this for about five to six years. When Madea went into half-retirement, I kind of said, well that’s going to be the end of that. But Tyler had a very pragmatic approach that people need to learn to laugh again.
“And we had a situation and I’m sure it's the same where you are, that people were passing away and you cannot go to their funeral. And imagine having your mom for all of your life and when she passes away you can’t be there.
“So there was a very deep sadness that fell across the whole world, and frustration. People needed to laugh again. People needed to learn how to laugh again. And Tyler came up with this script and said, ‘Hey look let’s do this. Let’s make people laugh’. And that’s all he wants to do.
“It’s a spiritually based thing about comedy, how important it is, what it does for people, what it does to people.
“And he’s absolutely right and this movie is going to prove that.”
Perry’s desire to neutralise the pandemic’s sombre mood with humour is what prompted him to pull Madea out of retirement.
He said: “It’s simply the state of the world and everything that’s going on. The pandemic has put so many people in such a space of not laughing and there is so much seriousness that is happening, so I wanted to do something that would make us laugh, make us enjoy ourselves and just take our mind off everything.
“That is why she showed up again. And to team up with Agnes Brown, I have to say this was a match made in heaven.”
Of course, Perry, always wearing his businessman hat, used the recent Super Bowl event to generate some hype around the movie by having Madea spoof Mary J Blige.
He chuckled: “I’m waiting for that call from Mary J Blige. But when I saw her performing, she was phenomenal and I said I gotta take a moment and spoof her. So Madea performed at the Super Bowl on top of a car in the parking lot, because they wouldn’t let her in because Mary was jealous of her outfit.”
“A Madea Homecoming” centres on the events leading up to Madea’s great-grandson Tim’s graduation from college.
As always with family gatherings, unresolved issues and secrets contribute to a tense atmosphere. And this is heightened by the arrival of Davi, played by Isha Blaaker, who is Tim’s best friend, as well as his great-aunt Agnes Brown and his second cousin Cathy (Jennifer Gibney).
The film includes the usual suspects of Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis-Patton), Leroy Brown (David Mann) and Madea’s brother Joe Simmons (also played by Perry), who contribute to the unfolding comedic chaos.
Now Madea may very well have overextended her stay with gags that have become blatantly repetitive. The movie, while cajoling a few laughs, is too much of a carbon copy of its predecessors.
But Perry isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, he’s going with a tried-and-trusted formula. Although I feel that the franchise has become prosaic, it’s trending on Netflix in SA and the US.
Once again, this goes to prove that some offerings are critic-proof. And that puts Perry in the same category as Leon Schuster, in that, no matter how many times he milks the same material, fans can’t seem to get enough of it.
I’m sure Agnes’s double entendres were a high point for fans too. Hallerlujer!
“A Madea Homecoming” is streaming on Netflix.