Nearly three years after the release of his 2019 feature film, A Madea Family Funeral (2019), Tyler Perry has now partnered with Netflix to release his newest comedy film, A Madea Homecoming ‘22, after his deal with Lionsgate came to an abrupt end. Centering around the character, Mabel “Madea” Earlene Simmons (played by director, producer, and writer Tyler Perry), the project follows Madea as she welcomes her family into her home to celebrate her great-grandson’s college graduation. As family drama threatens to plague the event, Madea makes it a point to keep everyone in line, often resorting to her “by any means necessary” (fierce) approach.
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As a series of hidden secrets become exposed, childhood friendships are fractured, new friendships are tested, former marital and now co-parent relations are severely strained, and Madea reaches for her gun about ninety percent of the time. Filled with cameos from the eccentric Mr.Brown (David Mann), his kind daughter Cora (Tamela Mann), and Madea’s pragmatic older brother Joe (Tyler Perry), lights up the screen with their familiar faces and rib-tickling personalities.
Although the film consists of a plethora of comedic moments, there are key elements that shine through, mirroring the everyday reality many viewers indeed face. Additionally, without revealing any specific spoilers, the comedy and references to current social cultures, through catchphrases and reimagining iconic pop culture moments, enables fans to instantly gravitate towards the content and find humor in it.
Besides the widespread theory tied to Tyler Perry creating a whole film around homecoming, just so he can play Beyonce in a parody of her Coachella performance, these are the important takeaways from A Madea Homecoming.
Find Humor in the Most Difficult Times
Netflix
The most important lesson of all is to laugh, even when you’re hurting. Tyler Perry is an expert in providing organic comedic moments throughout his various projects, to the point where viewers are entirely submerged within the entire hour and forty-five minutes of the film. In A Madea Homecoming, Laura (Gabrielle Dennis) – Madea’s granddaughter and the mother of Tim (Brandon Black), who is graduating from college) – has a range of obstacles she’s trying to overcome. For one, she struggled financially to get Tim through college while her ex-husband provided no apparent financial support.
Being a woman of color and having to undergo a series of socioeconomic conundrums are all real factors that relate to a history of traumas throughout communities of color. Laura, being a black woman and having to remind her family that she’s ok, even when she seems to be hurting internally, very often tells the story of an individual who suppresses their pain in order to paint this picture that everything is great. She’s unfazed by the actions of those who blatantly gaslight and betray her.
While being around her family, Laura is able to temporarily navigate away from those tough subjects and genuinely have a great time with them. Despite the Simmons family being full-fledged crazy, they immediately come together as a collective to support Laura. As viewers, surrounding yourself with those who love and support you is essential. Taking from Laura’s story, things get better when theirs a solid support system in your corner.
Never Invite Chaotic Family to Events
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If you take nothing else from this article, please implement this essential life lesson because it will unquestionably spare you and any of your fellow loved ones from headaches and arguments. Let’s start by saying most people love Madea. However, she can sometimes be kind of chaotic (chaotic as an understatement). She wants to fight and beat people up, which is hilarious to watch. Still, if any of you have actually experienced family members who do this almost all the time, it’s borderline embarrassing and produces mounds of anxiety.
In Madea’s case, family drama is an everyday activity that never manages to stop. Whenever the family unites together for an event or occasion, theirs always some sort of conflict. Madea, on the other hand, further escalates the already existing conflict with physical threats. If Tyler Perry decides to create another Madea film, it should probably be along the lines of Madea Goes To Therapy.
In all, successfully being able to connect to your audience as a filmmaker through the history of various struggles and oppression is something Perry has notably been able to achieve. He directly provides first-hand experiences that people of color have indeed experienced and portrays them throughout his projects not only to show the struggles but also the way in which the community is known to find humor and positivity while facing adversities. As a viewer, being able to notice your everyday struggles depicted on-screen makes any person feel that they aren’t alone.
