You know I've never been a fan. I've even predicted that Tyler Perry will be the Jerry Lewis of blackfolks. Rising from obscurity and living in his car to become an empire-building sot, living forever, contributing nothing of artistic or lasting value. So check out the trade, Variety, declaring that the Writer's Guild union is taking the blush off the rose (rather, the grocery store carnation), by filing unfair labor practice charges against him for firing writers on House of Payne (his latest minstrel show). Tyler's lawyer says (1) the writers aren't necessarily union members and (2) were fired because their work-product quality had declined. Tyler Perry firing someone for bad quality is like Orson Welles worrying about cholesterol.
Now, Tyler is apparently a SAG and Director's Guild card-carrier. They all shit on writers. Who doesn't? But there is such a thing as labor solidarity, as evident by the big name directors and actors who honored the picket line in the writer's strike of 07-08. Black folks love unions. Imagine the internal conflict, then? Will that translate to a backlash? Will the Tom Joyners and the Steve Harveys out there call Tyler out? Hmmm. Tyler has a following analogous to Sarah Palin's among so-called "real" people--didn't you know? And among churchfolk who don't seem to mind how wonderfully smooth his skin shines. LOL Of course, we "elite" bastards "don't get it." Oh, we get it, all right...
