Madea
 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (February 2014) |
| Madea | |
|---|---|
 Madea serving time in prison for committing a series of crimes as seen in Madea Goes to Jail | |
| First appearance |
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| Created by | Tyler Perry |
| Portrayed by | Tyler Perry |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Mabel Earlene Simmons |
| Family |
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| Spouse |
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| Children |
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| Relatives |
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Mabel "Madea" Earlene Simmons (née Baker/Murphy) is a character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. She is described as an elderly and tough African-American woman.[1]
Madea is based on Perry's mother and his aunt. In Perry's own words Madea is "exactly the PG version of my mother and my aunt, and I loved having an opportunity to pay homage to them. She would beat the hell out of you but make sure the ambulance got there in time to make sure they could set your arm back".[2]
The Madea films/plays are comedies, but all contain serious themes and are intended to deliver moral messages about issues such as infidelity, spousal abuse and consequences of one's actions.
Fictional biography[]
Early years[]
Madea was born in Greensburg, Louisiana,[3] on June 26, 1935, and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her maiden name is unknown, but it is presumably either Baker or Murphy as they were the last names of her father and mother, respectively. (Madea was 65 in the first play, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, as well as Madea's Class Reunion. Her ages in the other plays are unknown because they take place between these two plays, and there's no continuity offered. In Madea Goes to Jail, Madea was around 75). In "I Can Do Bad All by Myself," she reveals she once lived in Cleveland, Ohio, but later returned to Atlanta. Madea was a hooker and a stripper.
Madea was brought up in poverty and grew up living in a shotgun house with her parents and siblings. Madea has stated that although her family didn't have much, they had love.[4] She even claimed that her daddy would go outside and hunt for dogs and cook them on the stove to eat for dinner. According to A Madea's Christmas [the play], Madea's mother, "Big Mabel" Murphy, was a hooker during Madea's childhood and was not at all religious. As a result, Madea grew up with little knowledge of religion (as an elderly woman, Madea has a tendency to misquote the Bible).
When she was in her early teens her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia where they lived in the west side. She attended Booker T. Washington High School where she served as a cheerleader. It is unknown where and when she met her first husband, Johnny. Madea and Johnny ended up having their first child, Michelle as young teens possibly 15 or 16. Then when Madea was 18 she got pregnant again with her other daughter, Cora who is the result of a one-night stand Madea had with an unknown man so this makes Johnny not the father of Cora. Then sometime later Madea and Johnny had a son, William. Then soon all her children ended up married and having kids. Madea and Johnny had to raise two of their grandchildren, Maylee and Vianne, after their daughter's death due to her drug addiction.
Criminal background[]
Madea's criminal record began at age 9 with a charge of theft. She was charged with her first felony at this age, and her crimes began progressing to illegal gambling at age 18, which later evolved into check fraud, identity theft, insurance fraud (related to her nine deceased husbands), assault, attempted murder, and vehicle theft.
In Diary of a Mad Black Woman alone, Madea and her granddaughter Helen McCarter were both charged with "criminal trespassing, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a handgun, assault with a deadly weapon, [driving on a] suspended license, expired registration, reckless driving, and a broken taillight", which caused Judge Mablean Ephriam to place Madea on house arrest, while her granddaughter was bailed for $5,000.
In Madea's Family Reunion, Madea got brought before Judge Ephriam after she removed her ankle monitor to get Joe some medicine in violation of her house arrest. Brian persuaded Madea to take Judge Ephraim's offer to become the foster mother of Nikki Grady.
In Meet the Browns, she was arrested for resisting arrest, failure to stop at a red light which led to a high speed chase, assaulting a police officer. violating her probation
In Madea Goes to Jail, Madea was placed under anger management by Judge Ephriam that was overseen by Phil McGraw in light of the car chase and the police officers failing to read Madea her Miranda rights. She was arrested once again for damaging a woman's car in a parking lot and was sentence 5 to 10 years in prison by Judge Greg Mathis. When assistant district attorney Josh Hardaway exposes the fraud, tampering, and false document providing done by assistant district attorney Linda Davis, this led to a protest demanding the release of Madea and those that Linda prosecuted which is even talked about on The View as a lot of media outlets classified them as the Georgia Seven. Following the full investigation the sentences of Madea, Candace Washington-Collins, Bernice Davis, Ida Mae Jones, Takeda Matthews, Andrea Thomas, and Elizabeth Bryant were overturned and they were released from prison.
In the animated film Madea's Tough Love, Madea got arrested for excessive damage to public property (which she unintentionally committed while chasing after two unruly skateboarders that offended an old lady), two bench warrants, 25 unpaid parking tickets, and an unpaid speeding ticket. Madea is placed under house arrest by Judge Michaels much to the annoyance of Joe and sentenced to community service guiding the young souls at the Moms Mabley Youth Center where a special monitor is placed on her to make sure she does her job as Officers Fred and Frank are assigned to keep an eye on Madea.
Media and entertainment featuring Madea[]
Madea has appeared in several plays (some of which have been recorded for repeated viewing), fully produced films, a couple of television programs (guest appearances), one book and one animated film. The character made her first appearance in the 1999 play I Can Do Bad All by Myself, later appearing in numerous other plays by Perry, then appearing in films based on those plays.
Plays (including recorded plays)[]
- I Can Do Bad All by Myself—2000
- Diary of a Mad Black Woman—2001
- Madea's Family Reunion—2002
- Madea's Class Reunion—2003
- Madea Goes to Jail—2006
- Madea's Big Happy Family—2010
- A Madea Christmas—2011
- Madea Gets a Job—2012
- Madea's Neighbors from Hell—2013
- Madea on the Run—2015
- Madea's Farewell—2020
Films[]
- Diary of a Mad Black Woman—2005 (themes: adultery, hurt, revenge, forgiveness)
- Madea's Family Reunion—2006 (themes: spousal abuse, women standing up for themselves)
- Meet the Browns (cameo)—2008
- Madea Goes to Jail—2009 (themes: prostitution, addiction, forgiveness)
- I Can Do Bad All by Myself (cameo)—2009
- Madea's Big Happy Family—2011 (themes: marital conflict, family secrets, death)
- Madea's Witness Protection—2012 (themes, aside from comedy: family relationships)
- A Madea Christmas—2013 (themes: racism, bullying, religion in the public sphere)
- Boo! A Madea Halloween—2016 (themes: teenage rebellion)
- Boo 2! A Madea Halloween—2017 (themes: consequences of actions)
- A Madea Family Funeral—2019[5] (themes: infidelity, taking responsibility, racism)
- A Madea Homecoming—2022[6]
Animated film[]
- Madea's Tough Love—2015
Television series[]
House of Payne (guest appearances)[]
In the TBS comedy-drama House of Payne pilot episode "Bully and the Beast", Madea was the foster mother of Nikki. She factored into the plot through a school altercation between her adopted daughter and Curtis Payne's (the series' protagonist) great-nephew Malik. Curtis takes a particular disliking to Madea, who is not in the least bit intimidated by Curtis at all. Rather conversely, Curtis became intimidated by Madea and had nightmares about her.[7]
In the episode "The Wench Who Saved Christmas", Curtis tries to discourage everyone from having the Christmas spirit. He later fell asleep and dreamt that Madea was the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future. In this form, she tried to teach him a lesson about his killjoy behavior.[8]
In the episode "Wife Swap", Curtis' wife Ella chastises him for taking her for granted. That night, Curtis has an extended nightmare where he is married to Madea instead of Ella.[9]
Meet the Browns (mentioned)[]
On another TBS series, Meet the Browns, Mable is said to be the mother of Cora Simmons as a result of a one-night stand with the show's lead character. She is an unseen character throughout the series.[10]
Love Thy Neighbor (guest appearance)[]
On January 21, 2015, Madea made a special guest appearance in the Oprah Winfrey Network comedy series, Love Thy Neighbor. The episode titled "Madea's Pressure Is Up" aired as part of the 3rd season of Love Thy Neighbor.
Miscellaneous[]
In a commercial to BET+, Tyler Perry explained this streaming service to Madea and Joe at the time when they were arguing on what to watch on TV.
Cast and characters[]
List indicator(s)
- This table shows the principal characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise.
- A dark grey cell indicates that the character did not appear or that the character's presence has yet to be announced.
- A Y indicates a role as a younger version of character portrayed by another actor.
- A U indicates an uncredited role.
- A P indicates a photographic role.
- A C indicates a cameo role.
- A V indicates a voice-only role.
- An A indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills.
Book[]
Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Perry wrote the book in the character's persona. The book was published on April 11, 2006.
Reception[]
In 2009, Entertainment Weekly put the character on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Whether she's going to jail or just opening up a can of whupass, Tyler Perry's Madea is the profane, gun-toting granny you never had but (maybe) wish you did."[11]
On April 1, 2013, Orlando Jones pulled an April Fools' Day prank, informing the public via his Huffington Post account that he would be replacing Perry as Madea. Jones led the public to believe that the decision had come amid Perry's prior obligations, assisting Oprah Winfrey with her struggling OWN network. As part of the prank, Jones released a photo of himself to the public in which he was impersonating Madea. In addition, he incorporated several pretend quotes seemingly issued by Perry, both acknowledging the news and giving Jones his blessing to continue on with the character. Unaware of the prank, fans responded with outrage and criticism. As result of increasing outcries from fans, Perry informed the public on April 15, 2013, that the news was untrue. Perry was quoted as stating "That was an April Fool's joke that HE did. Not true. And not funny. When I'm done with Madea, she is done."[12]
Perry has been accused of minstrelsy and playing into black stereotypes with the Madea character, most notably by fellow black director Spike Lee. Perry's argument with Lee dates back to a 2009 interview in which Lee referred to Perry's films as "coonery buffoonery".[13] Lee equated the Madea movies with the old-time minstrel shows which lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious and happy-go-lucky,[14][15] and further stated that if a white director made a movie depicting black people in such a manner he would be ostracized.[13] Perry responded by stating that his films were meant as entertainment and should not be taken so seriously, saying, "I am sick of him talking about me. I am sick of him saying, 'This is a coon, this is a buffoon.' I am sick of him talking about black people going to see movies. This is what he said: 'You vote by what you see'—as if black people don't know what they want to see. I am sick of him. He talked about Whoopi, he talked about Oprah, he talked about me, he talked about Clint Eastwood. Spike needs to shut the hell up!"[16] Perry has been criticized for stereotyping black femininity using black masculinity.[17] Some critics believe that the characterization of Madea, in addition to other black women featured in Madea films, works to legitimize harmful and damaging stereotypes. There is growing concern around these depictions of blackness as critics believe they can have a negative impact on how black women see themselves in society and how they are perceived by others.[18] In addition, Tyler Perry's role as Madea has received criticism due to some viewing his cross-gender acting as a misappropriation of drag culture. Critics have alleged Tyler Perry perpetuates radical feminist ideology through his characterization of Madea and her interactions with other protagonists.[19]
Parody and satire[]
- In early December 2012, Madea was parodied on Saturday Night Live by actor Jamie Foxx.[20]
- In the American Dad! episode "Spelling Bee My Baby," Steve Smith deliberately misspelled his words in a spelling bee so as to express his love for Akiko (who was also competing), instead spelling random Tyler Perry/Madea films.[21]
- The character was parodied on The Boondocks episode "Pause", in which a thinly disguised version of Perry named Winston Jerome plays a similar character to Madea called Ma Duke.[22]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Austerlitz, Saul (2010). Another Fine Mess: A History of American Film Comedy. Chicago Review Press. p. 444. ISBN 9781556529511. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
Madea avenging.
- ^ "Tyler Perry Transforms: From Madea To Family Man". NPR. 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ Parks, Sheri (23 March 2010). Fierce Angels: The Strong Black Woman in American Life and Culture - Sheri Parks - Google Books. ISBN 9780345512598. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ Perry, Tyler (6 February 2007). Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited ... - Tyler Perry - Google Books. ISBN 9781101218037. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ McNary, Dave (22 June 2017). "Two Tyler Perry Movies Get 2018 Release Dates".
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 8, 2021). "Tyler Perry Brings Madea Out Of Retirement For New Netflix Movie". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ "Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Vol. 1: Episodes 1-20 [3 Discs] - DVD". Bestbuy.com. 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
- ^ "Preview: Tyler Perry's Madea visits House of Payne - Today's News: Our Take". TVGuide.com. 2007-12-05. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
- ^ TV.com (2008-05-08). "Tyler Perry's House Of Payne - Season 4, Episode 1: Wife Swap". TV.com. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
- ^ "Meet the Browns TV show | canceled + renewed TV shows". TV Series Finale. 2011-11-18. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
- ^ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "The 100 Greatest Movies, TV Shows, Albums, Books, Characters, Scenes, Episodes, Songs, Dresses, Music Videos, and Trends That Entertained Us Over the Past 10 Years". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
- ^ Scott, Tracy. "Tyler Perry calls Orlando Jones' news 'not true and not funny'". S2SMagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
- ^ a b Spike Lee on Black Enterprise. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2012-12-29 – via YouTube.
- ^ The Coon Character, Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- ^ John Kenrick, A History of the Musical: Minstrel Shows, musicals101.com. 1996, revised 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- ^ Yamato, Jen (2011-04-20). "Madea's Tyler Perry Blasts Spike Lee: 'Spike Can Go Straight to Hell!'". Movieline. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
- ^ Copeland, Kameron J. (2017-03-01). "From New Black Realism to Tyler Perry: The Characterizations of Black Masculinity in Tyler Perry's Romantic Storylines". The Journal of Men's Studies. 25 (1): 70–91. doi:10.1177/1060826516641096. ISSN 1060-8265. S2CID 147315914.
- ^ McKoy, Briana (2012). "Tyler Perry and The Weight of Misrepresentation". McNair Scholars Research Journal.
- ^ Lyle, Timothy (2011). ""CHECK WITH YO' MAN FIRST; CHECK WITH YO' MAN": Tyler Perry Appropriates Drag as a Tool to Re-Circulate Patriarchal Ideology". Callaloo. 34 (3): 943–958. doi:10.1353/cal.2011.0135. ISSN 0161-2492. JSTOR 41243201. S2CID 146524264.
- ^ McGlynn, Katla (2012-12-09). "Tyler Perry's Madea Meets 'Alex Cross' On Jamie Foxx 'SNL' Episode (Video)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ McFarland, Kevin (2013-04-29). ""The Full Cognitive Redaction Of Avery Bullock By The Coward Stan Smith" | American Dad | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- ^ Braxton, Greg (2010-06-21). "Aaron McGruder's Boondocks' lampoons Tyler Perry". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
External links[]
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