Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Selling Out


Lately I've been getting some flack for being anti-Tyler Perry. So I figured I'd throw more salt in the wound. Before I go much further though, let me say that I do respect Tyler Perry to a certain extent. He's giving Black actors and actresses jobs. That's about where my respect for him stops. I don't know his personal background, even though his defenders will try to tell me about it. I honestly don't care about that. I'm talking solely about his work. His work, to me, lacks creativity. There's no soul in his work. He found a formula that works and he has stuck with it. It just happens that his work is sort of a throwback to the days when we didn't have a choice in what we acted in. For instance, why would he have a lead character dress crazily and mispronounce words like it's 1924? It's embarrassing. Does he need to dress up like a woman in order to be funny (Martin Lawrence)? Why is everything he does titled "Tyler Perry presents"? It's blatant arrogance that's he's not talented enough to have. He's a conglomerate now. He can take risks now because he has a loyal fan base. Yet he still chooses to make "Madea goes to Work." I want my cut for giving him that title. Maybe he's already made that movie. Oh well. Anyway, is it fair to say he's selling out? I don't know. I'm not judge and jury on that one. I'm just saying that I wouldn't do what he's doing and I don't respect his work. If that makes him a sellout, then so be it. What surprises me is that we still support him. I can't get with what he's selling. I'm not saying to boycott him, just look for something different. The most powerful man in the world is Black. We can be so much more than bumbling idiots. And how dumb does he look in that picture?

Monday, December 27, 2010

Holiday Season


The holiday season is one of my favorite times of the year. Being in the south, the weather is usually pretty nice as I don't ever remember having a white Christmas. I'm at the age now where I don't care if I get any gifts or not because I can buy whatever I want. So it would seem like everything is good. One drawback to it is that I don't have a family of my own so I always have to travel on Christmas. That wouldn't even be that big of a deal if I wasn't in retail. Usually I'm right back at work the next day and usually early. This year just worked out to where I was actually off the day after Christmas. It would be nice to be able to take vacation after Christmas, but I'm more worried about putting myself behind if I did do that. The drive is not long, but I hate making it. People drive crazy and "They" are always out. I'm glad they're out there, but I always have to worry about them bothering me because that's what they do sometimes. It gets scary on the highway sometimes because people fly like there is no speed limit around curves, hills and all. I'd much rather stay at home for the holidays, but I have to eat. And honestly, I love spending time with my family. We have always exchanged gifts and we always will. It amazes me when I hear people say that they just give money. I will never do that and I don't want anyone to give me money. Where's the fun in that? I like going out (early of course) and shopping for gifts, without a list. We did that when I was young and that's all I know. Yeah I got that in the picture....and it goes hard.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Failure to Launch

Someone asked me at work the other day, "Why are you here?" I was thrown off at first, but I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't heard that question before. So why am I still at (Insert retailer here)? It's hard to answer that question honestly. I still have bills to pay. Do I love what I do? No. It's hard to love something that is not your passion. Writing is a passion of mine. It's so risky to make a career out of it. I've heard that I have enough talent to make a career out of it, but what happens if I don't? I'm back at square one looking for a way to make ends meet. Maybe the time will come when I push myself to do what I should be doing. I really want to be more than what I am now. My time will come. I just need that extra push.