Sevonna Brown

Sevonna Brown, from Saginaw, Michigan, is a sophomore at Williams College. At Williams she carves out a space for her interests in documentary photography, literature, film, and music with her academic work in American Studies and Africana Studies. She is currently pioneering an academic journal for the Africana Studies Program which will highlight student works and circulate intellectual inquires pursued outside of the classroom. She organizes her extracurricular activities within the Minority Coalition to promote dialogue for underrepresented communities through participation in campus organizations and the pursuit of journalism.

CultureOctober 3, 2012

Tyler Perry’s Museum of Blackness

By Sevonna Brown

Tyler Perry’s Madea franchise is part of a collective of black, fat drag, comedy-dramas. These films bear six distinguishing features: 1) they are considered “successful” because they gross more than their production costs; 2) they are accompanied by an R&B/gospel soundtrack, and 3) include casts of popular black actors and actresses who are well known within African American communities. Also characteristic of these films are 4) the use of multiple and arguably watered-down Protestant messages about the importance of faith in God, couched in comedic performance, to appeal to mass audiences. An additional feature is that 5) the black church is the space where a significant turning point and/or the film’s resolution occur. Most notably, these films are characterized by 6) the donning of intricately designed fat suits by black men (Tyler Perry, Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy) to parody black women.