Why does race have to play a part in the title of the work?
Are we not just race baiting ourselves?
I do not knock the attempt to be about a african-american point of view, but why continue to make racial differences a key in a title or to play some role to make a racial difference point?
Are there really that many differences between the races to warrant us to continue to point them out based solely upon color?
Also, the new guy in her life says "I am looking at a beautiful black woman." Not "a beautiful woman. But "A beautiful black woman."
shareWhat about "White Chicks", do you hear anyone saying "Why not 'CHICKS'? it's a simple adjective and I just can't stand to see how many white people, (I'm not saying all cuz i'm not racist) are saying that this movie is racist, when they are being racist themselves!!!
shareIts called diary of a mad black woman because that's basically what it was. Like pages from the diary of a mad female who just happened to be black.
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"I love being ugly"-you
I am a white woman, but I really loved this movie and didn't think about the characters being black while watching it. It was just enjoyable. However, if it were Diary of a Mad White Woman it may not have been as funny. And like it or not there usually is a difference in humour and references between races so the Black in the title fits. On the other hand remember Single White Female. Now that is a movie where race should have been left out of the title. It had no relevance.
shareI think single white female was a reference to a classified ad.
shareI think the word black is inserted in the title in order for us to tell the difference between this film and a thousand other cookie cutter slapstick comedies and love stories that have come out in the last 20 years.
shareBecause this movie depicts what a mad BLACK woman would do. No way would you ever see a mad WHITE woman doing the stuff that she does in this film. I'm not trying to sound stereotypical or racist, that's just the way it is.
shareThe OP is under the impression that this film is supposed to be a general movie about a mad woman's experience, and is questioning why 'black' must be in the title. The answer is simple, because it isn't just a general colorblind perspective; its a black woman's point of view with a black culture atmosphere (which is rarely seen done in a right, positive respectable light in cinema these days, even by black directors/writers, mind you) and thats why it had to be included.
And general movies for a subject like "Diary of a Mad Woman" would always have a white woman, because white people are seen as the 'standard' by default. She'd never be Black, Asian, Hispanic, etc.
www.juicy-flawless.orgshare
http://www.aphroditejones.com
Diary of a Mad Woman means that it is about the diary of a crazy woman. Diary of a Mad Black Woman means that it is about the diary of an angry woman who is black. History and context will never go away, so you may as well make them work for you instead of fighting them; you can’t beat them, so join them.
Diary of a Mad Person, no Diary of a Person, no Diary of a Living Thing, no Diary of a Thing. How’s that for a non-specific, all-inclusive, unoffensive title?
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Synetech
Why do you gotta go calling it a "diary"? Why can't it just be a "book"? Is a diary somehow better or inferior to any other book?? I don't think so!! The title of this movie should be "Book".
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First of all, I think it is Diary of a Black Woman...because she is a mad black woman in the play/movie...
Why do people get so hung up on race...personally I am tired of declaring mine on every application I feel out... I just put human in other now....
I didn't see anyone getting upset about Legally Blonde!!! Which I thought was very derogatory!
The word Diary is very popular for movies...Diary of Anne Frank...Bridget Jones' etc.
Tyler knew what he was doing. It worked quite well the way he did it.
Yeah, why do they call it "Legally Blonde"?! How racist can you get! What about people with black hair or red hair or gray hair or any other color of hair! And what about bald people, huh?? The movie should be called "Legally With or Without Hair of Any Color or Color Combination including None At All".
shareHere's why I think it's titled that. Tyler Perry writes about what he knows, he pulls his inspiration from his own family. Calling it Diary of a Mad Woman is a bit generalistic. He has no idea how white woman or hispanic woman deal with this situation.
OH And yeah wake up as a black woman of Upper middle class I used to try to see the world blinded thinking there wasn't any difference between races and sadly that's not the truth at all. Many white people aren't aware of the advantages they get so they're blinded to the truth.
Here's an example, my friend and I wanted a job at a store we applied and were told to come in, the interviewer jumped as soon as he saw me. We talked for 5 minutes before he told me "You're not really what we're looking for sorry.." I walked out, my friend went in talked for 20 minutes and told me the guy said she was in the running for the job.
Every star has a time to shine and honey you're do for a good one!
Because it's about a BLACK WOMAN, fool, and black people love to hear their ethnicity involved with something, being that everything else is usually Caucasian.
shareMany years ago there was a movie called Single White Female. I don't recall any complaints about it or anyone asking why it wasn't called just Single Female. I had no problem with that movie or its title. I actually think it adds something to the title. Just like adding black helps with this movie. If it was just Single Female or Diary of a Mad Woman they wouldn't have the same impact so it works both ways.
sharewhy not name it "Diary of a mad Person" then?
shareI see your point.
The title is also sexist.
It should be called "Diary of a Mad Person."
But, we can't stop there... "mad" would imply that she was possibly crazy/insane or had anger management issues...
Therefore, it should be called "Diary of a Person."
Why would he choose the word "diary" though?
But, wait...
Anne Frank had a diary while she was in hiding. Using the word "diary" could cause people to think it had something to do with the holocaust or some other sort of oppressive situation dealing with a person's religious affiliation.
Maybe he should have just called it - "Journal of a Person"
I think that would have been politically correct enough, don't you?
I can't believe he actually called the movie/play "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."
Oh, the nerve!
"Will, I told you...If you live with a hetero long enough...You're going to catch it."
I think that the OP's point was that in American society, boiling a person down to their race and using it as the primary factor of description is seen as a negative. Referring to "the black guy" or "the Asian woman" is seen as reducing a person's qualities to a racial factor, thus degrading the individual. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" therefore seemingly not only reduces the lead character to her race, but a racial stereotype, that of the violently psychotic black American female from a low socio-economic background. Then again, the movie itself goes on and reinforces that, as the lead essentially is a somewhat more developed version of that very stereotype, with Madea stepping in to act as a living, breathing personification of every negative black female stereotype ever uttered, and Charles rounding out the trio as the philandering, sexually irresponsible Alpha Black Man.
In that way, Perry has somewhat fashioned himself after Woody Allen, not only as the driving force behind all of his works, but also in the manner in which he presents his work. Just as Perry's characters are embodiments of the totality of black stereotypes, Allen's "Woody" character is a personification of the stereotype of the American Jew. The primary difference is that Allen's character tends to be presented in an endearing, universally positive light: The lovable loser who really just wants to be let alone, but ends up drifting through life, self-sabotaging and having bad things happen to him because of his societal impotence. Allen plays upon stereotypes to endear his character-- and by proxy, the Jews whom he represents-- to the viewer. Perry's characters, though, serve as negative reinforcements of black stereotypes. As opposed to the lovable, neurotic Woody, Perry's characters are societal deviants wallowing in a world of domestic abuse, irresponsible promiscuity, and violence as a means of conflict resolution. Rather than allow the world at large an endearing view into the black community, Perry only gives black audiences familiar with the life he depicts a sense of comfort; those looking in from the outside will only walk away with their prejudices reinforced, or worse yet, develop fresh prejudices based on Perry's status as not only one of America's preeminent filmmakers, but the preeminent filmmaker about blacks working in Hollywood today.
Couldn't a "violently psychotic black American female from a low socio-economic background" be refered to as a white woman also?
Some of the "stereotypes" people are talking about in this movie could fit with ANY race. But because he put the word "Black" in the title... people just assume it has stereotypes...
It seems to me that people jump at the idea of pointing out "stereotypes" that may not even exist.
I've never really heard of the stereotype of an alpha African American male in a high company position having an affair and...well, however far we wish to take the "stereotype." Couldn't that have just as well been a white man?
It COULD have been a white cast...
From my perspective, the majority of the characters could have been white and no one would have known the difference. The race of the characters did not make the situation.
But it was a "Diary of a Mad Black Woman"
If we would like to remove all "stereotypes" from the title, we could call it "Journal of a Person" as I previously suggested.
lol
"Will, I told you...If you live with a hetero long enough...You're going to catch it."
I've never really heard of the stereotype of an alpha African American male in a high company position having an affair and...well, however far we wish to take the "stereotype." Couldn't that have just as well been a white man?
It COULD have been a white cast...
a macho, unemployed or otherwise just unreliable ----- male who practices unsafe promiscuity and impregnates multiple women
My point is, that "stereotype" can be directed at white men also. I've heard them both ways.
So, basically it's just a social stereotype... Then, what should he have called it to emphasize a social stereotype? "Diary of a Mad Poor Woman"?
Every title would have raised some sort of controversy. Like I said, "Journal of a Person" is really the only way of showing little bias.
If you look at the boards for most of his movies/plays, it's odd (to me) how many posts talk about the negative black stereotypes... I've really not seen "black" stereotypes a LOT in his movies. There are a few, but that's with any race in any movie. I just feel like people take his movies and automatically think that anything bad or wrong someone does in it is supposed to be directed toward only the black community.
They are good movies about real issues...Real issues that people of any race can relate to, I believe. I don't know why people have to always get on the race thing. Personally, I think that's kind of ridiculous. But that's me. lol :)
"Will, I told you...If you live with a hetero long enough...You're going to catch it."
I'm yet to come across the stereotype of the unemployed, lower class white man with multiple pregnant girlfriends. The unemployed, lower class white man is stuck with the stereotype of the ignorant hick with an unattractive, boorish wife, innumerable children, and a trailer home.
Tyler Perry himself, by virtue of placing emphasis on "black," emphasizes that these are issues about and directed towards the black community. If this was supposed to be about issues that people of any race can relate to, why is it titled "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" instead of simply "Diary of a Mad Woman"? Would she have been any less jilted had she been white or Asian? Perry is letting you know by the title alone who the movie is about and to whom the film's message is directed. The same way that Spike Lee titled his film "Jungle Fever" instead of "Interracial Affair."
Speaking of Lee, I'm curious as to what he thinks of Perry's films. I have no doubt that Lee respects his accomplishments as an artist, but their social views appear to be almost diametrically opposed.
I don't know. There are just so many sides to every issue. Even if he HAD said "Diary of a Woman" there would have still been people talking about racial stereotypes because the movie has an all/majority black cast.
Racial stuff is so touchy. It gets annoying. lol
I think I'm going to be done here :)
Nice chatting though!
Seriously... I wasn't being sarcastic. lol
"Will, I told you...If you live with a hetero long enough...You're going to catch it."