Attitudes Like Lee's Prevent Hollywood from Recognizing the Millions of Blacks Who Have Made Perry's Films Box Office Sensations

Tyler Perry isn't just angered by Spike Lee's criticism of his work, he believes such an attitude - saying his comical black characters are "coonery and buffoonery" -  dismisses a huge black audience which Hollywood has largely ignored but has flocked to see his films. The playwright, television producer, filmmaker and star of the "Madea" film series speaks to Byron Pitts for a profile to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Oct. 25 (7:00-8:00PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

In an interview earlier this year, Lee attacked Perry's two cable television sitcoms about black families, saying "I think there's a lot of stuff out today that is coonery  and buffoonery," referring directly to  Perry's TBS programs "Meet the Browns" and "House of Payne."  "I'm scratching my head.  We've got a black president. Are we going back?" asks Lee.

            Says Perry, "You know, that pisses me off.  It really does.  Because it's so insulting.  It's attitudes like that that make Hollywood think that these people do not exist and that's why there's no material speaking to them," he tells Pitts. "I would love to read that to my fan base."  Click here to watch an excerpt.

Perry first tried to speak to that black audience years ago when he went to Hollywood to get his hit plays produced as films.  He was rejected and wound up using his own money to start what became one of the biggest independent film companies in the U.S.  "They didn't open the door.  I had to cut a hole in the window to get in," Perry tells Pitts.

And fans, many of them black women, have come in droves to laugh and usually reaffirm their faith in God and family through comical, over-the-top black characters some would classify as stereotypes.   Madea is an obese, authoritative woman Perry plays in drag and Leroy Brown is a good-natured simpleton. They star in his eight films, five of which have opened at number one in box office receipts.  Collectively, the films have earned $418 million - one of the highest per-film averages in the industry.

The characters are based on people with whom he grew up, especially strong women, whom Perry believes his audience strongly identifies with.   A religious man, Perry says his characters are a means to an end.  "What Madea, Brown, all these characters .[they ] are bait.  Disarming, charming, make-you-laugh bait so I can slap Madea in something and talk about God, love, faith, forgiveness, family, any of those things," says Perry.