So I decided to take my wife out to a movie the other day. In doing so, I got slapped in the face with the continued deterioration of the culture, this time aimed at Black folks who apparently play at Christianity.
Before I go much further, here is what Tyler Perry says about himself at Beliefnet.com:
So as you read on, don’t tell me that Perry does not claim to be a Christian. He does, very clearly and unambiguously.
Understand that movies are world view conduits, either delivering a world view consistent with Scripture or a world view that is hostile to Christianity. “Good Deeds” has proven to be a conduit of a secular world view and delivering that world view directly into the culture, generally the religious Black culture.
Tyler Perry has made a fortune writing and producing plays, TV comedies and movies that mock the Black church. Hey – it’s not that hard to do. He has made a fortune pointing out the hypocrisies and the emotionalism rampant within the church. Sometimes he has even made these the ideals within the church. And now, in “Good Deeds” we get to watch Mr. Tyler promote a lifestyle that is even more clearly inconsistent with his claimed Christianity. The following has a spoiler. But it is necessary. So decide now if you want to finish this article.
Mr. Deeds is living a life that someone else wants him to live. He works a job (president of a company) someone else wants him to work. He drives a car and attended the school someone else wanted him to. He’s engaged to a woman others approve of. And then he meets a woman who encourages him to live the life he has always wanted to live. She encourages him to live his dream.
By the way, did I mention that Mr. Deeds lives with his fiancé? And did I mention that they indeed engage in sex with each other? Yeah. We are given a mercifully brief and “tastefully” executed scene of their…uh…act.
A question: Why would a man who claims to be a Christian set up an environment in which the main character is living with a woman? Was it really a requirement for the story? No. And why would a man who claims to be a Christian insert a scene that virtually rubs our noses in the fornication? Yeah, yeah, it was “artfully” done. But was it really an essential element of the story? Did it move the plot along? No.
Near the end of the story, Mr. Deeds decides to quit as the president of the software company and pursue his dream of drilling wells for drinking water in Africa. He buys a motorcycle to replace his BMW. And he dumps his live-in fiancé and replaces her with what will be his live-in travel companion and her daughter.
Mr. Perry has created a character promoted as a “good” man. Yet this man, created by a professing Christian, proudly participates in some of the most egregious behavior.
According to the movie, Mr. Deeds is a good man despite his willingness to be in open rebellion to some of God’s most basic standards. He is a good man despite the fact that he is willing to ignore those standards in order to satisfy his own lusts (literally).
No one in the entire Deeds universe objects to what he is doing (the serial fornication). No one complains about the fact that he is going to be traveling with a child while he and his new girlfriend are in an immoral relationship. It’s not even presented as immoral. It is all presented as a good thing, as a happy ending.
Imagine that. We’re told that living with your fiancé, coming to your senses and dumping her, and living with the woman you REALLY love are good deeds.
