New Class on #TylerPerry at Memphis Theological Seminary

R3 editor, Dr. Andre E. Johnson, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Religion and African American Studies at Memphis Theological Seminary will offer a new class for the Fall term titled, Madea Religion: The Religious Rhetoric and Media Phenomenon of Tyler Perry. Dr. Johnson will teach the class on Monday Nights starting August 25, 2014 from 5:30pm-8:30pm as part of the new Rhetoric, Religion and Popular Culture seminar. Classes in seminar introduce critical issues in and approaches to the study of religion and popular culture in America. The course description and required texts for the Madea Religion class are below. 

Course Description and Required Texts:

To say that Tyler Perry has become a significant figure in media would be an understatement. Led by the character “Madea,” stage plays, popular TV sitcoms and his relationship with Oprah Winfrey and the OWN network, Perry has built a multimedia empire estimated to be around 600 million dollars and has become, as Bell and Jackson suggests, a “prominent and dominant cultural storyteller.”

This has led many to begin examining Perry’s ever-expanding catalogue of work. While much of that work centers on Perry’s notions of blackness, gender constructions, class distinction and the like, some scholars have turn to religion to offer critical engagement of Perry’s corpus.

Many have noted Perry’s intentional use of themes within the Christian tradition—however, in this class, we will examine how Tyler Perry, primarily through the character “Madea,” constructs religion and faith. In short, we examine how Perry tells his “Christian story” and how he invites audiences to interpret and act within his narratives. For example, how do Perry’s notions of forgiveness, salvation, and even Jesus speaks to his audiences? What role does redemption play and how does it speak to an audience heavily comprised of African American women who attend church on a regular basis? By drawing from scholarship in rhetorical, religious and media studies, we will examine these and other relevant inquiries that help us explain Perry religious ethic.